Scottish Shortbread

A friend of mine first introduced me to Scottish Shortbread years ago. She had the most beautiful pan given to her by her mother-in law with a Scottish thistle design on the bottom of it (similar to this one) that transferred the loveliest motif to her cookies. 

Since then, I have searched high and low for an authentic recipe and these two have been the best so far although I'm not sure if the addition of vanilla in the second recipe would discount it from being authentic.

Scottish Shortbread I

2oz. white sugar

4 oz. butter

6oz. flour

Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix in the flour and pat into a pie plate or round cake pan. Prick with a fork all over and bake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees.

If you don't have access to a kitchen scale, try this one:

Scottish Shortbread II

2 sticks of butter
2 C. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. white sugar

Pat into a small jelly roll pan (I used a small cookie sheet and the dough didn't reach the edges of the pan), prick all over and bake at 350 for 10 minutes, then lower to 300 for 30 minutes or until slightly browned on top.

I like to score my shortbread right when it comes out of oven and then let it cool completely before trying to cut the pieces completely. You can dust with powdered sugar if desired.

St. Margaret of Scotland, pray for us!