Recipe from Terry Schuessler (the featured stitcher)
Every Christmas my husband makes Scottish Shortbread. It melts in your mouth and is gone by the third day! It is our all-time favorite.
(Note: The trick in making successful shortbread is the kneading. The more it is hand-kneaded*, the better it gets!).
*I wouldn’t use a stand mixer as it doesn’t incorporate the ingredients as well as they should be.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of butter (don’t use margarine…I did this the first time I made it, and it was awful!)
- 1 measuring cup (heaping) fine Baker’s sugar
- 5 measuring cups (could be sifted if you wish) flour (I used King Arthur’s ™ all-purpose flour (the best flour around!), or the flour of your choice.
- 1. Put butter and sugar in a very large bowl. Add 2 cups flour and knead in bowl (you could also add one cup of flour at a time).
- 2. Add 2 more cups flour and knead.
- 3. Add the final cup of flour and knead until nothing is sticking to the bowl.
- 4. Using a rectangular glass pan (8″ x 12-1/2″), line the bottom of the pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil of your choice (I use Reynolds ™ foil) to 3/4 in” thick. (This prevents burning on the bottom).
- 5. Scrape the mixture onto the glass pan, making sure that the dough fills the bottom of the pan. Pick the dough with a fork across the width and length of the pan.
- 6. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the top is light brown. Make sure you bake the shortbread for no longer than 45 minutes.
- 7. Cut the shortbread immediately into squares (whatever size you choose), and let it cool. It is now ready to eat! (We only make this shortbread during the Christmas season because it is so rich and also gives us a special food to think about the rest of the year! (I was given this recipe in 1972 by an acquaintance who got it from a Scotsman).