Page 322 - YC Cooking School

Sweet Treats

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How to master the classic shortbread

A buttery biscuit
Shortbread is simply a very buttery form of the basic 3:2:1 biscuit (300g flour, 200g butter
and 100g sugar) with a little added cornflour for extra smoothness and a very delicate
crumb. It's traditionally baked in a round, flat shape, or long fingers, and the Scots take all
the credit. Wherever it originates, it's ridiculously delicious, it melts in your mouth, and it's
so simple to make.

Use icing sugar for a smoother finish
When making shortbread, swap caster sugar or light brown sugar for icing sugar. This will
give you the characteristic delicate end result that shortbread is famous for.

Cream quickly
Get a good start to your lovely light biscuits by creaming softened, room temperature butter
and sugar together. You can help your mixer along by cutting the butter up into smaller
pieces. Shortbread only needs a very quick cream so don’t mix it together until light and
fluffy as you would a cake, but rather just until the butter and sugar are well combined.

Slowly add the sieved flour
It’s important to add the flour gradually or in two stages. You don’t want the butter and
sugar mixture to be overwhelmed by the flour, and in this way, it all has a chance to mix
together beautifully.

Take care not to over-mix your dough
Just like shortcrust pastry, over-mixing the dough is a no-no: the glutens will develop and
the dough will become chewy. Also, it’s a good idea to split your dough in half, as this means

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