Scottish Shortbread with a Steady Rise

For Scottish Shortbread with a Steady Rise, the counter starts with unsalted butter room temperature, kosher salt, and all-purpose flour. Portion it for 18 cookies.

Count on 25 minutes of prep, 1 hour of cooking, about 1 hour from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature, 2 sticks
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup rice flour
• ¾ cup caster sugar or granulated sugar ground in food processor, see note

How the cooking goes

1. Heat the oven to 275°F (135°C) and prepare a sheet pan with baking paper.
2. In the bowl of a electric mixer place the butter. Beat on high until completely softened and smooth. If your butter is already ambient temperature, there is no need to do this step.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine rice flour and all-purpose flour. Add the caster sugar (double check the note in the recipe if making your own!) and kosher salt. Whisk to combine.
4. Set the flour mixture in the bowl of the electric 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.
5. Gather the dough in a ball and press it out into a rectangle or your desired shape on the parchment lined sheet pan. 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. You wanted 3 ½ x 1 inch sticks. So, you pressed the dough out to about 7 inches high and 9 inches across.
6. Poke holes with a fork to prevent air bubbles during baking. You can try and keep in mind the final shape or not.
7. Oven-bake in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes. The cookies will be puffed and look a little matte on the surface.
8. Remove them from the oven and slice into desired shapes on the sheet pan. If you try to remove the parchment from the sheet pan they will crack. Once you have cut the slices, separate them so they have enough airflow around each to cook properly.
9. 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!

After it comes off the heat

Cool the sheet on a rack before the pieces are stacked. A covered tin keeps them for a few days.

If you want another plate from Cookies, open Nutella Cookies Baked Until the Edges Set and Hungarian Nut Roll Cookies (Walnut Filling) Baked Until the Edges Set.