Scottish Shortbread

Scottish Shortbread

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste* or vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract 
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**use 1-2 Tbs heavy cream if your dough is overly dry. If overly dry its most likely because you've used a little too much flour. (125 grams of flour per cup needed) 
**use parchment paper in cast iron pan or on cookie sheet to prevent burning. 
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 310F

• Having your butter room temperature is key to this recipe. 
• Cream butter until light and fluffy (run 5-7 minutes in mixer) 
• Slowly add sugar, scraping down sides.
• Add in salt, vanilla bean paste and almond extract final minute of butter creaming.
• Add flour all at once, mix just until incorporated. Do not over-mix!
• Using your hands, pat dough into a cast iron pan lined with parchment paper to about 1/4" thickness. OR roll dough out and cut into cookie squares and place onto parchment lined cookie sheet. ((I've even rolled dough into a log and cut out circles.))
• I neaten up sides by bringing the parchment paper up and over dough and flatten out dough edges. You can also trim any edges with a knife if preferred.
• Prick with a fork all over the doughs surface (aka docking) 
• Bake for 35-40 minutes 
• The shortbread should be pale and light golden.  Let shortbread cool 5 mins before using a knife or bench scraper to cut into slices if you've used a cast iron pan. 

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*Kitchen Notes: You can make this in a cast iron pan lined with parchment paper OR make the dough and roll out, cut into cookie squares and bake on parchment lined cookie sheet. You can also use vanilla extract if you don't have vanilla bean paste (same measurement.) IF you've added too much flour, your dough will be dry and crumbly and that's when you will have to add a bit of heavy cream to the dough - do so very sparingly adding a little at a time. 
*Remember when you add the flour at the end - you are not whipping the dough you are merely mixing in the flour on the lowest setting until its coheasive - do not overmix!  

Yield: approx 2 dozen (depends on how large or small you want to cut your cookies) 
​I get 16 slices in a larger cast iron pan...