Scottish Shortbread Cookies – Just three ingredients to mix up these buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookies. So quick and easy to make and enjoy with a cup of hot tea. This buttery Scottish shortbread recipe is perfect for a weeknight dessert or a Christmas cookie tray.
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If youve never tried traditional Scottish shortbread cookies before, you are really in for a treat with this recipe. The beauty of a Scottish shortbread cookie recipe is that it requires only three ingredients. Yes – three! Youll just need sugar, butter, and flour.
Traditional Scottish shortbread is a simple recipe made with sugar, butter, flour, and salt. Other shortbread styles will include leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda, which makes them crisp instead of crumbly like traditional Scottish shortbread.
How To Make Shortbread Cookies
Prep Tips
- soften the butter to room temperature (check the tips below!)
- the dough will need to chill but you can line cookie sheets ahead of time if you want to
- cut some plastic wrap to size to wrap the dough in to chill
RECIPE TIP: You can use a stand mixer, electric handheld mixer, or just mix by hand using a spatula.
What is the difference between English shortbread and Scottish shortbread?
Scottish shortbread cookies are made simply with sugar, butter, and flour. Other shortbread styles incorporate leavening like baking powder and baking soda, making them crisp instead of crumbly like a traditional Scottish shortbread.
About the ingredients for this recipe. See the recipe card below for exact amounts.
- butter – I use salted butter for this recipe, and I buy the best quality for this specific recipe. The butter accounts for the beautiful texture and flavor in this recipe and so its really an important ingredient. Use your favorite butter. If you use unsalted butter, simply add a pinch of salt.
- sugar – regular granulated sugar. Some recipes use powdered sugar, but mine uses regular granulated white sugar.
- flour – all-purpose flour
My Scottish Grandma’s Famous Shortbread Recipe + Why I Flew to Florida for it!
FAQ
Is there a difference between shortbread and Scottish shortbread?
What makes shortbread Scottish?
When making shortbread What must you not do?
What are the 3 traditional shapes of shortbread?
Does Scottish shortbread have a lot of sugar?
Sugar – proper traditional Scottish shortbread does not contain a lot of sugar. This dates back centuries when sugar was seriously expensive. What type of sugar do you use to make shortbread? Simple white caster sugar that you’d use in any baking recipe. Do NOT use icing sugar/powdered sugar to make shortbread.
Is Scottish shortbread better than regular shortbread?
Unlike regular shortbread, Scottish shortbread is typically made from extra buttery dough, which adds a smooth and silky texture to the cookie. The buttery texture is one of the key distinguishing factors between the two, and that’s why Scottish shortbread is a bit more decadent than the regular one.
What are Scottish shortbread cookies?
Made with four simple ingredients, flour, butter, sugar and salt, these crumbly, buttery, delicious shortbread cookies will be a sweet treat your whole family will love! There are lots of shortbread recipes on the internet but not all of them are Scottish Shortbread recipes, and there is a difference.
What is the difference between whipped shortbread and Scottish shortbread?
Basically, whipped shortbread is made with icing sugar and sometimes cornstarch, and is very light in texture like this melt-in-your mouth shortbread recipe. Scottish shortbread has more of a biscuit feel, with a denser texture. This Scottish shortbread cookie recipe is made from just four basic ingredients. Here’s what you need: