Traditional Scottish Shortbread Recipe Perfectly crumbly, irresistibly buttery and wonderfully delicious, Scottish Shortbread has been a year-round favorite treat for centuries!
Shortbread is as basic and simple as a cookie (biscuit) can get. But it’s also divinely delicious. And for that reason shortbread has been a favorite throughout the UK for hundreds of years.
The origin of shortbread goes back to somewhere around the 12th century when it was originally made from leftover bread-making dough that was left to dry out and harden into “biscuit bread.” Over time butter replaced the yeast and biscuit bread evolved into shortbread. The term “short” refers to the crumbly texture from the large quantity of butter. Butter was a luxury item and so shortbread was enjoyed only on special occasions and, of course, by the nobles and royals.
The more refined version of shortbread as we know it today is attributed to Scotland, in particular to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. She was particularly fond of what was known as Petticoat Tails, which was a thin shortbread baked in a large circle and cut into triangular segments. In her day the shortbread was commonly flavored with caraway seeds, which were all the rage in British baking for several centuries. In fact, the earliest published shortbread recipes from the 18th century were more elaborate than the standard shortbread today: They were baked with candied citrus peels and garnished with caraway comfits.
Traditionally Scottish shortbread is baked in either a rectangular or square slab and cut into fingers, as individual round biscuits, or in one large circle and cut into triangles. But you can cut them any shape you like and also use cookie stamps. I have and often use these cookie stamps, these ones, and these ones and love them all – excellent quality.
From our family vacation to Scotland last summer: Eilean Donan Castle
From our family vacation to Scotland last summer: Eilean Donan Castle
I’ve read a few claims that “traditional” Scottish shortbread is made with farola: “Scottish Shortbread is traditionally made with farola, a free-flowing cream coloured and fine granular powder or flour milled from durum wheat.” But the oldest recipes I’ve researched do not, so this “tradition” may be a later/more contemporary one.
We’re making Scottish shortbread the traditional way with just 3 ingredients: Flour, Sugar and Butter. Well, and a tiny pinch of salt, too. Nothing else is needed, no fancy ingredients, no flavor enhancers. The key to a good Scottish shortbread is the quality of the butter. That is what flavors the shortbread and the shortbread is only as good as the butter.
That said, shortbread is also incredible if you want to add things like homemade candied ginger, homemade candied citrus peels, dried cranberries, rosemary, and anything else your imagination inspires you to try.
From our family vacation to Scotland last summer: View of Eilean Donan Castle from our vacation cottage.
Another key is using caster sugar. Not regular granulated sugar. Not powdered sugar. Caster sugar is very fine granulated sugar. Caster sugar is commonly used in British baking and it’s an all-around smarter choice than granulated. The reason is that the sugar crystals in granulated sugar are much larger and take longer to dissolve during baking and may not dissolve completely. Caster sugar dissolves more rapidly leaving a finer texture to the baked good.
Shortbread is very simple, very easy to make and once you’ve made it yourself there will be no need to buy it again!
Before we get started, if you want to take your shortbread to the next several flavor levels, try our traditional Scottish Millionaire’s Shortbread. With layers of shortbread, caramel and chocolate it is the ultimate indulgence!
Traditional Scottish Shortbread Recipe
Let’s get started!
You can either buy caster sugar (it’s overpriced) or make you’re own, which is what I do. Super easy: Just put the sugar in a blender or coffee/spice grinder and pulse until it’s very fine.
Place the caster sugar, flour, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until it’s combined and looks like coarse breadcrumbs but is soft and pliable and comes together in a dough when you press it together between your fingers. If it’s too dry and crumbly it needs to be pulsed a bit longer.
At this point stir in any add-ins if using (candied ginger, candied citrus peel, herbs, nuts, etc.)
Pour the mixture into a greased 8×8 inch (shortbread roughly 3/4 inch thick) or a 9×9 inch (shortbread about 1/2 inch thick) baking pan. You can also use a round cake pan. Use your fingers and hands to firmly press down the mixture.
Optional: Prick the shortbread with the tines of a fork, creating rows. Some people run a knife between each row of fork tines to make cutting the shortbread easier after it’s baked. That’s optional, too.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the shortbread on the middle rack and bake for 30-35 minutes or until light golden and firm. Let cool. Cut and serve.
Store the shortbread in an airtight container for up to several weeks. Its flavor and texture improves over time.
Enjoy!
© Jiri Hera | Dreamstime
For more delicious British treats try our:
- Treacle Tart
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Spotted Dick
- Eccles Cakes
- Yorkshire Parkin
- Bara Brith (Welsh Tea Bread)
- Barmbrack (Irish Tea Bread)
- Mincemeat
- Mincemeat Pie
- Lemon Curd
- Victoria Sponge Cake
And learn how to make your own Golden Syrup!
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Traditional Scottish Shortbread
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 sticks (230 grams) quality unsalted butter , cubed and softened at room temperature (the better the butter, the better the shortbread)
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) caster sugar (or pulse granulated sugar in a blender until very fine. Do NOT use powdered sugar)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Optional Add-Ins:
- Homemade Candied Ginger (click link for recipe)
- Homemade Candied Citrus Peel (click link for recipe)
- Other options include nuts, fresh herbs, dried cranberries, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 8x8 or 9x9 inch square baking pan. You can also use a round cake can and cut the shortbread into triangles.
- Place the caster sugar, flour, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until it's combined and looks like coarse breadcrumbs but is soft and pliable and comes together in a dough when you press it together between your fingers. If it's too dry and crumbly it needs to be pulsed a bit longer. (If using any add-ins, stir them in at this point.)Pour the mixture into the greased baking pan. Use your fingers and hands to firmly press down the mixture. Note: If the mixture is too dry to work with, including pricking with a fork (see below), then it was not pulsed long enough in the food processor. Optional: Prick the shortbread with the tines of a fork, creating rows. Some people also like run a knife between each row of fork tines to make cutting the shortbread easier after it's baked.
- Place the shortbread on the middle rack and bake for 30-35 minutes or until light golden and firm. Let cool. Cut and serve.Store the shortbread in an airtight container for up to several weeks. Its flavor and texture improves over time.
Mike says
No one in Scotland would ever add ginger or citrus peel to shortbread.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Well that’s just not correct, Mike, because I have bought both ginger and citrus peel shortbread in Scotland on multiple occasions.
Desi K says
Correction to my last comment:
I realized that in my feedback I keep saying biscuit, but I meant shortbread (I realized that this might be confusing for people in the USA since a biscuit in something else oops!)… it’s the way it translates in my head from French, my apologies!
Again, thank you for the recipe!
Desi K says
It is not easy to make shortbread cookies, scones, etc… and this recipe is very good. I personally use my hands when mixing, and keep in mind that the butter MUST be room temperature and cubed. If you failed at this recipe, just try again, because there is no fault in it. Also, these recipes, as easy as they seem, call for extreme patience. When I make them, I line the pan with parchment paper so that it is easy to take them out of the pan, and I pre-cut then before baking so that it is easier to cut once they are done. As someone who has travelled to Scotland (and the UK in general many times), the recipe is on point. It is also not the first time I have seen this specific recipe (a popular local pâtisserie here uses this same recipe). If you expected something else out of the recipe, then hate to break it to you, but you probably weren’t thinking of the same treat (the scones and biscuits made in North America are NOT the same… :/)
I made this recipe for a party (took the chance and didn’t even test them out prior lol) and people loved them :)… I only told them they were homemade after they started asking me where I got them from. I wish I could add photos of the process and finished product, but it doesn’t seem like I can.
Anyways, if you get this recipe wrong, you are doing something wrong.. or it could even be that the butter you are using is not quality, your oven is weak… again these types of treats are NOT easy to make, so if you have made them in the past with a different recipe and found them easy to make…. you probably weren’t making scottish biscuits..
Thank you for the recipe, love it :)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much for the detailed insights and feedback, Desi! Yes, you are correct on every point :)
annie Walker says
Disappointed I didn’t read the comments before trying the recipe. Looking at Google conversions of sticks of butter to grams,that may be the issue. Compared to other recipes, this one has double the amount of butter.
Shary says
To the people who have complained that the recipe doesn’t work, I’m sorry but the fault lies with YOU. You are doing something wrong. Possibly you aren’t letting your butter soften sufficiently, or you aren’t processing the mixture long enough. It HAS to start clumping together in the processor or it will be too dry to work with. Then it must be pressed rather firmly into the lightly buttered pan. (Use the residue on the butter wrapper to butter the pan.) I usually don’t bother pricking with a fork. It isn’t necessary. Also, if you use salted butter, then you don’t need to add additional salt.
I’ve made this exact recipe numerous times in my food processor, and it NEVER fails. It comes together very quickly and can be embellished in any number of ways. I like to pulse chopped walnuts with the sugar until finely ground, and then I often drizzle the cooked and cooled shortbread with melted chocolate thinned with a little heavy cream. Along with a cup of tea or coffee, it’s a great go-to for guests.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much for the feedback, Shary, I’m happy you’ve made multiple successful batches!
simon says
Total fail of the recipe…i got 1 misshaped huge pile of baked dough, not even similar to shortbread.. would give it 0 stars if possible..
RAJIV BHAGI says
No, to the recipe
The shortbread are totally mishaped. The dough just melted and the butter was running out the form. I followed the recipe. Had to refrigerate for 30 min before putting in the oven and still it is not good and not fully cooked even after 1 & 1/2 hrs of baking
And it’s not the first time I made shortbread, just wanted to try yours.It was just waste of time.
Daniela says
Hi Kimberly
My shortbread are totally mishaped. The dough just melted and the butter was running out the form. I followed the recipe. And it’s not the first time I made shortbread, just wanted to try yours. So no give aways for my boys, waste of time and money. Just sad.
Lyn Edwards says
Do I need to add baking powder to the recipe, or just use the all purpose (or plain flour)?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Lyn, no baking powder, just flour. There are no “rising” agents in shortbread.
Lyn Edwards says
Thanks for your help Kimberly, I will get baking :)
Alastair says
As a writer, I believe ingredients are not subject to copyright in s recipe, only method (instructions) Correct me if I’m wrong please. Thank you.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s correct, Alastair. And of course photos are likewise subject to copyright in addition to the recipe instructions.
Tammy Kirby says
Hi I love this recipe and wonder if I might have permission to put it in my newsletter? I am a Historical Romance author and would like to share it with my subscribers. If you agree how would you like me to credit you for the original recipe?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Tammy, you can use the photo credited to The Daring Gourmet with a link to the recipe on my site but I would ask that you not post the recipe in full. Thank you for understanding and thank you for sharing my site with your readers.