This Taste of Home simple cookie recipe will soon be a household favorite. I love that these 3 ingredients are pantry staples that I always have on hand. Scottish shortbread pairs well with your morning cup of coffee or evening tea. This is a simple recipe to share during a holiday cookie exchange or bring to a potluck event.
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons of sugar
½ butter or margarine
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl combine the flour and sugar. Cut in the butter or margarine until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
3. Form the mixture into a ball and knead until smooth
4. For wedges, pat 8in ball of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet (You can use your fingers to make scalloped edges)- Bake for 40-50 minutes or until edges are lightly golden.
5. With a fork prick the dough deeply to create 16 wedges
6. For stripes or cutouts- On a lightly floured surface pat dough into ½ inch thick. Cut into strips or rounds with a cookie cutter- Bake at 300 for 30 mins
Variations:
Spiced Shortbread- Following the above instructions, except substitute brown sugar for sugar. Stir in ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves.
Lemon-Poppy seed- Make recipe as above but add in 1 Tablespoon of poppy seeds and 1 teaspoon of shredded lemon peel.
Butter Pecan- Make recipe as above except substitute brown sugar for the sugar. Stir 2 tablespoons of finely chopped pecans into the flour mixture. After cutting in the butter sprinkle the mixture with ½ teaspoon of vanilla and knead until smooth
Oatmeal shortbread- Prepare as above except reduce the flour to 1 cup and stir in 1/3 cup of quick cooking rolled oats.
