Nicky's Favourite Shortbread
Submitted by rw0914
Classic buttery shortbread squares with unsalted butter, powdered sugar, and a candied cherry on each. Tender, crumbly, and they improve with age stored in a tin.
YIELD
2 dozenPREP
20 minCOOK
18 minREADY
28 minReal shortbread is nothing more than butter, sugar, and flour, and this recipe respects that simplicity. A full cup of unsalted butter creamed with powdered sugar until silky, then mixed with sifted flour just until the dough barely comes together. Each square gets topped with a sliver of candied cherry before baking.
The dough will look messy and uncooperative. That’s normal. Shortbread dough is dry and crumbly by design. Handle it gently, gather it into a lump, pat it into a ⅓-inch thick square, and cut into 1-inch squares with a sharp knife.
These cookies are fragile right out of the oven. They firm up as they cool, so resist the urge to move them too quickly. Once cooled, they store in a tin for weeks and actually taste better after a few days as the butter flavor mellows and deepens.
Kitchen Tips
- Mix the dough just until the flour is incorporated. Over-mixing develops gluten and turns tender shortbread into tough biscuits.
- Watch these carefully after 12 minutes. They should be barely pale brown on the bottom and still light on top. Shortbread burns fast because of all the butter and sugar.
- Use unsalted butter so you control the salt. Salted butter makes the shortbread taste off-balance.
- Cool completely on wax paper before stacking or storing.
Variations
- Press the dough into a round pan and score into wedges for traditional Scottish-style petticoat tails.
- Add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture for a warmer flavor.
- Dip the cooled squares halfway in melted dark chocolate for a chocolate-dipped shortbread.
Ingredients
Directions
Cream butter and sugar together until silky.
Add sifted dry ingredients and mix until blended, but just.
Turn out on a lightly floured pastry cloth, and with lightly floured hands, gather into one lump.
This may appear sloppy and maybe hopeless. As in pastry, you will go wrong if you are too heavy handed or afraid of it!. Toss it just a bit to get it to lump and pat out into a square about ⅓ inch thick; square off your edges with a large knife or spatula, smooth with a stocking rolling pin and cut into 1 inch squares.
Place slightly apart on ungreased cookie sheet with a sliver of cherry on each.
Bake at 350℉ (180℃) for 15 to 18 minutes. They should be just pale brown on bottom.
Watch it, they burn very easily. Remove gently please, they are still having birth pangs; place to cool on trays covered with waxed paper.
Store in cans, they keep for weeks in a cool place, and their flavour mellows.
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