Shortbread has been attributed to Mary, Queen of Scots, who in the mid-16th century was said to be very fond of Petticoat Tails, a thin, crisp, buttery shortbread originally flavoured with caraway seeds. Tip out the mixture onto a work surface and gently bring it together, then knead it into a dough. Once the dough is formed, wrap it in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6. 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. Add mix-ins of choice. Divide dough into 4 bowls and add mix-ins. If you only want to make a only few of the flavor variations, divide dough accordingly.

The bites themselves are very cheesy, too much for me. However, the two cheese eaters of the family find these really nice and more-ish. A box disappeared before my eyes while writing this review. Different oven temps:Your oven can run at a different temperature to mine and with such a short bake time overall, just a couple of degrees will change the length of bake time.In British English, shortbread and shortcake were synonyms for several centuries, starting in the 1400s; both referred to the crisp, crumbly cookie-type baked good, rather than a softer cake. [16] The "short-cake" mentioned in Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor, first published in 1602, was a reference to the cookie-style of shortbread. [16]

Extracts: Add coffee, lemon, lavender, orange, peppermint, maple or rum extracts to intensify flavour. Be warned, a little goes a long way.

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I love ginger biscuits, I love dark chocolate, these are 2 of my favourite things put together and are amazing. Teas: Earl Grey tea has to be my favourite to add to the dough, but others might include English breakfast, mint tea, or camomile. (Use crushed-up tea leaves rather than hot water and the leaves.)

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Line one or two baking trays with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar and cream for about 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed until pale and light. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through. Add in the vanilla extract and mix again. It can be hard to know when shortbread is baked through. Not baked for long enough and it's wet and claggy, too long and it's dry and crisp. Chilling the dough before baking will help the shortbread keep their shape while cooking. In the oven, the dough will spread as the butter in the mixture melts, but baking it from chilled helps reduce this effect. It’s most important to do this if you are baking the shortbread in individual biscuits. Timothy G. Roufs & Kathleen Smyth Roufs, Sweet Treats around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture (Santa Barbara, 2014), p. 290. STORAGE: Store in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. Once opened, keep in an airtight container and consume within 2 weeks.

Ingredients

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 so named because of its crumbly texture (from an old meaning of the word "short", as opposed to "long", or stretchy). [12] [13] [14] The cause of this texture is its high fat content, provided by the butter. The short or crumbly texture is a result of the fat inhibiting the formation of long protein ( gluten) strands. The related word " shortening" refers to any fat that may be added to produce a "short" (crumbly) texture. [15] Brown, Catherine (2015-04-01). "Shortbread". The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-931362-4. ...not all shortbread is made with white flour. On Orkney, where a tasty Neolithic barley known as "bere" is still grown and milled, bakers add a little of this flour to their shortbread. Others add rolled oats to provide more flavour and texture.

a b Clarkson, Janet (2015-04-01). "Shortcake". The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. p.1093. ISBN 978-0-19-931362-4. Shortbread originated in Scotland. [1] [2] Although it was prepared during much of the 12th century, and probably benefited from cultural exchange with French pastry chefs during the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland, [3] the refinement of shortbread is popularly credited to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. [4] Despite the enduring popular association, evidence for any connection between Mary and shortbread's origin is sparse. [5] From our family vacation to Scotland last summer: View of Eilean Donan Castle from our vacation cottage. 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.In one of the oldest shapes, bakers pinched the edges of a shortbread round to suggest the rays of the sun. [3] Cut into shortbread rounds or fingers and place onto a baking tray. Sprinkle with caster sugar and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. At this point stir in any add-ins if using (candied ginger, candied citrus peel, herbs, nuts, etc.) Shortbread was an expensive luxury and for ordinary people, shortbread was a special treat reserved just for special occasions such as weddings, Christmas and New Year. In Shetland it was traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake over the head of a new bride on the threshold of her new home. The custom of eating shortbread at New Year has its origins in the ancient pagan Yule Cakes which symbolised the sun. In Scotland it is still traditionally offered to “first footers” at New Year. There are only three ingredients so they need to be right – this definitely isn’t the time to swap butter for margarine, or caster sugar for other sugars.