Scottish Shortbread is one of the most famous treats of Scotland, and it dates back to centuries. The first versions were made from the remnants of dough left over from bread making and contained fine oatmeal and yeast. This dough was sprinkled with sugar and perhaps some spices, and then baked slowly in a cool oven to produce a very hard, dry biscuit-bread, which didn’t spoil quickly. As time passed the yeast was replaced with homemade butter and oatmeal with flour…resulting in a recipe that produces the melt-in-your-mouth shortbread.
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Scottish Shortbread Recipe
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 1 pan 1x
Description
Try this delicious melt in your mouth Scottish shortbread from Nisa Homey.
Ingredients
- Butter: 1 cup/2 sticks (225 g).(I used salted butter)
- Brown sugar: 1 cup (240 ml), packed (I substituted by adding 1 tbsp of molasses to plain white sugar).
- Flour: 2 cups (480 ml).
- Salt: 1/2 tsp (omit if using salted butter).
- Egg yolk: 1
- Vanilla essence: 1 tsp.
- Chocolate bars: 100-150 gm ( I used 5 (20 gm) Cadbury's Milk Chocolate bars)
- Cashew nuts and/or Peanuts: Chopped, roasted and salted.
Instructions
- I coarsely powdered the sugar in my grinder, for easy creaming. Cream butter and brown sugar (to make brown sugar add a tbsp of molasses/jaggery to the sugar). Add the egg yolk and vanilla essence and cream again..
- Add flour and cream until well blended.
- Drop it into a 10-inch pan.
- And spread evenly with your finger tips or a flat spatula.
- And bake for 30-35 min or until done.
- Now the best part, put the chocolate pieces on the hot shortbread.
- With the heat the chocolate will melt and just spread it with a flat spoon.
- Then drizzle a generous helping of caramel sauce over it.
- Then sprinkle chopped cashewnuts over it….it should be roasted lightly with salt and do not skip that. I have made it with roasted peanuts and that has a different flavour, a more of buttery and peanutty flavour. I just used cashewnut this time.
- Cut into squares while still warm.
Notes
- You can use any type of chocolate; since milk chocolate is available here I used it, just one suggestion is that if using milk chocolate just reduce 2 tbsp of sugar, if you are on the sweet side, then it should be fine.
- I have tried with semi sweet chocolate and also toblerone; though it has a small crunch, I would suggest you to try it with your favorite chocolates.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
- Calories: 200
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use salted butter, and do I need to adjust the recipe?
Yes — the author used salted butter in this recipe and built that into the ingredient list. If you use salted butter, simply omit the 1/2 tsp of salt the recipe calls for. Using unsalted butter and keeping the salt is equally fine.
How do I make brown sugar if I don’t have any?
The author does it directly in this recipe: add 1 tablespoon of molasses (or jaggery) to plain white sugar and mix. That substitution is already built into the instructions, so you don’t need to buy brown sugar separately. 
What type of chocolate works best for the topping, and should I adjust the sugar?
The notes say you can use any chocolate you like — the author tried milk chocolate, semi-sweet, and Toblerone. If you use milk chocolate (sweeter), the notes recommend reducing the sugar in the dough by 2 tablespoons. Semi-sweet or dark chocolate pairs well without any sugar adjustment.
Why do I need to cut the shortbread while it’s still warm?
Step 10 instructs cutting into squares while still warm because the shortbread hardens significantly as it cools. Waiting until it’s fully cool makes clean cuts much harder and risks cracking the slab.
