Scots Shortbread Recipe
- 1½ cups (¾ pound) unsalted butter
- 1¼ cups confectioners sugar
- 3½ cups flour
- ½ cup rice flour or cornstarch
- Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flour with rice flour or cornstarch (the former is preferable if available), and cut into butter until it resembles coarse meal; mix as you would for pastry. Add just enough of the flour mixture to make a dough that can be gathered into a soft ball. Knead on a lightly floured board for a minute or two, only until smooth. Do not knead too long or dough will become greasy and the shortbread will be tough.
- Divide dough in half and press each portion into an unbuttered 8-inch layer-cake pan. Using the back of the bowl of a wooden spoon, press a round indentation into the center of the cake and crimp the edges. With the tines of a fork, prick cake all over, right down to the pan. Bake in preheated 350° oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until shortbread is an even pale golden brown.
- This will be soft when removed from the oven and can then be cut into wedge-shaped portions; or break when cold and crisp. Variation: If you have the wooden shortbread molds, dust them with cornstarch or rice flour, press dough into them and invert onto a buttered and floured cookie sheet.
- Variation: If you have the wooden shortbread molds, dust them with cornstarch or rice flour, press dough into them and invert onto a buttered and floured cookie sheet.
