Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Scottish Shortbread 2

I decided to try a second, an actually a third recipe for Scottish Shortbread today. I figured, this way I can try all 3 to know which I like best.

The recipe I'm showing you here is the third and I chose to include it because I just quite frankly liked it alot! It turned out to be my favorite of the 3. My son , Kris, chose the second one..but..hey..my blog..my choice! No, really, the second was very good, too, but what I like about this recipe is the texture. It isn't so crumbly and it has a little more crunch than the other 2. And by the way, now that a day has passed, I tasted the first recipe again and I think it has a bit of a floury taste, compared to today's recipe.

What's different about this shortbread recipe today is that it uses white rice flour,which gives it a more tender texture. It looks very much like cornstarch. But since the recipe calls for regular granulated sugar, albeit superfine, it has just a bit more crunch than using confectioners sugar only.

So to begin this recipe you combine the butter and sugar using a handheld mixer ( or a wooden spoon), and beat til light and creamy.


Add the flour and white rice flour and beat to combine but don't beat too much more with the mixer. The dough should still look crumbly.

Loose the mixer and using your hands, mix it all together. The heat from your hands will help combine the dough into a nice ball. Don't overmix though!


At this point, I turned it out onto a sheet of waxed paper and placed another sheet over top and rolled it from the center out, turning the circle as I rolled.
Then you can place it onto your baking sheet ( I didn't grease it, with all that butter, that didn't seem a necessary step).
Then take the end of your wooden spoon and make indents all around the edge..just to make a pretty pattern!
Using a fork, prick the areas where you'll be cutting apart the sections.

Scottish Shortbread 2

2/3 cup unsalted butter - room temp.
1/4 cup white rice flour
Generous 1/3 cup caster ( superfine) sugar
1 1/2 cups AP flour
Preheat oven to 300.
Sprinkle baking sheet with a little sugar.
1. Using a wooden spoon or hand mixer, combine butter and sugar til light and creamy.
2. Add flour and white rice flour and beat just a little more. Mixture should still be crumbly.
3. Using your hands, continue to combine the dough, forming into a ball. Don't overwork it.
4. Place the ball onto a sheet of waxed paper and cover with another sheet of waxed paper.
Using a rolling pin, roll into a circle, rolling from the center out, turning the dough with each roll.
5. Place onto the baking sheet and using the end of a wooden spoon, make indents all around the edge. Then prick the sections that will be cut out into pieces with a fork.
6. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or til the edges are slightly golden but still a little soft in the center.
7. After a few minutes out of the oven, cut the sections using a sharp knife.
8. Let the shortbread cool completely on a wire rack.
I like to keep it in a tin, rather than a rubbermaid type container.
*Note: You could also make it into a square shape and cut the pieces into small squares.*





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