The best Scottish shortbread

My recipe for the best Scottish shortbread is approved by my Scottish husband. This is a 3- ingredient shortbread recipe that is easy to make (please read the tips in my post about it) and gives the most incredible buttery, crumbly, soft and crunchy shortbread fingers. This recipe will not disappoint!

I have tried so many different shortbread recipes here in Scotland. Some of them very disappointing but some very outstanding. The ones I really liked were made in small local bakeries all over the country, therefore not easily accessible. For such reason, I decided to make my own shortbread and after many trials with different ratios and ingredients I finally created the best Scottish shortbread. My Scottish husband is saying that I should sell it. Maybe one day :) Hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.

How to make the best Scottish shortbread

Everybody is saying that making a good shortbread is easy. I disagree with this statement. Making a good shortbread may seem easy but actually it requires certain knowledge and understanding of ingredients.

Many recipes are saying just mix butter with sugar and then add flour and bake. Well, please read the below tips. They will help you to avoid all the issues while making the best Scottish shortbread.

TIPS:

1. BUTTER: In order to make the best shortbread you need to use the best butter. Not margarine, or any other butter substitute. Real butter at its best. I used salted butter in this recipe. If you can not find salted butter, you can use unsalted but add 1/4 tsp of table salt. The buttery indulgent taste comes from real butter, this is it.
2. SUGAR: Traditional Scottish shortbread is made with standard white granulated sugar. I also used this type of sugar in this recipe. It works like a charm and is easily available everywhere. Using white granulated sugar makes shortbread airy and light but not powdery.
3. FLOUR: As simple as it may be in order to make a good shortbread, you need to use a soft flour. If you didn't know; flour can be soft, hard or medium.

• Hard flour has a high protein content and has a good ability to form gluten. It is perfect to make bread.
• Soft flour has a low protein content and lower ability to create strong gluten. This flour is also called pastry flour or cake flour. It makes baked goods more flaky than doughy. For any shortbread recipe soft flour is the best option.
• Medium flour, also called AP flour - it is a mix of soft and hard flour and is the most commonly available in supermarkets.

The more I read about different types of flour, the more I realise that I want to create a separate post in which I could explain all different types of flour and how they affect baking. It is very interesting.

HANDLING THE DOUGH - to make shortbread dough, I always use my hands. I rub butter and sugar together until combined, for about 8 minutes. Next I add flour and gently rub it together until just combined. The whole secret is not to overwork the dough. Overworked dough means cakey and tough shortbread due to formation of gluten. We do not want it.

THICKESS AND SHAPING: I used 27cm x 18cm (11inches x 7inches) cake tin. It gave me optimal thickness. Not too thick and not too thin. I would say that they are 1 cm (0.39inch) thick. I do not recommend using this dough for cut out cookies as they will spread due to high content of butter. After baking shortbreads, cut it while hot and sprinkle sugar on top.

What does the best Scottish shortbread taste like?

This shortbread taste absolutely phenomenal. It is light, buttery, sandy, crumbly and crunchy. Every shortbread finger has it all and it melts-in-your-mouth. The thickness is just perfect and allows heat to penetrate the dough and create the best Scottish shortbread. The crunch from sprinkled sugar makes these shortbread fingers irresistible.

How to serve Scottish shortbread

The option to serve shortbread are limitless. In Scotland we eat it with a cup of hot tea (with milk of course), cup of coffee or a glass of good whisky. It is the best treat if you are craving something simple, elegant and indulgent.

In our home, I also often crush shortbread and sprinkle it on a scoop of or favourite Scottish ice cream Mackie's of Scotland. This combination is fantastic, creamy and rich vanilla ice cream and crunchy buttery shortbread on top. Perfection. I also use this recipe for shortbread and use it as a topping for my famous red berry crumble. Honestly, these shortbreads are so good that you will want to incorporate them in every sweet treat.

How to store the best Scottish shortbread

Store shortbread at room temperature in a cookie jar or a cookie tin. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months. In order to defrost shortbread, just take it out of the freezer and leave it at room temperature for an hour. I like to warm up shortbreads a little bit before serving. In order to do it, preheat oven to 140C (184F)., place shortbread on a baking tin and place it in an oven for 5 minutes.

If you are looking for more shortbread recipes, I can recommend you the following:

Coffee and chocolate chunks shortbread

Click this link if you want to see the best shortbread recipes

I hope you will make my recipe and if you do, please leave a comment below and let me know your feedback. You can also find me on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Gab and Gettr. Please say hi and do not forget to tag me in if you make my recipe. I love seeing your creations.

Recipe source – my own

Enjoy!