Crispy, delicately crumbly shortbread is the perfect afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee.
There are several prerequisites to making good shortbread. The first is to use the proper fat: not just butter, but a superior-quality butter at that.
Scottish shortbread gets its characteristic taste from the strong and distinct flavor of Scottish butter. Since American butter has no flavor (and a higher water content, which makes for shortbread that is soggier), I like to use salted butter.
The other essential in making shortbread is a long, slow cooking in a low oven, which gives the shortbread its crisp texture.
Adding a little bit of brown sugar to the dough (which is not traditional) will give the shortbread a better color. Lavender and lemon zest, both of which you should barely taste, round out the flavor of the biscuit and give it, along with the salt, a nice savory complexity.
John Broening is a chef at Spuntino, Olivea and Duo in Denver. Email: johnbroening@msn.com.
Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Makes about 36 cookies.
Ingredients
8 ounces Kerry Gold salted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pans
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Zest of 2 lemons
A pinch of lavender flowers
3½ cups all-purpose flour
Directions
In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed with a paddle attachment until light and creamy. Blend in salt, lemon zest and lavender. Add flour in three parts, mixing on low speed until just combined.
Press dough into a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, smoothing the top. Using a pizza cutter, a dough scraper, or the back of a knife, cut dough lengthwise into strips, each slightly less than 1 inch wide. Cut the strips horizontally into 36 3-inch bars. Transfer bars to several baking sheets lined with parchment, with space between each bar.
Pierce bars with a fork to create a decorative pattern. Bake at 275 degrees until pale golden, about 1 hour.
Allow to cool. Store in cool place.
