Shortbread Rounds are one of the most underrated biscuits in the world. That may seem like a fairly sweeping statement, but hear me out.
Shortbread Rounds are popular around the world. They are bought by hundreds of thousands of people, especially at Christmas, served with coffee in some of the most high-end establishments and made in kitchens for hundreds of years.
Despite this, if you ask people, “What’s your favourite biscuit?” very few of those same people will say a Shortbread Round!
Despite them having a taste to die for and a tradition and class that many biscuits can’t even get close to, everyone goes for the foil-covered ones, or the iced ones or even, god forbid, the branded chocolaty ones!
We’re here to put this straight. This recipe will help you make wonderfully buttery but simple Shortbread in perfect rounds and even learn how to make them into wee stars, which is easier said than done.
When we’re finished, your shortbread rounds will be asked for by family and friends at Christmas, requested as birthday gifts and declared the best of biscuits!
Ok, maybe we’re going a little far, but you’ll like them; they’re delicious!
What are Shortbread Rounds?
Shortbread has a classic flavour but comes in a few different traditional shapes: Shortbread Fingers, Petticoat Tails and Shortbread Rounds.
Shortbread Rounds are precisely that: rounds of Shortbread. They are more of a biscuit or cookie shape and lend themselves well to being served with a cup of tea or coffee. Often lightly dusted with sugar, they have a nice crunch to them without being too thick.
Why are they called Shortbread Rounds?
The round part of this is simple, the round is its shape. But Shortbread gained its name over the years.
Originally, Shortbread wasn’t called Shortbread at all. It was known as “Biscuit bread” because it was made from any dough left over after baking bread. These would then be dried out in the oven and served.
Over the years, butter was added to replace the yeast, giving the bread a more crumbly, buttery texture. This texture was called short, as in shortcrust pastry, for example. Add Short to Biscuit bread, and Shortbread was born.
Where do Shortbread Rounds come from?
Biscuit bread was made all over the UK and the world in various forms, but Shortbread was made popular, supposedly, by Mary Queen of Scots.
She is said to have been very fond of it back in the 16th century, though her preference was for Petticoat Shortbread rather than the rounds we’re making today.
Why make your own Shortbread Rounds?
This is both a good question and one we get asked about many of the foods we have written recipes for. Shortbread is, after all, just three ingredients and is readily available in shops worldwide. So why bother?
The reason is this. There is something about something made with love in the home that adds a little extra taste. The fun you can have baking these with little ones or the pride you can get by making these traditional biscuits can’t be bought in a tartan tin or a plastic packet.
That said, if they go horribly wrong, you can nip out and buy some, and no one will ever know!
Things you’ll need to make Shortbread Rounds
- Baking tray
- Baking paper
- Mixing bowl
- Wooden mixing spoon
- Cookie cutter in your chosen shape (you can also use a glass for rounds)
Ingredients for Shortbread Rounds
This recipe makes 35 biscuits! You can halve it for less, or consider adding spices to half of it using out Spiced Shortbread Recipe.
- 280g (10oz) Plain Flour
- 60g (2oz) Corn Flour
- 225g (8oz) Butter (we prefer salted for shortbread)
- 113g Caster Sugar (4oz)
Why Corn Flour?
Shortbread is traditionally made in a 3:2:1 ratio of flour to butter to sugar. However, it can also spread easily in the oven and not hold its shape.
For this reason, recipes using shortbread shapes often adjust the flour or sugar amounts and add different types of either or both. We like to stick closely to the traditional method but exchange a little of the plain flour for corn flour to help the biscuits hold their shape.
How to make Shortbread Rounds – Step-by-step method
Preheat the oven to 180C/356F
Mix the softened butter and sugar together with a hand mixer. Don’t cream it as you would for a cake, mix until just combined.
Add the flour and corn flour.
Stir together using a wooden spoon, and then use your hands until it forms a dough.
Place the dough in the fridge for half an hour for it to firm up.
Roll the dough out until it is approx 5mm thick.
Use a cutter to cut your preferred shape. Rounds are a classic shape but stars for Christmas work nicely!
Place the shortbread on a lightly greased tray or one lined with baking paper. The shortbread does expand a little, so you will need more than one tray, and you want to space them out so they won’t touch as they bake.
If the rolling and cutting took a while, refrigerate them for another 30 minutes to help them keep their shape, or you can bake them immediately.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they start to colour very slightly on the edges.
Once they’re out of the oven, sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Cool on the tray. They will still be soft and will harden up as they cool.
Enjoy!
Classic Shortbread Rounds and Shapes Recipe
This classic shortbread recipe is perfect for making rounds and shapes without them spreading and not coming out of the oven looking how you want them to!
Ingredients
- 280g (10oz) Plain Flour
- 60g (2oz) Corn Flour
- 225g (8oz) Butter (we prefer salted for shortbread)
- 113g Caster Sugar (4oz)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/356F
- Mix the softened butter and sugar together with a hand mixer. Don't cream it as you would for a cake, mix until just combined.
- Add the flour and corn flour.
- Stir together using a wooden spoon, and then use your hands until it forms a dough.
- Place the dough in the fridge for half an hour for it to firm up.
- Roll the dough out until it is approx 5mm thick.
- Use a cutter to cut your preferred shape. Rounds are a classic shape but stars for Christmas work nicely!
- Place the shortbread on a lightly greased tray or one lined with baking paper. The shortbread does expand a little, so you will need more than one tray, and you want to space them out so they won't touch as they bake.
- If the rolling and cutting took a while, refrigerate them for another 30 minutes to help them keep their shape, or you can bake them immediately.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they start to colour very slightly on the edges.
- Once they're out of the oven, sprinkle with caster sugar.
- Cool on the tray. They will still be soft and will harden up as they cool.