There's nothing like biting into a buttery slice of shortbread fresh out of the oven, whether you've made a classic Scottish shortbread, a flavored variety, or something a bit more unique. However, to get those results, you've first got to mix your dough, which can sometimes be a bit more challenging than you might think.
Shortbread typically contains just a few ingredients — flour, sugar, butter, and salt. With no extra liquid, it sometimes might be tough to get your dough to a smooth consistency and you can wind up with dry and crumbly dough instead.
If you're facing this issue, Ina Garten offers a tip on her blog, Barefoot Contessa, that might just solve your worries: "If the shortbread dough feels dry, I add a teaspoon or two of water until it's easier to work with." The extra moisture can help to bring the dough together and give it a smoother texture.
As Ina Garten explains, "Different butters have different water content, and some can be drier than others." Butter contains between 16 and 18% water, and that water content is partly what's responsible for hydrating the flour, allowing for it to cook. It also helps to hold your shortbread cookie dough together.
You don't have to stick to just water to hydrate the dough, however. You can also use a bit of milk, vanilla extract, or even eggs to help get your dough back to the right consistency. Just remember that other ingredients can also wind up affecting the flavor of your cookies. Water's neutral taste makes it a good pick for keeping harmony between the different tastes in your biscuits while still adding in some necessary moisture.
Whichever choice you go with, remember that you should start with just a little and slowly add more as your dough needs it. This prevents you from overcorrecting and winding up with a gooey dough.
Figure In More Fat
While Ina Garten adds a bit of water to solve the crumbly shortbread conundrum, that's not the only solution to try. Sometimes, dry shortbread occurs because you don't have enough fat in your dough. Fat, and namely butter, helps to retain moisture and give the dough its consistency. If that's the case, you'll need to add some back in.
A bit of vegetable oil can work here, or if you've used a butter shortbread recipe and don't want to combine fats, some melted butter can also do the trick. Not only does this introduce more fat, but it also incorporates it as a liquid, helping bind together the dough.
Just like with adding water, a little can go a long way. Start with a teaspoon of fat and mix your dough well. If the dough is still falling apart, you can keep adding more in small increments. And at the end of the day, you can always add a little bit of water as well if your shortbread still hasn't formed a cohesive dough.
To fix this, you can add more fat to the dough. This can be in the form of butter, shortening, or even olive oil. Just add a little at a time until the dough comes together and is no longer crumbly. You may also need to add more liquid, such as milk or water, to get the right consistency.
Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.
It's important to avoid over-mixing shortbread dough, which will develop gluten and make the finished product tough, not tender. To make sure that the flour mixes completely with little effort, sift the flour first to get out all of the lumps.
The most common mistakes when making shortbread are over-working the dough, and incorporating too much flour. The less you work the dough, the more crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth your shortbread cookies will be.
Step 3: The Secret to the Absolute Best Shortbread
After shaping the cookies, don't rush to the oven! Instead, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so (overnight is OK, too). A short stay in the fridge will firm up the cookies and solidify the butter. This will help keep them from spreading too much.
A bit of vegetable oil can work here, or if you've used a butter shortbread recipe and don't want to combine fats, some melted butter can also do the trick. Not only does this introduce more fat, but it also incorporates it as a liquid, helping bind together the dough.
Piercing the shortbread with a fork is not only for decoration, but it's meant for more even baking. Poking holes in the shortbread allows the heat to penetrate the cookie, hence more even baking. Notice I'm using powdered sugar here. You'll see lots of shortbread recipes using granulated sugar.
Traditional Scottish shortbread is a simple recipe made with sugar, butter, flour, and salt. Other shortbread styles will include leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda, which makes them crisp instead of crumbly like traditional Scottish shortbread.
Butter is an emulsifier and it makes cookies tender. It also adds in the crispy-around-the-edges element. Adding too much butter can cause the cookies to be flat and greasy. Adding too little butter can cause the cookies to be tough and crumbly.
Because cold butter takes longer to melt than room temperature butter, chilled cookies will hold their shape in the oven. When it's important to stymie the spread—say, for shortbread circles or intricate linzers that you've so carefully formed—chilling the dough is mandatory.
Bake the shortbread until it's a light golden brown across the top surface and a deeper golden brown around the edges, about 35 minutes. Remove the shortbread from the oven and turn it out of the pans and onto a clean work surface.
Okay, you've identified the problem, now you have to fix it. This may seem obvious, but don't just dump more water into your bread dough. To incorporate more water into the mixture, add only 1 tablespoon of additional liquid at a time, kneading the dough just until it comes together.
The trick here is to hydrate the flour with just enough water to get the dough to stick together. Tossing with a fork is a gentle way to incorporate the water without mashing it all together.
Don't overbeat. To make shapes, form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and freeze or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until firm. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is ¼ inch thick. Cut into any shapes you like, then put the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet.
Introduction: My name is Jeremiah Abshire, I am a outstanding, kind, clever, hilarious, curious, hilarious, outstanding person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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