Nick Malgieri, Director of Pastry and Baking Arts at Peter Kump's School of Culinary Arts, taken from his book How To Bake (Harper Collins, 1995)

SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD
Makes about twenty-four 2-2 inch cookies

It's hard to imagine the holidays without this traditional, buttery cookie. Keep the shortbread in a tin or a tight-lidded plastic container. Freeze if storing for longer than a few days.

  • pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • cup sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cookie sheets or jellyroll pans line with parchment or waxed paper
Method:
1. Set racks at the middle and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.

2. Beat the butter in a mixer with a paddle until soft and light. Beat in the sugar in a stream and continue beating until the mixture is very light and pale, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the flour by hand until it's absorbed no more or the dough will toughen.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and drop pinches of the flour onto the dough. Press the dough out with your hands, then roll it over very gently once or twice with a rolling pin until it is about inch thick. Cut it with floured cutters and transfer the cut pieces to the prepared pan.

4. Bake the shortbread until it is very lightly colored, about 15 minutes. Cool the shortbread on a rack.

Newsgroups: Holiday Entertaining: What are you cooking?
Sweet Spot: Holiday Baking
Holiday Ideas: StarChefs Gift Baskets

[Back to the Holiday Quickmeals Menu]


Main Menu | Newsgroups | RecipeSearch | Rumbles & Murmurs | Culinary Careers
QuickMeals | Secret Ingredients | Help Wanteds | Archives | Feedback

Copyright © 1998 StarChefs. All rights reserved.