Happy December!! It’s hard to believe it’s December already, but I’m excited for the holidays! My girls and I simply love December!! What’s not to love!?! It’s all things Christmas including crafts, yummy recipes, family fun, hearty meals, visits with friends and family, and delicious beverages like homemade hot cocoa to warm the soul!
We love baking! It’s not the holidays in our house until we start whipping up an assortment of cookies! This year we are doing the 12 Days of Cookies and I’m looking forward to sharing with you all of the delicious goodies we are making!
Today is Day 1 and we are kicking it off with traditional Scottish Shortbread!!
Our family loves shortbread, and there’s a few varieties that each produce a slightly different cookie. This Scottish Shortbread is buttery, flaky, delicious and not too sweet. Super yummy, and oh so hard not to eat the entire pan!!
I love food history and the history of shortbread was rather fascinating to learn about! My maternal grandmother was Scottish, so I was excited to learn a bit about this sweet treat! Historically, shortbread dates back to the 1100’s, which was then called biscuit bread, using leftover dough from bread making. It was cooked until dried and hardened. In fact, biscuit means “twice-baked.” Over time, the yeasty dough was replaced with butter and biscuit bread turned into shortbread. Shortbread dates back to the mid-1500’s and is traditionally formed into one of three shapes: one large circle which is then sliced into triangles, individual rounds or into a rectangular slab which is then cut into smaller rectangles, or “fingers.”
Mary, Queen of Scots is credited with the shortbread we are a bit more familiar with today. During the mid-1500’s the cooks at her court used influences from French cooking to refine the biscuit by using butter, flour and sugar making it an expensive sweet treat. You can read more about the fascinating history of shortbread on the Walker’s Shortbread website here:
https://www.walkersshortbread.com/the-history-of-shortbread-part-1/
Now that we learned a bit about the history of the shortbread cookie, let’s get our 12 Days of Cookies started!
My daughter whipped up this batch in no time and before I thought about taking photos, the shortbread was mixed, tossed in the pan and sliced! Once sliced, poke holes into the dough and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This half batch had a little too much flour and was a bit crumbly, but still amazingly delicious, so add flour slowly in case you do not need the entire amount.
Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until edges are a light golden brown.
Once cooled, cut once again in the score lines that were cut into the dough prior to baking. You can place in an airtight container and freeze or place on the counter for up to one week. These are a scrumptious addition to any dessert tray this holiday season and one cookie everyone will love! You can even wrap a few biscuits up to share!
12 Days of Cookies… Day 1 — Traditional Scottish Shortbread
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Beat the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Place a piece of parchment in the bottom of the pan. Press dough into a 9×13” pan. Cut into rectangles. Poke with a fork to make holes. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack. Let cool before slicing and serving.
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours