Easy Shortbread Biscuits

Easy shortbread biscuits made with only 3 ingredients! These tender, buttery and crumbly cookies will be perfect to enjoy with your favourite cuppa, but equally delicious on their own.

Classic shortbread recipe is one of the simplest treats to bake, and can be used to make different versions of these traditional biscuits, by using extra flavours and add-ons.

These melt-in-your-mouth, crumbly shortbread cookies are full of wonderful, buttery taste. They are perfect for family gatherings, afternoon teas or mid- morning coffees. Just a good all- rounders really.

Shortbread is also an ideal addition to any edible gift baskets or festive hampers, and I always include it (together with Gingerbread Macarons and Peppermint Creams) in my Christmas cookie boxes.

Ingredients

Traditionally, shortbread biscuits are made from one part of white sugar, two parts of butter and three to four parts of plain flour (all purpose flour). Extra ingredients are often added to spruce up the flavour, like vanilla, citrus zest or chocolate.

To make this basic shortbread cookie recipe, you will only need 3 simple ingredients. Because classic shortbread requires only 3 ingredients, it's crucial to make sure they're right. I do not recommend any swaps or substitutes to these:

• Sugar - White caster or granulated sugar. Some recipes use icing sugar (powdered sugar, also known as confectioner's sugar), but I recommend sticking to granulated or caster for best results.
• Butter - Unsalted butter, chilled and cubed. Use the best quality butter you can, as it will make a huge difference to the taste! Salted butter can be used too, but because I like to control the amount of salt that goes into my bakes, I typically use unsalted.
• Flour - Plain, all purpose flour.

I also add a good pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness of shortbread, but it's totally optional and not necessary.

Instructions

When it comes to making this easy shortbread recipe, you have few options. You can simply roll the dough and cut the biscuits (by hand) into rectangles, or use a cookie cutter (any shape).

Alternatively, you can place the dough into a baking tin or baking pan, score it, and then bake. This method will prevent your biscuits from spreading too much, and will give them more uniform shape.

You can even roll the dough into a sausage, chill, then slice into discs and bake.

Whichever method you choose, be sure not to roll (or press or slice) the dough too thin. Proper shortbread should be quite thick! I typically roll mine into about 1cm- 1.5cm thick.

Put the flour, sugar and butter into a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to rub the ingredients together until they resemble breadcrumbs.

Press the ingredients together until you have a dough. If baking in the pan or tin, press the dough into an even layer directly into lined tin.

Roll the dough to about 1cm thick. Alternatively, instead of rolling it, you can press the dough into small baking dish/ baking pan.

Cut the dough into fingers (or any shape) and transfer into baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Prick it gently with fork and sprinkle with extra sugar. Chill for 30 minutes.

Once chilled, bake shortbread for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the biscuits to cool for 10 minutes.

Variations

• Vanilla shortbread - Add a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract to the dough ingredients for a vanilla flavoured shortbread.
• Citrus zest - Finely grated lemon, orange or lime zest will be a great addition and easy way to introduce different version of shortbread.
• Chocolate - Try adding a handful of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks to the shortbread dough. Alternatively, you can dip or drizzle your shortbread biscuits with some melted chocolate.

This recipe is a brilliant and easy basic biscuit recipe that will take on most flavours really well. Experiment with different extracts, herbs (lavender and rosemary are some of my favourite) dried fruit or nuts.

Storage

Store your shortbread biscuits in an airtight container or biscuit tin at room temperature. They will last for at least a couple of weeks.

You can also freeze the shortbread for up to 3 months. To freeze, allow the biscuits to cool completely, then transfer to freezer-friendly container or bag.

If you stacking your shortbread cookies for freezing, place a layer of baking paper or kitchen foil between the layers, to prevent them from sticking together.

Thaw at room temperature before serving.

Top Tip

• Do not over-work the dough. The key to a delicious shortbread biscuit is not to overhandle it. Make the dough exactly as per the recipe instructions. Don't mess around with cutting fancy shapes (use my Sugar Cookies recipe instead for that), stretching or pulling the dough, as this will activate the gluten in the flour, and you will have chewy, rather than crispy and tender cookies.
• If you are baking shortbread fingers, make sure they are wide enough so that the fork can prick them.
• Adjust baking times. Depending on the size of your biscuits, they will need the baking times to be adjusted. Shortbread is done baking when the corners of the biscuits begin to take on very light caramel tinge.