Shortbread cookie recipe with step by step pictures. These Scottish shortbread cookies made with three simple ingredients, butter, flour, and sugar are a scrumptious treat and so simple to make! With the Holidays around the corner, you really don’t need a reason to bake these crispy, buttery shortbread cookies. So let’s learn how to make this Scottish classic!
Our journey continues from Sweden’s thumbprint cookies to Austria’s Linzer cookies , and now to Scotland with these shortbread biscuits or Scottish butter cookies. And with that, I’m winding up my list of cookies for this year. I hadn’t really planned on it, but I realized that I ended up making cookies from three different countries this Holiday! I hope you enjoyed these eggless treats.
- What is shortbread?
- HOW TO MAKE SHORTBREAD COOKIES?
- ENJOYED THESE RICH SHORTBREAD BISCUITS? THEN DO CHECK OUT THESE EASY EGGLESS COOKIE RECIPES TOO,
- STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE THE PERFECT SHORTBREAD COOKIE | EASY SHORTBREAD RECIPE
- Variations
- Shortbread Cookie Recipe | Shortbread Recipe | Scottish Shortbread Biscuits
What is shortbread?
Shortbread is a crisp, crumbly, buttery Scottish cookie. Traditional Scottish shortbread recipe calls for 1 part of sugar, two parts of butter, and three parts of flour, by weight. It is also known as 1 2 3 shortbread or 2 4 6 shortbread . The former number simply represents the ratio of the ingredients while the latter represents the weights, i.e 2 oz, 4 oz, and 6 oz of sugar, butter, and flour respectively.
Walkers cookies remind me of the slice and bake Indian shortbread cookies minus the flavorings and also the popular Nankhatai , that’s made with chickpea flour, semolina, and ghee. Because there is no additional flavoring used in Scottish butter shortbread cookies you can really taste all that rich buttery goodness. But instead of making plain shortbread cookies I added some pure vanilla extract to make some vanilla shortbread biscuits .
And that’s how I always thought a biscuit, or rather a cookie, was supposed to be. The classic American chocolate chip cookie, or snickerdoodle and other soft and chewy cookies are not something that I grew up eating. I enjoy them though, and make a batch or two at home since the kids love them and devour them like crazy!
HOW TO MAKE SHORTBREAD COOKIES?
There are 2 ways you can go about making shortbread. In the traditional method, you mix the dry ingredients i.e. flour and sugar and work the butter into the dry mix with your fingers until the butter is well incorporated with the flour. To make things easier, you can pulse the ingredients in a food processor until it forms a dough that leaves the sides.
The other method is creaming the butter and sugar and then adding the flour. And that’s the one I’ve followed today. I like doing the traditional method if I’m making some sort of bars like lemon bars or millionaire’s shortbread.
The key point to remember in both the methods is to avoid overworking the dough. Over-kneading the dough results in gluten formation, which will cause these cookies to be less crumbly, thereby ruining the texture of a shortbread, which is what you want to avoid!
And that’s why flours like cornstarch or rice flour have become popular choices to add that tender and crunchy characteristic to these biscuits.
Shortbread comes in various shapes. They can be shaped using the traditional wooden mold or pressed in a round pan, and cut into triangles or pressed into a rectangular or square pan to make finger-shaped cookies. The triangle shaped shortbread are called “petticoat tails”.
Once you are done with the dough and shaping all that is left to do is to bake these biscuits! You should keep an eye on the baking time as you don’t want the cookies to turn brown. They should be pale in color. The longer you bake them, apart from the darker color, they will turn a tad too crispy and loose that light crunch. You want the shortbread to have a lightly crisp bite and then just crumble in your mouth.
I made chocolate covered shortbread and sprinkled some pistachio for a festive flair. I also ended up making Christmas shortbread cookies with the scraps with these cute Christmas theme mini cutters that I got last week. They made for a nice bite-sized cookie.
My homemade ones were just as comparable with the popular brand of shortbread cookies, except for the added vanilla flour, the texture in terms of crispness and crumbliness was spot on!
It is really easy to make a shortbread cookie recipe from scratch, you don’t really need a shortbread mix! So try and include these easy homemade shortbread cookies this Holidays. They are great for your cookie exchange as well 🙂
And before we move on to the recipe, here is a fun fact: January 6th is celebrated as National Shortbread Day 🙂
ENJOYED THESE RICH SHORTBREAD BISCUITS? THEN DO CHECK OUT THESE EASY EGGLESS COOKIE RECIPES TOO,
- Eggless Bourbon biscuits
- Eggless badam pista biscuits, Karachi bakery style
- Coconut cookies
- Nankhatai (Indian shortbread cookies)
- Swedish Thumbprint cookies
- Linzer Cookies
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE THE PERFECT SHORTBREAD COOKIE | EASY SHORTBREAD RECIPE
1.Place butter in the bowl of your stand mixer (you can use your hand mixer or a whisk too), sift in powdered sugar, beat on low heat initially, until the powdered sugar is mixed with the butter, then increase the speed to medium and beat until light and creamy.
2.Add vanilla extract and beat for another 30 seconds. I used clear vanilla extract coz that is what I had.
3.Now switch to the lowest speed and add the flour in parts. Gently bring the dough together, avoid overworking the dough. If you press the dough between your palms it should hold its shape. If the dough feels too dry and crumbly, add a teaspoon of milk or more as required just until the dough comes together.
4.Divide the dough into two parts. Place a cling wrap on the work surface, transfer one part of the dough over the plastic wrap and shape it into square or a round disc, about 1 inch thick and wrap in the cling film. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
5.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Take one part of the dough, roll it out between two parchment or wax papers to 1/4 inch in thickness.
For the finger-shaped cookies: Snip off the edges to make a neat rectangle or square. Score the shortbread dough to make finger shapes. Indent the cookies with a fork or skewer.
For the round or other shaped cookies: Use your favorite cookie cutter, and make cut-out after rolling out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Gather the scraps, form a disc, refrigerate for another 15 minutes, reroll and make more cutouts.
6.Lay the cookies on the sheet at least 2 inches apart (If the cookie dough seems too soft at this stage, place the tray with the cutouts in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. This prevents the cookies from spreading too much while baking). Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. Do not let the cookies turn brown. Smaller shaped cookies will take less time to bake, so keep an eye. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the cookies stand on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
8.Dip one end of a cookie in the melted chocolate, shake off excess, sprinkle pistachio pieces and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat the same with the rest of the cookies.
9.Place the tray in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or until the chocolate hardens and firms up. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
NOTES
- Shortbread without icing sugar (shortbread recipe with granulated sugar): Substitute the powdered sugar with 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
- Shortbread with rice flour and icing sugar: Substitute 1/4 cup of flour with rice flour and use the same amount of powdered sugar and other ingredients mentioned in the recipe.
- Shortbread cookies with cornstarch: Substitute 1/4 cup of flour with cornstarch or custard powder.
- Alternately, you can gently press the shortbread dough in an 8-inch square pan lined with parchment paper or a 9-inch springform pan or a fluted tart pan. Smooth the surface out. Score the dough into triangles or finger shapes, and prick with a fork all over. Bake until shortbread is a light golden in color and cooked through, may take around 30-40 minutes. Then cut the warm shortbread along the scored lines. Transfer on to a cooling rack after 5 minutes, and let it cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Variations
There are so many possible variations with this easy shortbread cookie recipe .
- Shortbread cookies with jam: These are the same as the shortbread thumbprint cookies I shared earlier, you can find the recipe here .
- Shortbread flavor ideas: You can flavor up your basic shortbread recipe with flavors like dried lavender, saffron, pistachio, almond, citrus like lemon or orange zest, chai spice, matcha, cardamom, peppermint etc You can also add in chocolate chips, chocolate chunks or nuts like walnuts, pecans, cashew nuts or dried fruits like cranberries, raisins, apricots etc.
- Savory shortbread: Of course you can make some awesome savory shortbread as well. Bacon, dried herbs, caraway seeds (which was traditionally used in shortbread) are yummy options. You may cut back on the sugar to reduce the sweetness in the cookies.
- Festive shortbread : Make differently shaped shortbread, such as heart-shaped, reindeer, snowman, snowflake, Christmas tree, stars, egg-shaped etc. for various occasions or make some embossed shortbread cookies with one of those fancy stamps.
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Shortbread Cookie Recipe | Shortbread Recipe | Scottish Shortbread Biscuits
Ingredients1x2x3x
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 1 cup salted butter, add 1/2 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar/powdered sugar, you may reduce it to 2/3 cup
- 2 & 1/4 cups cup all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, optional but recommended
For chocolate covered shortbread
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks/chips
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup coarsely crushed pistachios, or nuts/sprinkles etc of choice
Instructions
- Place butter in the bowl of your stand mixer (you can use your hand mixer or a whisk too), sift in powdered sugar, beat on low heat initially, until the powdered sugar is mixed with the butter, then increase the speed to medium and beat until light and creamy.
- Add vanilla extract and beat for another 30 seconds.
- Now switch to the lowest speed and add the flour in parts. Gently bring the dough together, avoid overworking the dough. If you press the dough between your palms it should hold its shape. If the dough feels too dry and crumbly, add a teaspoon of milk or more as required just until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough into two parts. Place a cling wrap on the work surface, transfer one part of the dough over the plastic wrap and shape it into square or a round disc, about 1 inch thick and wrap in the cling film. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Take one part of dough, roll it out between two parchment or wax papers to 1/4 inch in thickness.
- For the finger-shaped cookies: Snip off the edges to make a neat rectangle or square. Score the shortbread dough to make finger shapes. Indent the cookies with a fork or skewer.
- For the round or other shaped cookies: Use your favorite cookie cutter, and make cut-out after rolling out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Gather the scraps, form a disc, refrigerate for another 15 minutes, reroll and make more cutouts.
- Lay the cookies on the sheet at least 2 inches apart (If the cookie dough seems too soft at this stage, place the tray with the cutouts in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. This prevents the cookies from spreading too much while baking).
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. Do not let the cookies turn brown. Smaller shaped cookies will take less time to bake, so keep an eye. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the cookies stand on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
- For chocolate covered shortbread: Place the chocolate chips or chunks along with the butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high power in 30-second intervals, stirring with a clean, dry spoon after each interval. It took me a total of 1 & 1./2 minute to melt the chocolate chunks. Keep stirring to make it smooth and glossy.
- Dip one end of a cookie in the melted chocolate, shake off excess, sprinkle pistachio pieces and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat the same with the rest of the cookies.
- Place the tray in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or until the chocolate hardens and firms up. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Shortbread without icing sugar (shortbread recipe with granulated sugar): Substitute the powdered sugar with 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
- Shortbread with rice flour and icing sugar: Substitute 1/4 cup of flour with rice flour and use the same amount of powdered sugar and other ingredients mentioned in the recipe.
- Shortbread cookies with cornstarch: Substitute 1/4 cup of flour with cornstarch or custard powder.
- Alternately, you can gently press the shortbread dough in an 8-inch square pan lined with parchment paper or a 9-inch springform pan or a fluted tart pan. Smooth the surface out. Score the dough into triangles or finger shapes, and prick with a fork all over. Bake until shortbread is a light golden in color and cooked through, may take around 30-40 minutes. Then cut the warm shortbread along the scored lines. Transfer on to a cooling rack after 5 minutes, and let it cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Shortbread Cookie Recipe | Shortbread Recipe | Scottish Shortbread Biscuits
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 1 cup salted butter, add 1/2 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar/powdered sugar, you may reduce it to 2/3 cup
- 2 & 1/4 cups cup all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, optional but recommended
For chocolate covered shortbread
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks/chips
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup coarsely crushed pistachios, or nuts/sprinkles etc of choice
Instructions
- Place butter in the bowl of your stand mixer (you can use your hand mixer or a whisk too), sift in powdered sugar, beat on low heat initially, until the powdered sugar is mixed with the butter, then increase the speed to medium and beat until light and creamy.
- Add vanilla extract and beat for another 30 seconds.
- Now switch to the lowest speed and add the flour in parts. Gently bring the dough together, avoid overworking the dough. If you press the dough between your palms it should hold its shape. If the dough feels too dry and crumbly, add a teaspoon of milk or more as required just until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough into two parts. Place a cling wrap on the work surface, transfer one part of the dough over the plastic wrap and shape it into square or a round disc, about 1 inch thick and wrap in the cling film. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Take one part of dough, roll it out between two parchment or wax papers to 1/4 inch in thickness.
- For the finger-shaped cookies: Snip off the edges to make a neat rectangle or square. Score the shortbread dough to make finger shapes. Indent the cookies with a fork or skewer.
- For the round or other shaped cookies: Use your favorite cookie cutter, and make cut-out after rolling out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Gather the scraps, form a disc, refrigerate for another 15 minutes, reroll and make more cutouts.
- Lay the cookies on the sheet at least 2 inches apart (If the cookie dough seems too soft at this stage, place the tray with the cutouts in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. This prevents the cookies from spreading too much while baking).
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. Do not let the cookies turn brown. Smaller shaped cookies will take less time to bake, so keep an eye. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the cookies stand on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
- For chocolate covered shortbread: Place the chocolate chips or chunks along with the butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high power in 30-second intervals, stirring with a clean, dry spoon after each interval. It took me a total of 1 & 1./2 minute to melt the chocolate chunks. Keep stirring to make it smooth and glossy.
- Dip one end of a cookie in the melted chocolate, shake off excess, sprinkle pistachio pieces and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat the same with the rest of the cookies.
- Place the tray in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or until the chocolate hardens and firms up. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Shortbread without icing sugar (shortbread recipe with granulated sugar): Substitute the powdered sugar with 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
- Shortbread with rice flour and icing sugar: Substitute 1/4 cup of flour with rice flour and use the same amount of powdered sugar and other ingredients mentioned in the recipe.
- Shortbread cookies with cornstarch: Substitute 1/4 cup of flour with cornstarch or custard powder.
- Alternately, you can gently press the shortbread dough in an 8-inch square pan lined with parchment paper or a 9-inch springform pan or a fluted tart pan. Smooth the surface out. Score the dough into triangles or finger shapes, and prick with a fork all over. Bake until shortbread is a light golden in color and cooked through, may take around 30-40 minutes. Then cut the warm shortbread along the scored lines. Transfer on to a cooling rack after 5 minutes, and let it cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Delicious methi chicken recipe with step by step pictures. Methi chicken gravy | Murgh methi malai is a decadent and luxurious Mughlai dish prepared with chicken and fresh methi (fenugreek) greens simmered in a rich creamy curry.
Murgh stands for ‘chicken’, methi is ‘fenugreek ‘ and malai is ‘cream’. The earthy, bitter taste of fenugreek greens complements the chicken exceptionally well. The addition of cream further mellows down the bitterness thereby adding to the rich quotient of this dish.
I like to have some variation in chicken dishes so that it doesn’t get mundane and boring. As I’ve mentioned before I love fenugreek and the distinct and bitter flavor it lends to any dish. It does have a unique flavor that cannot be missed.
- HOW TO MAKE METHI CHICKEN CURRY?
- ENJOYED THIS FENUGREEK CHICKEN RECIPE | METHI MALAI CHICKEN? THEN YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THESE CHICKEN CURRIES
- YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY THESE METHI RECIPES
- STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE METHI MALAI CHICKEN | METHI MURGH
- HOW TO MAKE METHI MALAI CHICKEN?
- Methi Chicken Recipe | Methi Malai Chicken | Murgh Methi Malai
HOW TO MAKE METHI CHICKEN CURRY?
To make this decadent methi chicken recipe with fresh methi , you start off by marinating the chicken. The methi chicken marinade consists of yogurt and basic Indian spices like red chilli, turmeric, cumin-coriander, ginger garlic paste, and kasoori methi. Marinating the chicken overnight makes this dish a breeze to put together for lunch the next day.
The marinated chicken is then cooked along with some whole spices, sauteed onions, ginger-garlic, cashew nut paste, and some cream to finish it off. Pretty simple! You can skip the cream for a simple methi chicken.
Again this is not your everyday chicken curry, considering how calorie rich this is, make sure you reserve it for some special occasion or a party 🙂
Methi leaves are in abundance during the winters, and this is the perfect season to enjoy this dish! So next time you plan on making chicken curry, try this easy curry recipe! I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as we do!
- Butter Chicken
- Dahi Chicken
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY THESE METHI RECIPES
- Egg methi bhurji (scrambled eggs with fenugreek leaves)
- Aloo methi
- Methi matar malai paneer
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE METHI MALAI CHICKEN | METHI MURGH
1.Wash and pat dry the chicken well. Cut it into 2-inch pieces and transfer to a large bowl. Add yogurt, red chilli, Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric, cumin- coriander, crushed kasuri methi, garam masala, 1/2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste, along with salt and 1 tablespoon oil. Mix it well and marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes or even overnight.
2.In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil on medium heat, add the whole garam masala, Sauté until fragrant.
3.Add chopped onions, Sauté on medium until the onions are golden.
4.Add ginger garlic paste and slit green chilies, Sauté until aromatic.
5.Add the methi leaves, cook on medium heat stirring well until the leaves are wilted.
6.Next add marinated chicken along with all the marinade to the masala. Increase the heat to high, toss the chicken with the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes.
7.Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and let it simmer, stirring occasionally until the chicken is almost cooked through. The chicken will release some water, in case you find it is dry and sticking to the pan, add some hot water and mix well.
8.Add the cashew nut paste, mix well, cover and cook another 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
9.The oil will float on top once the chicken is cooked through. Add cream, mix well and simmer for 2 more minutes, check for seasonings, adjust with salt if required. Serve hot with pulav /rice or any other flatbread.
NOTE
- If you can’t find fresh methi leaves, make kasuri methi chicken instead. Rehydrate about 1/2 cup kasuri methi in boiling hot water for 5 minutes, add it after step 8, mix well and cook for 5 minutes.
- If you do not like the bitterness of fresh methi leaves, sprinkle salt on the methi leaves, leave it for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes squeeze the leaves well to get rid of the bitter juices. Rinse and use as directed in the recipe
HOW TO MAKE METHI MALAI CHICKEN?
Methi Chicken Recipe | Methi Malai Chicken | Murgh Methi Malai
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml , 1 teaspoon = 5 ml
- 1.45 lbs / 625 grams bone-in chicken
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 tsp red chilli powder/cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder/paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tbsp kasuri methi, dry roasted and crushed between palms
- 1 & 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2 cups chopped onion
- Whole garam masalas (1 bay leaf, 1-inch cinnamon, 4-5 green cardamom, 2 black cardamom & 4 cloves)
- 3 cups tightly packed chopped methi (fenugreek leaves)
- 8-10 cashew nuts, soaked in warm water for 10-15 minutes and ground to a paste
- 2-3 green chillies, add more for more heat
- 1/2 cup heavy cream/ malai
- salt to taste
- 4 tbsp ghee
- 1 tbsp oil
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry the chicken well. Cut it into 2-inch pieces and transfer to a large bowl. Add yogurt, red chilli, kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric, cumin- coriander, crushed kasuri methi, garam masala, 1/2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste, along with salt and 1 tablespoon oil. Mix it well and marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes or even overnight.
- In a heavy bottom pan, heat ghee and oil on medium heat, add the whole garam masala, sauté until fragrant.
- Add chopped onions, Sauté on medium until the onions are golden.
- Add ginger garlic paste and slit green chilies, Sauté until aromatic.
- Add the methi leaves, cook on medium heat stirring well until the leaves are wilted.
- Next add marinated chicken along with all the marinade to the masala. Increase the heat to high, toss the chicken with the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and let it simmer, stirring occasionally until the chicken is almost cooked through. The chicken will release some water, in case you find it is dry and sticking to the pan, add some hot water and mix well.
- Add the cashew nut paste, mix well, cover and cook another 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- The oil will float on top once the chicken is cooked through. Add cream, mix well and simmer for 2 more minutes, check for seasonings, adjust with salt if required. Serve hot with pulav/rice or any other flatbread.
Notes
- If you can’t find fresh methi leaves, make kasuri methi chicken instead. Rehydrate about 1/2 cup kasuri methi in boiling hot water for 5 minutes, add it after step 8, mix well and cook for 5 minutes.
- If you do not like the bitterness of fresh methi leaves, sprinkle salt on the methi leaves, leave it for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes squeeze the leaves well to get rid of the bitter juices. Rinse and use as directed in the recipe
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Regards,
Freda
