This authentic Scottish Shortbread recipe makes tender, buttery shortbread with only 4 ingredients! A professional pastry chef takes you gently through each step, to make a no-stress sensational shortbread cookie in no time!
Preheat the oven to 275°F (135°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer place the butter. Beat on high until completely softened and smooth. If your butter is already room temperature, there is no need to do this step.
In a large mixing bowl, combine rice flour and all-purpose flour. Add the caster sugar and kosher salt. Whisk to combine.
Place the flour mixture in the bowl of the stand mixer with the butter. Mix on low until completely combined. This will take at least 10 minutes. Scrape down the sides of your bowl to avoid butter streaks.
Gather the dough in a ball and press it out into a rectangle or your desired shape on the parchment lined baking sheet. It will be about ½ inch thick. The size and shape don’t matter but do think about the size you want before you bake them. I wanted 3 ½ x 1 inch sticks. So, I pressed my dough out to about 7 inches high and 9 inches across.
Poke holes with a fork to prevent air bubbles during baking. You can try and keep in mind the final shape or not.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes. The cookies will be puffed and look a little matte on the surface.
Remove them from the oven and slice into desired shapes on the baking sheet. If you try to remove the parchment from the baking sheet they will crack. Once you have cut the slices, separate them so they have enough airflow around each to cook properly.
Increase the oven temperature to 300°F (150°C) and continue baking for 30-45 minutes more until they have begun to brown on the bottom. Cool completely before serving, and enjoy!
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Notes
Note on Caster Sugar: The measurements above are for homemade caster sugar. Before grinding, ¾ cup granulated sugar weighs 172g, but after it only weighs 150g! You can make caster sugar at home by grinding granulated sugar in a food processor until it is finer.Presentation - It will slope slightly on the sides when baked. So you want to have a little buffer to cut perfect rectangles.Technique - There are no additional liquids in this cookie dough; it is just held together by butter. The dough will look clumpy but will hold together when squeezed in your hand.Storage - To keep shortbread cookies crisp, store in an airtight container at room temperature. Scottish shortbread cookies will keep at room temperature for two weeks or frozen for up to 3 months.