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What cookie recipe has a short ingredient list, takes just a short time to bake, and then taste so good, the cookies last just a short time? Whatever else you're baking this year, put a batch of shortbread on the short list.
What is shortbread, exactly? I promised a short ingredient list: think butter, flour and sugar, no more, after that it's all embellishment and adornment.
"The best shortbread have an inviting pale golden exterior promising a fine, sandy texture that crumbles into rich, buttery happiness in your mouth. I've tried many a shortbread over the years in the quest to find the perfect one, and have found disappointments ranging the gamut from glorified butter cookies to dry and crumbly hunks of dough." ~ So says Anita Chu, food blogger at Pastry Girl and author of this year's hit cookbook, A Field Guide to Cookies.
Photo by Anita Chu
Texture is key to good shortbread. Anita has several tips. (She give more detail and two recipes for shortbread in A Study in Shortbread.)
> Make sure your butter is fresh and of the very best quality. (My personal recommendation for shortbread is Land O' Lakes salted butter.)
> Use superfine sugar if you can -- or whiz some regular sugar in the food processor. Powdered sugar can be good too.
> Sift your flour. You may want to substitute a small bit of rice flour for more tender shortbread.
> Use room temperature butter, then chill the dough before rolling.
> Don't overwork the dough.
> Shortbread should be rolled quite thick, 1/4 inch or more thick.
Just today, Serious Eats posted a recipe for Shortbread Cookies from Shuna Fish Lydon, an acclaimed pastry chef. Shuna explains why shortbread is such a favorite:
"As a restaurant pastry chef I am always looking for highly adaptable repertoire recipes. Components, if you will. I love this shortbread recipe because it has the ability to make any butter, any addition shine. I have used it as a base and a lid, a tiny button of a bite and a wide shape for drama. It will take on and keep any shape you make it and the dough can continue to be rolled until you use it all up. All it asks is that you treat it right.
Be sure and freeze or refrigerate these shortbread cookies before they enter your pre-heated oven, and look for through and through color—not merely color on the edges. Think of shortbread as you would a roast: bake slow and low and you will be rewarded with a tender, buttery cookie whose applications are endless." ~ Shuna Fish Lydon
Let's start first with a pair of basic shortbread recipes.
Eating Out Loud ~ Traditional Shortbread Cookies "To say I love shortbread is an understatement, and I’ve tried so many times before to make the buttery little devils and each time with only moderate success. I planned my weekend shopping around the ingredients and set to work this morning on making the shortbread."
Baking for Britain ~ Scottish Shortbread "Short cakes were eaten across Britain, and many local biscuits (i.e. Shrewsbury cakes, or Goosnargh cakes) are variations on the basic recipe. Shortbread, however, has a definite association with Scotland, and the best of its type has long been an export to the rest of the country, and to the rest of the world. It is the quality of the ingredients that make shortbread so decidedly delicious, and a lightness of touch in the making. Classic shortbread is made from only flour, butter and sugar, so that gives three opportunities for buying the best, or three chances to produce a disappointing biscuit."
Once you've mastered a traditional shortbread, the basic ingredients are so simple, they're a large blank canvas, waiting for color and texture and technique and shape. Here are a few ideas!
Pinch My Salt ~ Lemon Shortbread
Smitten Kitchen ~ Twice-Baked Shortbread
101 Cookbooks ~ Pinenut Rosemary Shortbread
The Recipe Girl ~ Chocolate-Dipped Espresso Shortbread
Andrea's Recipes ~ White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread
Butter Sugar Flour ~ Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread
Green Gourmet Giraffe ~ Festive Shortbread
Patent and the Pantry ~ Nutmeg Shortbread
Ma'ona ~ Lavender Shortbread
And you?
And you, what's your favorite shortbread recipe? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
This weekend, BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is up to her elbows in flour for her
