To say I have a fondness for shortbread would be a gross understatement. I not only love nibbling on it with my cup of afternoon tea, but I love to gift it during the holidays as well. Place some in a pretty tin and include some tea and it makes a fine and welcome gift indeed!
The story of shortbread begins with the medieval "biscuit bread". Any leftover dough from bread making was dried out in a low oven until it hardened into a type of rusk. The word "biscuit" means "twice cooked". Gradually over time, the yeast in the bread was replaced by butter, and biscuit bread developed into shortbread. In the old days, shortbread was classified as a bread by bakers to avoid paying the tax placed on biscuits in Scotland. It was an expensive luxury, and for ordinary people, shortbread was a special treat reserved just for special occasions such as weddings, Christmas and New Year. Luckily, these days it is one of the most affordable cookies to bake.
Shortbread has been attributed to Mary, Queen of Scots, who in the mid 16th century was said to be very fond of Petticoat Tails, a thin, crisp, buttery shortbread originally flavored with caraway seeds.
There are two theories regarding the name of these biscuits. It has been suggested that the name "petticoat tail" may be a corruption of the French petites gatelles ("little cakes"). However, these traditional Scottish shortbread biscuits may in fact date back beyond the 12th century. The triangles fit together into a circle and echo the shape of the pieces of fabric used to make a full-gored petticoat during the reign of Elizabeth I. The theory is that the name may have come from the word for the pattern which was 'tally', and so the biscuits became known as 'petticoat tallis'.
Shortbread is traditionally formed into one of three shapes: one large circle divided into segments ("Petticoat Tails"); individual round biscuits ("Shortbread Rounds"); or a thick rectangular slab cut into "fingers." No matter how you cut them, they are delicious and one of my favorite cookies. I usually make mine in rounds or squares and sometimes use a shortbread press to make designs on my cookies. If you are a lemon lover as well, you will like this recipe. These cookies also freeze very well.
Lemon Shortbread
1 cup butter,softened (I use I can't believe it's not butter cubes and it works GREAT)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add lemon zest and blend well. By hand, stir in flour a little at a time. Dough will be crumbly. Pour it out onto a counter top or pastry board and work it together by hand until smooth. Pat or roll dough out into a rectangle that is about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into small squares, rectangles or diamonds (whichever you prefer). Arrange cookies on ungreased baking sheet (I use parchment paper for easy cleanup) and bake 20-25 minutes in a preheated 325 degree oven until the bottom edges are just starting to brown.
2 comments:
I press the shortbread dough into a removable bottom tart pan lined with a circle of parchment paper, then flip it over onto a parchment paper lined airbake cookie sheet and use a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter to take a circle out of the middle, placing it in a corner of the baking sheet and replace the cutter in the middle of the large round. Halfway through the baking time, pull it out, score quarter divisions and then again to make 16 pieces and dock with a thin skewer. Score the small round into quarters and dock. Continue baking. Petticoat tails!
That's a great idea! Thank you for sharing it!
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