Fun Teatime Shortbread

Four ingredients. That’s all it takes for proper shortbread: butter, sugar, flour, and salt. No eggs, no leavening, no vanilla. The flavor comes entirely from good butter, so use the best unsalted butter you can find.

The technique here is old-school. Beat the butter and sugar together, sift in the flour and salt, then rub the mixture with your fingertips until moist clumps form. Knead gently until it just comes together. Overwork the dough and the cookies turn tough instead of sandy and tender. You want crumbly, not elastic.

Roll the dough to ¼ inch thick and cut with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Pierce each one with a fork before baking. Those holes aren’t just decorative. They let steam escape so the shortbread stays flat and even instead of puffing up. At just 10 minutes in the oven, watch them closely. You want golden, not brown.

Pro Tips

• Room temperature butter is a must. Cold butter won’t cream properly, and melted butter changes the texture entirely.
• Gather and re-roll scraps gently. Each re-roll develops more gluten and makes the cookies slightly less tender.
• Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring. They’re fragile when hot.
• Store in an airtight tin. Shortbread keeps well for up to a week.

Variations

• Lemon shortbread: Add 1 tablespoon of finely grated lemon zest to the butter and sugar.
• Chocolate dipped: Dip cooled cookies halfway into melted dark chocolate and let them set on parchment.
• Lavender: Mix 1 teaspoon of dried culinary lavender into the flour before rubbing in.