The perfect shortbread can be quite elusive. Read our essential guide and try our classic recipe – you could discover a new family favourite!
Table of Contents
Shortbread – Tips For Success
Good shortbread is pale, buttery, crunchy, and ‘short’. This means it crumbles at every bite, giving that characteristic shortbread texture. It shouldn’t be soft or chewy like cookies, and it shouldn’t be browned. How do you achieve this kind of perfection?
It can be difficult to consistently make good Shortbread, even using the same recipe. That’s because shortbread’s texture depends on your mood and the kitchen temperature. This very Sensitive Dough doesn’t like to be handled too much. But that’s not to say that you should be folding and incorporating air – rather, you should be trying to work the mixture as little as possible to keep it cool and ‘short’.
There are two main things that can go wrong with the shortbread dough (before it’s cooked): first, overworking the dough will put the flour’s gluten (proteins) into action. Gluten is what stretches out and makes chewy bread or cookies – and you definitely don’t want it working on your shortbread.
Secondly, getting the butter too warm (because of your hands or kitchen temperature) or breaking it up too much will prevent the shortbread from forming those crumbly layers. Aim for some smaller (breadcrumb sized) and some larger (think oat-sized) pieces of butter. These should melt in the oven, not the bowl, creating air pockets that give a light, crumbly finish.
When cooking, it’s vital not to overcook shortbread. As it contains no eggs, the dough requires very little cooking and you certainly don’t need to brown it. Cook until just tinged with gold at the edges and your shortbread will finish cooking on the rack.
Remember the two keys to success: keep the dough cool (open a kitchen window), and work in the butter gently and swiftly.
You Need:
250g unsalted butter (choose the best quality butter that you can find)
225g plain flour
2tbsp cornflour
125g icing sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
Sift the Flours and Sugar together with the salt into a large bowl or food processor. Cut the butter into small pieces and drop them in, then, using a wooden spoon, plastic blade or pastry cutter, combine everything until it starts to come together.
Preheat the oven temperature to 170 degrees C. Turn the mixture onto a lightly-floured board and knead very gently until it comes together to form a dough. Roll it to about 1cm thick and cut out rounds or shapes. Transfer to a cool baking tray. Use a fork to prick each round once.
COOLING YOUR CAKES IN EASY WAY - Somine Baking Cooling Rack features three generously sized tiers, once all those batches of cakes, buns and cookies...
ANTISTICK COATING - Nonstick surface releases food easily, ideal if you’re cooling sticky jam tarts or freshly made doughnuts (coated in sugar)....
DURABLE CONSTRUCTION - Somine cooling racks are made of durable high carbon steel material, the foot raise up 7.5cm of one tier for optimal airflow,...
SPACE SAVING - The flexible feet of the cooling rack can be opened to stably stack on another rack, standing into multi-layer to save cooling space....
Note: If you don’t want to roll and cut the biscuits, roll the dough into a 5cm diameter log and put into the fridge for half an hour, then use a warm knife to cut slices. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the biscuits are just beginning to get a golden tinge at the edges. Cool on a wire rack thoroughly before dusting with icing sugar to serve.
Since you will be cooking your shortbread in the lower third of the oven, you will get some top browning as the cookie bakes. The surface of the shortbread should be a toasty light brown when it is cooked. It should never appear raw or slightly opaque in the middle.
One thing that all shortbread cookies benefit from is a slow bake in a consistent oven. Since they're such a crumbly cookie without much in the way of a binder, they need that time for the sugar to melt and bring everything together without getting too deeply browned.
The most common mistakes when making shortbread are over-working the dough, and incorporating too much flour. The less you work the dough, the more crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth your shortbread cookies will be.
Traditional Scottish shortbread is a simple recipe made with sugar, butter, flour, and salt. Other shortbread styles will include leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda, which makes them crisp instead of crumbly like traditional Scottish shortbread.
Why do you put shortbread cut-out cookies in the fridge before baking? This is to resolidify the butter. The butter is at room temperature when making the dough resulting in a soft dough. If baked straight away, the butter would melt away immediately when hitting the hot oven and the shortbread would spread.
There are a variety of reasons why the shortbread could be damp underneath but it is most likely that either the dough is being pressed out too thickly, the pan is not metal so heats up too slowly, or the oven temperature is too high causing the top to brown before the bottom has cooked sufficiently.
The inside of the cookie is undercooked but the outside is cooked. This is going to be rather scattershot, since underbaked can mean anything from raw to slightly soft, depending on the baker. If they're really gooey and don't set when cooled, you probably just need to bake them a few minutes longer.
Is shortbread supposed to be soft when it comes out of the oven? Yes, upon cooling it will firm up. Shortbread should have a soft and tender texture but be slightly crisp when you bite into it.
What happens if you put too much butter in cookies? - Quora. They spread way too far out on the cookie sheet and don't get cooked right. They're too wet, and really greasy, but can be cooked to crispiness but won't have the right texture and it will be hard to reproduce the time of baking.
Problem eight: Once cooled, if I know my biscuits are underbaked can I put them back in the oven? Jo's solution: You can. Also, if you don't eat shortbread within a few days and they go soft, you can refresh them in the oven, too.
The word "bread" comes from "biscuit bread" which was made from leftover bread dough that was sweetened and dried out in the oven to make biscuits. Why do you poke holes in shortbread? The holes allow the moisture to escape during baking and more even heat distribution. This helps dry out and crisp up the cookies.
Should butter be cold or room temperature for making shortbread? Always start with cold butter straight from the refrigerator. This will keep the dough from warming up, making it greasy and difficult to roll out.
Good shortbread is pale, buttery, crunchy, and 'short'. This means it crumbles at every bite, giving that characteristic shortbread texture. It shouldn't be soft or chewy like cookies, and it shouldn't be browned.
Cornstarch provides the shortbread with structure, but its biggest job is keeping the cookies extra soft, tender, and light. I love adding a small amount to chocolate chip cookies too. Optional Coarse Sugar Topping: For an optional sparkly crunch on your shortbread wedges, add a sprinkle of coarse sugar before baking.
Hobby: Web surfing, Skiing, role-playing games, Sketching, Polo, Sewing, Genealogy
Introduction: My name is Maia Crooks Jr, I am a homely, joyous, shiny, successful, hilarious, thoughtful, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
