Do you love a good shortbread cookie? These rich, sweet treats aren’t that difficult to make but there are some basic steps that you need to take.
What is Shortbread?
Shortbread is a traditional Scottish cookie and biscuit that are sweet and rich, ideal for an afternoon tea. Shortbread recipes traditionally contain butter, sugar, and flour, with one part sugar to two parts butter. While most shortbread recipes call for plain white flour, you can find versions that are made with a variety of ingredients to create different flavors and textures. If you’re looking for a recipe with a low fat content, you can find those, too.
In the modern era, cornstarch is often added to shortbread dough. This can simulate the crumbly texture of old-fashioned shortbread without the use of all-purpose flour. Many claim that only one type is authentic, but there are many variations. Listed below are some tips on identifying which type of shortbread is right for you. Purists will probably insist on only one basic recipe, but there are so many excellent ways to bake this cookie that you don’t want to restrict yourself.
Butter Is The Key
When mixing shortbread, the butter should not be at room temperature when the dough is being prepared. Room-temperature butter would melt away as soon as it went into a hot oven. Instead, refrigerating the butter will help it take longer to melt and allow you to make cut-out shortbread cookies. As with most cookies, the ingredients make a huge difference in the flavor and texture of the finished product. Remember, a perfect shortbread cookie will be crumbly, sweet,buttery but not greasy.
You can find a lot of different cookie recipes that will give you some fun options. Chocolate lovers can add dark chocolate to give a yin and yang taste sensation. Almond lovers can add almond extract or frost these cookies with almond icing. There is no limit to the options that you can explore with these versatile cookies.
