Old Fashioned Scottish Shortbread

About

Our whole family looks forward to this delicious, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread every year! It has just three simple ingredients. Usually I make it in rounds and then break it into pieces. It can also be made in a decorative shortbread pan or rolled out and cut into simple bars.

Yield: 2 six inch rounds

Ingredients

Directions

1. Combine flour and sugar on baking board. Put butter on top and gradually work in with hands until mixture begins to hold together. Knead until cracks appear on the surface.
2. Shape in two flat rounds, 6″ in diameter on ungreased pans. Flute edges and prick all over with fork. Alternatively, you can press the dough into a special shortbread pan to create a decorative look, as shown in the feature photo.
3. Bake at 300 degrees for 50 minutes or until light brown. Watch carefully; do not over-bake.
4. When cool, break into chunks to serve.

Helpful Hints

1. The shortbread in the above feature photo was made using a pan from Lee Valley Tools which creates a beautiful a thistle pattern (the thistle is Scotland’s national flower).
2. If you are making a large batch for a bake sale you can cut the dough into simple bars as shown below.