Shortbread Scottish KA

By mariannefeldman

Scottish Shortbread


Because of its climate, Scotland's national grain has traditionally been the oat. Oatmeal and oatcakes (bannocks) have long sustained the Scot. And so it was with shortbread, which was originally an oatcake, the same ancestor as the scone's.

But Scottish Shortbread, the festival cake for Hogmanay (New Year's Eve), was special. Its direct ancestor was the Yule Bannock, made round with notches around the outside edge to represent the sun, and a hole in the center which kept trolls away. Later it had the sign of the cross cut into it, an evolution of the sun notches, as people became converted to Christianity. Today shortbread is the most elegant bannock of all, as it is made with fine flour moistened only with the finest butter and sweetened enough to take it quite out of the ordinary.

Our recipe is a modern one, but with the addition of some oatmeal as a toast to its origins. The oats also give the shortbread a crisp texture and a nutty flavor. You can bake it in anything from a pie or cake pan to a proper shortbread mold, which makes this simple confection quite elegant. And you can make it with or without the hole!

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup (2 to 3 ounces) confectioners' sugar* (depending on taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, rounded
• 1 cup 3 1/2 ounces) oatmeal or oat flour
• 1 1/2 cups (6 5/8 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• You can use 1/2 cup more or less. The Scots generally prefer their shortbread with the lesser amount of sugar and the greater amount of flour.

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Blend the salt into the oatmeal and flour. Mix the butter/flour mixtures together to make a soft dough. (If you have a food processor this can be done almost instantly.)

Press the dough into a round 8-inch cake pan and score (or notch) the dough by cutting halfway through it to divide it into 6 or 8 pie-shaped pieces. You can cut in other decorations if you wish.

Bake for about 1/2 hour, until firm and barely golden. You may need to adjust your time depending on how much flour you use. Cool before turning out of the pan.
This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. III, No. 2, December 1991 issue.