Shortbread

Oddly enough, I found my old school shortbread recipe recently:
6oz Plain flour
4oz butter
2oz caster sugar

Rub flour into the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs - mix in the sugar and knead to a soft dough.

Roll out to half to 3 quarters of an inch and bake.

Thanks Astitchintime we also made it at school. I have found some this afternoon that add different hints such as pistachio nuts and orange. Have found an old fashioned thistle wooden mould for shortbread for sale and am wondering if anyone else has one.

I recently posted a recipe from my school cookery book on another thread. There was a!so a shortbread recipe with detailed notes that went over three pages in the same book.

I think the recipe is fairly simple - it really is the technique that makes the difference. Living abroad as I do, if I want shortbread, I have to make it myself. I replace some of the flour with semolina, which gives a nice texture.

According to my school days recipe, you should have warm hands and, on cold days, warm the bowl and the fat but don't let it become oily. The mixture requires a lot of kneading with those warm hands until it is pliable and not crumbly.

Again, checking my notes from 1967, you should not bake it until it's brown, but just pale fawn. It will be soft, but when cold, is hard enough to remove from tin.

IIRC the oven should not be too hot and the baking time is quite long compared to simple biscuits. If you are making it in a tray, divide the shapes with a sharp knife while still warm, then leave.to cool and set hard in the tin until cooled right down before removing. Sprinkle with caster sugar while still warm so that the sugar sticks better.

Thanks JackyB, would you do half flour and half semolina?

I like the idea of recipes from school/Domestic Science/Housecraft.

Thepanaramawoman

Thanks Astitchintime we also made it at school. I have found some this afternoon that add different hints such as pistachio nuts and orange. Have found an old fashioned thistle wooden mould for shortbread for sale and am wondering if anyone else has one.

I have two, a larger and small one, also with Thistles. I use them as kitchen decorations rather than for shortbread.

thepanaramawoman No - only replace at most a quarter of the flour with semolina - or even less. My recipe was in ounces , so I'd replace one ounce in 6. My school recipe used. "Ground rice" and others used rice flour (in the same proportion). I substituted semolina because I couldn't buy them here.

There are lots officials for shortbread making on YouTube. I was fascinated by this mould - is it similar to yours?

youtube.com/shorts/JuWRL8LO0e0?si=-UO5Bpvsi_L7FJko

"lots of videos" I mean, of course.

A really nice tin is needed to present such lovely home made shortbread, your friend is very lucky indeed. I have loads of tins, never throw them away if I get biscuits etc., as a present but these often have the name of the brand on them. Would take a look in your local charity shops, some have vintage tins or containers, or take a look on Etsy.
Would love to see a pic when you have made the shortbread.
Good luck 🤞

I also add semolina. I use Mary Berry's recipe

Intrigued about the wooden cutter. Is it really sharp enough to cut out shapes?

I would suggest freezing the shapes before you bake them or they might just melt into unrecognisable blobs in the oven.

I've made loads of shortbread over the years for charity sales, hungry builders--- and ourselves, and use the Mary Berry recipe which never fails, is delicious, and the quantities are easily adaptable. Take a weight of plain flour and rub in the same weight of butter.It will be lumpy. Then add half the weight of both caster sugar and semolina. I line the shallow tin with baking parchment, tip in the mixture, spread it out evenly then press it really flat with a spatula, then sprinkle with Demerara sugar. Bake in a moderate oven until pale gold. Cut in slices while still warm and leave in the tin until cold. Sorry, can't give an exact temperature as I use an Aga.

ALWAYS use proper decent butter.....

Using the right proportions is important Flour butter sugar 3:2:1

I use a wooden shortbread mould that one of my gran’s brothers carved whilst in hospital due the effects of a gas attack during the First World War. I use her recipe which is plain flour, butter and caster sugar. It’s never failed me yet.

I love a bit of orange zest in my shortbread.

How lovely to have such a precious thing!

From what I remember the most important thing in making shortbread was not to knead the mixture too much. Overkneading causes proteins to develop that make the shortbread tough. You can either make it by rubbing the butter into flour then add the sugar or mix the sugar and butter then add the flour and rub into breadcrumb texture. bring it together as you would pastry then either press lightly into moulds or roll out and shape into a circle and mark the tringle shapes before baking.

I would buy a new plastic box with sides that click shut for an airtight seal . Most tins are not air tight and often say transfer to an air tight container once opened printed on the tin . You could put a paper doily in the box first.

The traditional decoration for shortbread fingers is a line of fork marks parallel to one another. It's simple, looks very nice and doesn't require buying a fancy cutter -- although I do agree that thistle imprints look good on round biscuits.

1/4 lb. sugar
1 lb. butter
1 lb flour
1 pinch of salt

Cream butter and sugar and knead the flour gradually in.

Roll out the dough o a floured board to a round cake, about ½ inch thick. Score the dough with a knife in portions, so it is easy to divide. Bake it in a round, well greased tin.

This is my great-grandmother's recipe.

Martha Stewart’s shortbread recipe that makes a 13 by 9 inch
you mark it out prick with a fork looks very professional.
Actually all her recipes are good,they wouldn’t dare fail.

Graham's butter.