Shortbread cookies, the classic Scottish tea cookie, are very easy and quick to bake. This shortbread recipe gives extra crumbly cookies.
Shortbread cookies are wonderfully crumbly, buttery, and crunchy. If you've ever been to Scotland, you've definitely had the traditional tea cookie with your tea at some point. So actually, a good Scottish Shortbread recipe has the best prerequisites to become your favorite baking recipe.
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Taste and Occasion
There are foods with which you associate negative feelings, whether because you once had a great dislike for a particular taste or smell or because you associate them with bad experiences from the past. Probably everyone knows such things that they have been avoiding for a long time, perhaps even since childhood. For me, it's pickles, among other things, on which I've overeaten.
And for a long time, shortbread cookies also belonged to this category - for years (or decades), it was easy for me to think of them as dry, boring-tasting butter cookies that a relative regularly brought back from Scotland. I have never eaten or even baked shortbread since. Accordingly, I was not exactly thrilled when Jan asked me for this kind of shortbread cookie. And I did him that favor, of course😉 . So I have made myself to the right consistency and the right taste. The result is a quick and straightforward recipe for shortbread fingers. This recipe convinced even me!
By the way: This recipe is a very special recipe for Jan and me - because it was the very first thing Jan and I published on our German blog backenmachtgluecklich.de in the fall of 2012. Revised X times in the meantime, re-shot with our new camera, but full of memories for us of this exciting time.
Ingredients
All you need for this shortbread recipe is soft butter, sugar (half of it can be powdered sugar), flour, salt and semolina. I've baked the shortbread cookies with both wheat and spelt semolina before. Most important are semolina and salt - without these two ingredients, it becomes just a regular, plain shortbread cookie. If you like, you can add additional lemon or orange zest to the Shortbread Fingers, chopped dried fruit, candied ginger, cocoa powder, poppy seeds, or cinnamon.
How to make the Classic Scottish Shortbread
Let's begin. Preheat the oven to 300°F/150°C and line a small oblong (about 8-10 in/ 20-25 cm) or square baking pan with baking paper or grease and dust with flour.
Now, beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the flour, semolina, and salt and stir until you have a crumble-like mixture. Knead the dough together with your hands. Then, press the sand dough into the baking pan, prick the surface several times with a fork, and place it in the oven.
In the end, bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the shortbread is golden. Remove from the oven and - while still hot - sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Let cool and cut into finger-width strips.
Top Tip
In Scotland, people especially love to eat shortbread cookies at tea time. But it also looks good on a dessert plate, for example, next to ice cream. The recipe is perfect for beginners or when you have little time to spend in the kitchen. For us, the shortbread tastes perfect a day later - then it has the ideal consistency.
Recipe Card
Classic Scottish Shortbread
Ingredients
- 250 grams (1 cup) butter, soft
- 125 grams (⅔ cup) sugar
- 250 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 125 grams (⅘ cup) semolina, wheat or spelt possible
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F/150°C. Line a small oblong (about 8-10 in/ 20-25 cm) or square baking pan with baking paper or grease and dust with flour.
- Beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the flour, semolina and salt and stir until you have a crumble-like mixture. Knead the dough together with your hands.
- Press the sand dough into the baking pan, prick the surface several times with a fork and place in the oven.
- Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the shortbread is golden. Remove from oven and - while still hot - sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Let cool and cut into finger-width strips.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
In the mood for some more cookie inspiration? How about the three ingredient biscuits, the vegan chocolate chip cookies, or the sugar-free oatmeal cookies?
Nutrition
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About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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