Scottish Lemon Shortbread Cookies
I am always a fan of shortbread. They have just as much sugar as every other cookie, but for some reason always feel a little bit classier. Maybe it's because they have "Scottish" in the title and, being a large part Scottish myself, I'm just associating shortbread with being ancestral. Regardless of the reason, I absolutely grew up thinking that shortbread was a fancier version of cookie. Although I've somehow managed never actually try to make them! So, I scoured the internet for shortbread recipes and came across Ciao Chow Bambina's Lemon Scottish Shortbread Cookies. There's nothing better than shortbread and lemon, so this seemed like a win-win!
These cookies demonstrably don't have eggs. I'm not sure if this makes them a more traditional shortbread or not? But it does make them absolutely melt in your mouth! And a little bit fragile. As fancy as they look and taste, I did keep rolling them out a little bit too thin. This made them a little difficult to get off of the pan without breaking. But they're absolutely delicious either way!
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Variations of Lemon Shortbread
Alongside the Scottish Lemon Shortbread Cookies, I also made Embossed Shortbread Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, and Peppermint Peanut Butter Blossoms. You can find all of these recipes, as well as what I ended up making for Christmas dinner, in the Independent Christmas 2021 link below.
Scottish Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Baking Sheet
- Oven
- Rolling Pin
- Embossed Rolling Pin (optional)
- Cookie Cutters (optional)
Ingredients
- 2/3 c. butter 10 ⅔ tbsp. preferably unsalted, softened
- 1/4 c. powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. lemon zest ~1 lemon
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice ~1/2 lemon
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 ⅙ c. all-purpose flour
- 1/3 c. corn starch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add softened butter, confectioner's sugar, and granulated sugar to a large bowl. Whisk until light and fluffy.There is also no over beating at this point! This is when you want to really go for it. Whisk until as light as possible. Airiness during this step is absolutely essential. When you think that you've whisked them enough, whisk a little bit longer!
- Quickly mix in lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Whisk in the salt, flour, and corn starch until barely incorporated.This is the exact opposite of the butter mixing process! When you add flour, over mixing will make thee cookies dense and texturally unpleasant. In order to keep the airiness, mix as little as possible to stop seeing white pockets of flour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until 1/4 inch thick.It can help to do this on top of waxed or parchment paper as well. This can help keep it from sticking to the countertop or to use less flour.
- Roll over once more with the embossed rolling pin to imprint the pattern.
- Cut out with cookie cutters and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.Alternatively, you can simply cut out the cookies into squares or rectangles. Cookie cutters are not actually necessary here unless you want to get fancy with it!
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until just barely golden brown.
- Move cookies from the baking sheet and place on a cooling rack or in the refrigerator to set completely.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
- For more information on the Fundamentals of Baking Cookies, check out my article on the matter. For instance, I recommend making cookies by hand with a fork and adding slightly less flour than called for.
This recipe is adapted from Ciao Chow Bambina's Lemon Scottish Shortbread Cookies.
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