Simple Shortbread
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Royal Invention Becomes Tradition...
With traditional items as old as shortbread, it can be extremely difficult to pin down exactly. However, it is accepted that shortbread originated officially in Scotland and attributed to none other than Mary Queen of Scots.
It was very traditional before this point to make a sweetened bread rusk called a biscuit bread by baking small bread buns sweetened with fruit (as sugar wasn't really an accessible ingredient) and often heavily spiced. Cardamon, caraway, cinnamon and cloves were all fairly common in that era and so were typically used in these rolls. Then the roll would be baked a second time to dry it into a semi-hard rusk. This meant it would last longer before spoiling and made a delicious treat indeed.
Eventually, luxuries like sugar and butter became more commonplace and a lot of monarchs during this time really discovered a sweet tooth. Yeast was substituted for butter and the fruit was substituted for sugar and shortbread was born. It is said this was one of Queen Mary's favourite treats and it soon became a Scottish tradition enjoyed globally.
Although now you get all types of shortbread and people add any number of different ingredients, I prefer to keep mine simple and traditional... no vanilla, no chocolate, no fruit... just 4 simple ingredients.
What's great about this recipe is that it is super simple to make and you can make it in any shape you like. I even got my 6-year old son, Oliver, to help me make this batch and we made it into a tic-tac-toe game to play before eating.
It was very traditional before this point to make a sweetened bread rusk called a biscuit bread by baking small bread buns sweetened with fruit (as sugar wasn't really an accessible ingredient) and often heavily spiced. Cardamon, caraway, cinnamon and cloves were all fairly common in that era and so were typically used in these rolls. Then the roll would be baked a second time to dry it into a semi-hard rusk. This meant it would last longer before spoiling and made a delicious treat indeed.
Eventually, luxuries like sugar and butter became more commonplace and a lot of monarchs during this time really discovered a sweet tooth. Yeast was substituted for butter and the fruit was substituted for sugar and shortbread was born. It is said this was one of Queen Mary's favourite treats and it soon became a Scottish tradition enjoyed globally.
Although now you get all types of shortbread and people add any number of different ingredients, I prefer to keep mine simple and traditional... no vanilla, no chocolate, no fruit... just 4 simple ingredients.
What's great about this recipe is that it is super simple to make and you can make it in any shape you like. I even got my 6-year old son, Oliver, to help me make this batch and we made it into a tic-tac-toe game to play before eating.
- Makes 35 5cm circles
- Prep - 10
- Cooking - 10 mins
Let's Get The Ingredients...
- 350g Plain Flour
- 1.5 Teaspoons Cornflour
- 250g Salted Butter (Cut into small fingers or cubes and at room temp)
- 125g Caster Sugar (Plus some extra for finishing)
Now To Cook...
Start by preheating your oven to 190-200°C and lining a baking tray with baking parchment and a little grease.
Mix the cornflour into the flour in a bowl and put to one side.
Put the sugar and butter into a bowl and rub together with your hands until smooth and mixed. Then add the flour and cornflour mix and rub together with the butter and sugar mix to make a breadcrumb consistency.
At this point you want to start mixing it harder and harder, packing it together and folding it and repeating until it starts to combine into a ball of dough.
Tip out the dough onto a floured surface and roll to about 1/2 inch thick (1-1.5cm) and cut into the desired shape.
At this point, you can score to press designs, patterns or shapes into the top. When you are happy, carefully use a palette knife or similar to lift the cut out shapes onto the lined tray and bake for around 10 minutes.
It is really important to stay by it and check it regularly as it burns extremely easily and you want it to be pale on top but golden around the edges.
To prove this point, I made a little mouse shortbread to add to the shapes for photos on this post and in the time it took me to answer a phone call it burnt. Here is the photo for proof!
Remove from the oven, and carefully place the shortbreads onto a wire rack to cool. They will still be soft from the oven so it is best to use a spatula to move them until cooled.
Now that they are cooled, dust with extra caster sugar and serve. If you like, you can even ice and decorate them for a bit of fun with the kids!
Mix the cornflour into the flour in a bowl and put to one side.
Put the sugar and butter into a bowl and rub together with your hands until smooth and mixed. Then add the flour and cornflour mix and rub together with the butter and sugar mix to make a breadcrumb consistency.
At this point you want to start mixing it harder and harder, packing it together and folding it and repeating until it starts to combine into a ball of dough.
Tip out the dough onto a floured surface and roll to about 1/2 inch thick (1-1.5cm) and cut into the desired shape.
At this point, you can score to press designs, patterns or shapes into the top. When you are happy, carefully use a palette knife or similar to lift the cut out shapes onto the lined tray and bake for around 10 minutes.
It is really important to stay by it and check it regularly as it burns extremely easily and you want it to be pale on top but golden around the edges.
To prove this point, I made a little mouse shortbread to add to the shapes for photos on this post and in the time it took me to answer a phone call it burnt. Here is the photo for proof!
Remove from the oven, and carefully place the shortbreads onto a wire rack to cool. They will still be soft from the oven so it is best to use a spatula to move them until cooled.
Now that they are cooled, dust with extra caster sugar and serve. If you like, you can even ice and decorate them for a bit of fun with the kids!
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