Traditional Recipe
6oz Plain flour
4oz Soft butter
2oz caster (granulated) sugar
1 oz cornflour (cornstarch)
Mix the butter and sugar together (preferably with a wooden spoon) until it is pale and creamy. Sieve both the flour and the cornflour into the bowl and mix well. Put a small amount of flour on your working surface and place the dough on this. Shake a little flour on top and roll out about quarter inch thick. Prick with a fork and cut into rounds with a cutter or, if you want one large shortbread round, pinch the edges with thumb and finger all round.
Use a palette knife to lift the shortbread onto an oiled baking tray and bake for 25 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 325F/170C/Gas Mark 3. If the biscuits are ready, they will be pale brown and crisp; if not, return to the oven for 5 or 10 minutes. Shake a small amount of caster/granulated sugar on the top of the shortbread immediately they have been removed from the oven. Use a palette knife to move them to a cooling rack and store in an airtight tin once they are cold.
Recipe taken from RampantScotland.com
Modern Take
Pistachio, Lemon, and Vanilla Shortbread
Traditional Scottish shortbread is baked in molds. In this modern version, the dough is simply pressed into a pan, baked, and cut into squares. Grated lemon peel cuts the buttery richness, and semolina flour adds texture.
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup semolina flour*
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shelled natural pistachios (about 4 ounces), coarsely chopped
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Combine all purpose flour, sugar, and semolina flour in processor; blend 5 seconds. Add butter, lemon peel, and vanilla. Using on/off turns, blend until coarse meal forms. Turn dough out into bowl. Add nuts and knead gently to combine. Press dough evenly over bottom of prepared pan. Using fork, pierce dough all over.
Bake shortbread until pale brown in center and golden at edges, about 35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes. Cut lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 6 squares. Cool completely in pan. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover tightly with foil; store at room temperature.
Recipe from Epicurious.com
What is it?
"Shortbread...a biscuit whose origins lies in the short cakes made in the 16th century..There are many variations..."
---Oxford Companion to Food
"eaten all year round, but especially at Christmans and the New Year, this delicious cake, which is quite unlike any other, is made from only the finest materials...Originally made with fine oatmeal, it is now made with sifted flour, someimes with a small proportion of rice flour. On festive occasions it can be decorated with fine strips of orange or lemon peal and small sugared almonds. In the Shedtland and Orkney Islands it is called teh Bride's Bonn, and his a small proportion...of caraway seeds added. The edges are traditionally "notched" by pinching with the finger and thumb...
---A Taste of Scotland
"Short" (definition 20): Of edible substances: Friable, easily crumbled.
---Oxford English Dictionary