Shortbread

Name: Shortbread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Cuisine: Scotland
Ingredients: 200 g (14 tbsp) salted butter, soft, or unsalted + 2 g (⅓ tsp) fine sea salt; 100 g (½ cup) superfine (caster) sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling; 250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour; 50 g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) cornstarch or rice flour, for extra sandy texture

Three ingredients, pale, sandy and very buttery

Makes: 16 wedges or fingers (20 cm / 8 in pan)
Hands-on: 15 min
Total: 1 h 35 min
Level: Easy

Classic shortbread is just butter, sugar and flour, in the old ratio of one part sugar to two of butter and three of flour, baked low until barely golden. It should be pale, crisp and so tender it crumbles as you bite. Good butter makes all the difference.

Ingredients

200 gsalted butter, soft (14 tbsp)or unsalted + 2 g (⅓ tsp) fine sea salt
100 gsuperfine (caster) sugar (½ cup)plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
250 gall-purpose flour (2 cups)
50 gcornstarch or rice flour (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp)for extra sandy texture

Diet: Vegetarian
Allergens: gluten, milk
Origin: Scotland

Method

Heat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Line a 20 cm (8 in) square metal pan with a sling of baking paper.
Beat the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. You don't need it fluffy. 2 min
Add the flour and cornstarch and mix with the spoon, then your hands, until it just comes together into a soft dough. Don't overwork it.
Press evenly into the pan and smooth with the back of a spoon. Prick all over with a fork and mark into 16 fingers with a knife, cutting about halfway through. Chill 15 minutes. 15 min
Bake 35–40 minutes, until pale golden all over and slightly darker at the edges. It should not brown. 38 min
Sprinkle with the extra sugar straight away and re-cut along the lines while hot. Cool completely in the pan, about 40 minutes, before lifting out and breaking into fingers. 40 min

Why it works

'Short' means tender, and here the large amount of butter coats the flour so thoroughly that very little gluten can form, giving a crisp, crumbly bite. Cornstarch or rice flour has no gluten at all and makes the texture sandier still. A low oven dries and sets the dough before it can brown, keeping the flavor pure and buttery.

Common mistakes

Overmixing, which develops gluten and makes shortbread tough.
A hot oven. It browns before it bakes through; shortbread should be pale.
Cutting after it has cooled; it shatters. Cut while warm.

Variations

Rounds: Roll the dough into a 5 cm log, chill 1 hour, slice 1 cm thick and bake on a lined tray 18–22 minutes.
Lavender or lemon: Add 1 tsp dried culinary lavender or the grated zest of 1 lemon with the sugar.

Make ahead and storage

Keeps 2 weeks in an airtight container. The raw dough freezes for 3 months.

Notes

Fan oven: 140°C (285°F).