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Shortbread Cookie Recipes & Videos

 

Shortbread Cookies Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies Cheese Shortbread Crackers
Shortbreads are traditionally a Christmas cookie that blends butter, sugar, and flour to make a rich and delicate tasting cookie. more A slice and bake shortbread that is wonderfully crisp, buttery sweet, and full of chocolate chips. more This Cracker has a buttery crisp texture, and a delicious cheese flavor with just a touch of heat from cayenne and black pepper. more
Raspberry Shortbread Bars Shortbread Cookies filled with White Chocolate & Raspberries Shortbread Tarts with Cream Filling
Two layers of buttery crisp shortbread sandwiched together with a tart and tangy raspberry jam. more Shortbreads are a buttery cookie (biscuit) that taste absolutely delicious when sandwiched together with raspberry jam and grated white chocolate. more These rich and buttery miniature shortbread tarts are filled with a delicious cream filling made with cream cheese, condensed milk and lemons. Garnish with fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or kiwi slices. more
     

The latest Shortbread Videos

Catch up on all the latest shortbread videos by clicking    in the above player.

Almond Shortbread

Mocha Shortbread

Shortbread Buttons

Although this recipe is very similar to a plain shortbread, it differs in that it uses not only all purpose flour but also rice flour and almond flour which subtly changes both its flavor and texture. more Mocha Shortbread adds cocoa powder to a shortbread dough to give it a lovely chocolate flavor, and cornstarch replaces some of the all purpose flour to produce a delicate melt-in-your-mouth texture. more Oh so cute are these colorful shortbreads that are made to look like buttons. Tasty too, with their buttery flavor and crisp yet tender texture. more

Millionaire's Shortbread Bars

Cranberry & White Chocolate Shortbreads

Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies

This popular British shortbread consists of three delicious layers; a buttery shortbread, a smooth caramel, and a shiny layer of melted chocolate. more These Shortbreads have a rich and buttery flavor and are full of dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. more These Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies have a buttery rich hazelnut flavor with a texture that is wonderfully crisp and crumbly. more

Raisin Shortbreads

Mincemeat Shortbread Bars

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbreads

Raisin Shortbreads take soft and chewy raisins and sandwich them between two layers of tender and crumbly shortbread. more

Mincemeat Shortbread Bars have two buttery layers of shortbread sandwiched with a layer of spicy mincemeat. more

These rich and buttery Cranberry Pistachio Shortbreads are dressed for the holidays with their chunks of green pistachio nuts and dried red cranberries. more

Cranberry Shortbread Bars Chocolate Mint Shortbreads Pecan Shortbread
Cranberry Shortbread Bars have two layers of buttery shortbread with a lovely tangy cranberry layer in between. more Chocolate Mint Shortbreads take two chocolate shortbreads and sandwich them together with a dark chocolate ganache flavored with pure peppermint extract. more Pecan Shortbread Cookies have a deep golden brown color and come out of the oven wonderfully crisp and crunchy. more
Scottish Shortbread Butterball Cookies Chocolate Nut Shortbread
Scottish Shortbreads would make a fine Christmas cookie with their rich and buttery flavor and tender and crumbly texture. more Butterball cookies are two rounds of sugar coated shortbreads sandwiched together with tangy raspberry jam. more These wedge shaped cookies are a delicious combination of crisp and buttery shortbread, topped with chopped nuts and chocolate chips. more
Chocolate Shortbreads Alfajores Raspberry Pistachio Shortbread
Chocolate Shortbreads take a buttery rich round of shortbread and covers it with a chocolate glaze and pieces of crunchy nuts. Delicious. more Alfajores take two buttery crisp shortbread cookies and sandwiches them together with a sticky and gooey caramel-like filling (Dulce de Leche). more A beautiful looking Shortbread cookie that is topped with a powdered sugar glaze, chopped pistachios, and crushed freeze dried raspberries. more

Scottish in origin, this rich, tender and crumbly straw colored biscuit (cookie) was once only served during Christmas and New Year's Eve (Hogmanay). The classic proportions of one part sugar to two parts butter to three parts flour were mixed together and placed in a lightly floured  8 inch (20 cm) round wooden mold carved with a thistle. The dough-filled mold was then inverted onto a baking sheet, released from the mold, and baked in a slow oven. 

Once baked, the shortbread was cut into wedges that were given the name "petticoat tails". This name was derived because the shape of the shortbread wedges was similar to the bell-hoop petticoats worn by court ladies in the 12th century.

Today's shortbread cookies are made and enjoyed year round and their ingredients have gone far beyond the original recipe of butter, sugar and flour. Flavorings added now include extracts, chocolates, nuts, spices, dried fruits, and citrus zests. Rice flour, corn flour (cornstarch), semolina can replace some of the flour to change the texture. The quality of your shortbread is dependent on the quality of your ingredients, especially the butter. This is not the time to skimp. Buy the best quality unsalted butter you can find and you will be rewarded with a crispy, crumbly, buttery morsel that literally melts in your mouth.

Shortbread needs to be baked in a slow oven (around 300 degrees F) (150 degrees C) and the tops of the shortbreads are usually pierced with a fork so they bake more evenly and you do not get air bubbles forming on the baked surface. Even with piercing the surface of the cookie, you may still get some wrinkling but this is normal. If you bake the shortbread just until set the shortbread will be very tender and crumbly. Baking 5 - 10 minutes longer will produce a firmer shortbread as it removes additional moisture and gives the shortbread a longer shelf life. 

Traditionally baked in round wooden molds notched at the edges to signify the sun's ray, today molds are also made of ceramic and come in many different sizes and shapes, many with decorative designs. The molds need to be dusted with flour or powdered sugar before filling with the shortbread dough to ensure easy release of the dough from the mold. It is also a good idea to place the mold in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up the dough before inverting onto a baking sheet and removing the mold. This ensures the design will retain its shape during baking.

Besides using molds, shortbreads can also be formed into fingers and rounds. Fingers are rectangular shaped pieces that are scored and pierced before baking. The dough is patted into a rectangular shaped pan and then marked (scored) with a knife into evenly spaced pieces. Each piece is pierced with the tines of a fork and then chilled. Once baked, the shortbread is easily divided into pieces. 

Shortbread rounds (also known as highlanders) come in many different sizes, some with notched edges. The dough is chilled, evenly rolled out on a lightly floured work surface using a rolling pin, and then cut into rounds using a lightly flour cookie cutter. The rounds are chilled and then baked. 

Royal shortbread is the name given when one end of the baked shortbread is dipped into melted chocolate.  Millionaire shortbread is a bar cookie that has a shortbread base, caramel flavored middle layer and topped with melted semi-sweet chocolate. 

Rice flour is used in recipes to give the shortbread a more crumbly and tender texture. It is a fine gluten-free flour produced from white or brown rice. It can be found in some grocery stores or else health food stores. If the recipe contains 2 cups (280 grams) of all purpose flour, try replacing approximately 1/4 cup (35 grams) of the all purpose flour with rice flour. 

Cornstarch (corn flour) is also used in shortbread recipes to produce a more delicate and fragile cookie. You can replace up to 25% of the total amount of flour used in the recipe with cornstarch.

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