May 12, 2010

Scottish Shortbread Squares

Presented by

41 ratings

Prep time: 15 minutes
baking time 30 to 40 minutes
Servings: Makes 2 dozen cookies

Grandma said that scoring and pricking the shortbread is how it was done in Scotland.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 (6-ounce) package milk chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1

Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
2

Combine flour, granulated sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix well.
3

Add 1 cup butter to flour mixture and cut in with a knife and fork until crumbly. Press onto the bottom of a 13 × 9-inch baking pan.
4

Score dough lightly with a knife into 24 squares. Prick each square 3 or 4 times with a fork. Bake until lightly browned, about 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
5

Cut shortbread into squares along score marks. Transfer the squares to wire racks to cool completely.
6

Combine chocolate chips and remaining butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100% power) until chocolate chips are melted, about 1 minute; stir. Drizzle over the shortbread squares.

Grandma's Secret Trick

Freshly churned butter is what gave Grandma's shortbread its rich flavor. But Grandma had a tip to make flavorful shortbread with store-bought butter. To put a little more flavor in the recipe, she used 1 teaspoon of real vanilla extract (or almond extract, which Grandpa preferred). She softened the butter first, then mixed it with the vanilla extract before adding the butter to the flour mixture.

More Keepsake Cookies

Candy-Studded Cookies

These easy cookies are infinitely changeable. Grandma used green and red candy for Christmas, green and white for St. Patrick’s Day and red and white …

Brownie Heart Tartlets

Grandma called these treats “tartlets,” but we called them “choc-choc cookies” because of the double dose of chocolate: a chocolate cookie shell with a …