Scottish Shortbread

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Melt in your mouth Scottish Shortbread is the perfect tea time cookie. These buttery treats are made with just 4 simple ingredients and can be ready to enjoy in just 30 minutes!

Rectangular fingers of Scottish Shortbread with docking holes on top.

Why you'll love this recipe

Shortbread is the simplest of cookies to make and calls for the simplest of ingredients.
The flavor and texture of these cookies continues to improve over time.
Shortbread cookies freeze well, making them great make-ahead-cookies to have on hand for guests and holidays.

Scottish Shortbread is a rich, buttery cookie with a tender, melting texture.

Butter flavor is the main focus of this cookie. Though shortbread is also delicious with added flavors, like Chocolate Espresso Shortbread or Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies, traditional Scottish Shortbread has no added flavors.

For the best butter flavor, splurge and use a good quality European butter for this cookie. European butters have a higher butterfat content than American butters which gives the shortbread a more intense butter flavor.

When stored in an airtight container, shortbread stays delicious for at least 2 weeks, making it the perfect treat for cold weather care packages or a year round cookie jar standard. The flavor gets richer over time.

Due to the high butter content,however, it's not advisable to mail shortbread under hot weather conditions. For hot weather care package shipping, send sugar cookies using shortening instead.

Closeup of shortbread cookie edges showing dense, buttery crumb.

Ingredients

Butter is traditionally salted in Scotland. If you use unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients for the best flavor.
Rice flour is added to shortbread to add a small amount of crunch and to make the shortbread less crumbly. It's important to use dry-milled rice flour (like Bob's Red Mill) and not Asian wet-milled flour. For more information on rice flour see this article on "How to Pick the Right Rice Flour".
Superfine sugar is also known as caster sugar or bakers' sugar. It's a finely ground granulated sugar, not powdered. Buy it in the supermarket baking aisle or make your own by grinding granulated sugar in a blender or food processor.

Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all ingredients until a dough forms.
Press the shortbread cookie dough evenly into an 8" x 8"pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven to quickly score the dough into bars, pressing a knife partially into the dough. Then dock the bars (make holes) with the tines of a fork or a chop stick.
Return to the oven and bake an additional 15 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Storage

Store shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

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Tips and variations

These cookies taste like butter. Using the best tasting butter is essential.
For the best texture, don't substitute any other sugar for the caster sugar.
Caster sugar can be made at home by finely grinding granulated sugar in a food processor or blender.
For the most tender crumb, be careful not to overmix the dough.
Press the dough firmly into the pan by covering the dough with a sheet of wax paper and pressing with the bottom of a measuring cup, drinking glass, or another baking pan.
The dough can be docked before baking. The holes will serve their purpose of letting steam out of the dough, however, they will close up while baking and won't be visable after baking.
This traditional shortbread recipe can also be made in a large circle using a 8" round cake pan or shortbread mold and cut into triangles known as "petticoat tails".

Closeup of tops of shortbread fingers with docking holes.

Frequently asked questions

What is the secret to making good shortbread?

For the best tasting shortbread, butter is the most important ingredient. Use high quality European butter.

Why do you put rice flour or cornstarch in shortbread?

Adding rice flour or cornstarch to buttery shortbread creates the melt in your mouth, crunchy texture and makes the cookies sturdier for mailing.

Can I leave out the rice flour?

Leaving out the rice flour produces a denser crumb and more crumbly texture.

Can I use granulated sugar instead of caster sugar?

Caster sugar is required to produce the desired texture. If superfine, bakers' sugar isn't available, finely grind granulated sugar in a food processor or blender.

Why are there holes in shortbread?

Traditionally, the top of shortbread is pricked (docked) with a fork. Releasing the steam that occurs while baking helps the thick dough to bake evenly and avoid cracking.

How do I keep the scoring and docking from closing up while baking?

The high butter content in this dough will cause the dough to melt. Scored lines and docked holes will close up.
For lines and holes that are visable after baking, either score and dock after 20 baking for minutes then return to the oven, or
score and dock immediately after baking.

Should you chill shortbread dough before baking?

Shortbread baked in a pan can't spread and doesn't need to be chilled.

Tea cup with shortbread cookies on the side, showing interior buttery crumb.

More shortbread recipes

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies are ultra chocolaty cookies with chocolate chips.

Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies are a crunchy, buttery cookie speckled with bits of vanilla bean for the ultimate in warm vanilla flavor.

With Slice and Bake Shortbread, one simple recipe makes three different delicious shortbread flavors! Perfect for special occasions, holiday trays and gifting.

Strawberry Shortbread Cookies make great Valentine's Day butter cookies!

Be sure to look at our whole collection of shortbread recipes to find your favorite cookies!

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