Walkers Shortbread Mini Rounds, Traditional Pure Butter Scottish Recipe, 11g (Pack of 200)

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Both work, it depends what you want to achieve. When using a biscuit cutter you always cut the dough before baking (and in this recipe the dough is cut into rectangles first), but there will always be a little spreading as the dough cooks. 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. Jamieson, John (1841). An etymological dictionary of the Scottish language (2nded.). Edinburgh: Andrew Shortrede. p.191 . Retrieved 10 May 2018.

Store the shortbread in an airtight container for up to several weeks. Its flavor and texture improves over time. Chef John Quigley discusses and bakes Scottish Shortbread". Scotlandontv.tv. 2006-10-24 . Retrieved 2009-05-29. 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. Scottish chef John Quigley, of Glasgow's Red Onion, describes shortbread as "the jewel in the crown" of Scottish baking. [21] Modern recipes also often deviate from the original by splitting the sugar into equal parts granulated and icing sugar and many add a portion of salt.

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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] Creating little holes in the top of the shortbread helps any moisture escape from the dough so it cooks more evenly, this also helps create the very ‘short’ texture of the biscuits. In baking terms, 'short' means crumbly with a melt-in-the-mouth texture. It comes from using a high proportion of fat (or shortening) to flour and is also where shortcrust pastry gets its name. From our family vacation to Scotland last summer: View of Eilean Donan Castle from our vacation cottage. The story of shortbread begins with the medieval “biscuit bread”. Any leftover dough from bread making was dried out in a low oven until it hardened into a type of rusk: the word “biscuit” means “twice cooked”. Gradually the yeast in the bread was replaced by butter, and biscuit bread developed into shortbread.

Scottish cooks have always been famous for their soups, haggis (a dish traditionally served on Burns Night) and their baking, especially scones, pancakes, fruit cakes, oatcakes and shortbread. Challenge Butter— you can use unsalted or salted, but I prefer the additional flavor from salted butter If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment as that’s the best tool for creaming butter and sugar.

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. Triangular wedges of shortbread became known as "petticoat tails", and this form of shortbread has become particularly associated with Mary, Queen of Scots. [6] It has been suggested that a French term for the wedges of shortbread was petits gâteaux or petites gatelles – little cakes, and this became "petticoat tails". It is now thought the Scots term derives from the decorated round edge of the segments which resemble petticoats. [7] While I usually agree that you shouldn’t mess with a good thing, I don’t think that applies to shortbread. And you’re going to love these 4 flavor combinations— dark chocolate espresso, nutty cinnamon, white chocolate and toasted coconut, and cranberry orange. Shortbread is very simple, very easy to make and once you’ve made it yourself there will be no need to buy it again!

The more refined version of shortbread as we know it today is attributed to Scotland, in particular to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. She was particularly fond of what was known as Petticoat Tails, which was a thin shortbread baked in a large circle and cut into triangular segments. In her day the shortbread was commonly flavored with caraway seeds, which were all the rage in British baking for several centuries. In fact, the earliest published shortbread recipes from the 18th century were more elaborate than the standard shortbread today: They were baked with candied citrus peels and garnished with caraway comfits. Now that you have your shortbread dough nailed, you have the perfect base recipe to then be able to flavour your shortbread. You can add as much or as little as your like! Here are just some ingredients that you can add. Other ingredients are often substituted for part of the flour to alter the texture. Rice flour or semolina makes it grittier, and cornflour makes it more tender. [3] Bere or oat flour may be added for flavour. [18] one large circle, which is divided into segments as soon as it is taken out of the oven ( petticoat tails, which may have been named from the French petits cotés, a pointed biscuit eaten with wine, or petites gastelles, the old French term for little cakes. This term may also reference the shape of a petticoat [3]);Spices and ingredients such as almonds may be added. [3] Shapes [ edit ] Shortbread fingers and petticoat tails

Shortbread is generally associated with and originated in Scotland, but due to its popularity it is also made in the rest of the United Kingdom, and similar biscuits are also made in Denmark, Ireland and Sweden. The Scottish version is the best-known, and is widely exported. Today shortbread is a popular souvenir from Scotland. As well as plain shortbread, shortbread containing fruit, nuts and chocolate is now available, beautifully gift-wrapped in tartan or presented in tartan boxes. Sugar - Granulated or caster sugar is used. The recipe states granulated as it's more mainstream, but I personally go for caster sugar every time as it dissolves better into the butter. In American English, shortbread is different from shortcake. [16] Shortcake usually has a chemical leavening agent such as baking powder, which gives it a different, softer texture, and it was normally split and filled with fruit. [16] The most popular example of this difference is strawberry shortcake. [16] [17] Ingredients [ edit ]

Vanilla Extract & Salt - Vanilla extract and salt are not part of the core ingredients needed to make shortbread. If you're a purist then by all means leave them out. But I love the additional flavour and balance these two ingredients bring. Vanilla bean paste or the scraped beans from ½ a vanilla bean is a good substitute for vanilla extract. And use fine salt rather than flaked salt for an even distribution of salt throughout the dough. Although my partner and I do not like ginger biscuits we have to say that these do taste great if you like them in general, the flavour is spot on, the ginger is not too strong but for us sadly it is as we are not used to that flavour combination (sweet chocolate with spicy ginger). The dark chocolate tastes amazing, similar to dark chocolate McVitties.