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Scottish Shortbread Cookies

March 10, 2014 by Kayley 16 Comments

Scottish Shortbread rounds 5

These cookies are my downfall. Under the premise that it’s March and that means St. Patrick’s Day is coming, which means that I have an extra excuse to make all the Irish recipes I want and Ireland is a neighboring country of Scotland where they make the best shortbread in the world I have made these cookies 3 times this last week.

Scottish Shortbread rounds 2

Actually, It’s really totally justified for me to use St. Patrick’s Day as an excuse to make these cookies. Shortbread is often made in Ireland and England as well.

If you’ve ever had Walker’s shortbread cookies you know what I’m talking about when I say they are amazing. They’re  imported directly from Scotland and the ingredients are simple. Butter, flour and sugar. I love their shortbread rounds, in particular and so I’ve made my own ‘Knock-off’ version of them.

Scottish Shortbread rounds 3

These cookies are simple to make, with simple ingredients. The brown sugar gives them a flavor boost, in comparison with white sugar and the texture is crisp but tender. And they are so very buttery. Make sure to use only real butter when making these, a substitute will not be able to produce the same product that butter will.

I use cornstarch in place of some of the flour in my shortbread. It helps the cookie achieve a lighter texture and reduces the gluten slightly, which results in a more tender cookie. It is also best to avoid a lot of gluten development when mixing the dough by only mixing the flour in until it is just combined. Over-mixing the dough will result in a tough cookie.

Scottish Shortbread rounds 4

Scottish Shortbread Cookies
 
Print
Serves: 15-25 cookies, depending on the size of cookie.
Ingredients
  • 1 C. (8 oz.) Butter, softened
  • ½ C. Brown Sugar, packed
  • 1¾ C. Flour
  • ¼ C. Cornstarch
  • ¼ t. Salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
  4. Mix together in a separate bowl the flour, cornstarch and salt.
  5. Mix the flour into the butter until just combined. Take care to not over-mix.
  6. Roll dough out on a nonstick mat or flour coated surface to a thickness of about ⅓".
  7. Cut the dough into rounds with a circular cutter and place on baking sheet, 2" apart. Using the bottom of a glass that is smaller in diameter than your circular cutter, press the glass bottom into the top of each round, making a circular indent. Prick the center of each cookie a few times with the tines of a fork.
  8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just before they start to brown.
  9. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.
3.2.2925

Scottish Shortbread 1

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Filed Under: Cookies and Whoopies, Desserts Tagged With: butter, cookie

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Comments

  1. Dev says

    March 11, 2014 at 3:05 AM

    Amazing, Babe, as always. The pictures are so clear. And the cookies are insanely good:-) Love You!

    Reply
    • Kayley says

      March 11, 2014 at 5:23 AM

      Thank you, Love =)

      Reply
  2. Karen @ The Food Charlatan says

    March 11, 2014 at 4:08 AM

    Kayley, these look awesome! And can I just say I’m in love with your fork designs 🙂

    Reply
    • Kayley says

      March 11, 2014 at 5:25 AM

      Thank you Karen! I did concentrate quite hard while poking the holes in the cookies, haha 😉

      Reply
  3. Anina @ Aninas-Recipes says

    March 11, 2014 at 2:04 PM

    Found your blog on Foodgawker, and I am in love! Awesome pics and great recipe!

    Greetings from South Africa,
    Anina

    Reply
    • Kayley says

      March 11, 2014 at 2:47 PM

      Thank you so much, Anina! =)

      Reply
  4. Dina says

    March 11, 2014 at 3:45 PM

    i love shortbread. it looks so lovely!

    Reply
    • Kayley says

      March 11, 2014 at 6:27 PM

      Thank You Dina!

      Reply
  5. Eloisa Reyes says

    December 12, 2015 at 1:12 AM

    Hi! One question, the butter is salted or unsalted?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kayley says

      December 15, 2015 at 1:11 AM

      I usually use salted, but if you like things less salty, use unsalted =)

      Reply
  6. CoCo says

    December 14, 2015 at 7:29 PM

    Tried Baking 10-12 min but they still were not done after 20 min. Following direction They were rolled to 1/3 ” . After 20 minutes they were still extremely under-baked. I’ve tried other shortbread recipes before without an issue.

    Reply
    • Kayley says

      December 15, 2015 at 1:05 AM

      I’m sorry they didn’t work for you! Did you follow the ingredient amounts? I’ve never had a problem with them baking before.

      Reply
  7. Helena Kyriakides says

    February 25, 2017 at 2:01 AM

    These look delicious. Any chance we could have the recipe in grams and centigrade? I don’t know what size cup to use…

    Reply

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My name is Kayley! Welcome To The Kitchen McCabe, a blog based on wholesome recipes, beautiful food and photography. More >>

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