From humble origins to the height of indulgence — we can’t get enough of shortbread biscuits

Ah, shortbread. Popular across the UK and often eaten with a warm cup of tea or coffee in hand, the simple recipe of this biscuit obscures the long tradition behind it. With a history as rich as its butter content, it’s no wonder that it’s one of the nation’s favourite afternoon nibbles. Here’s our guide to one the crumbliest, melt-in-the-mouth biscuits around.

What are shortbread biscuits?

It’s hard to believe that something so tasty can only be made out of three ingredients but that’s exactly what shortbread is. At its simplest, shortbread is a biscuit made from butter, flour, and sugar. Some recipes may also use eggs, icing sugar, corn starch, vanilla essence, or other ingredients, but you can’t go wrong with these three basic components.

Similar to shortcrust pastry, the “short” in shortbread refers to its crumbly texture, which comes from a large amount of butter. You’ll usually see shortbread biscuits shaped in fingers, wedges, or rounds. They often have small markings made with a fork.

Where does shortbread come from?

Shortbread biscuits got their start in the UK during the 12th century as a sweetened biscuit bread made from leftover dough. The addition of butter to the recipe turned it into an expensive treat for special occasions such as Christmas and Hogmanay. The association with these celebrations continues even to this day.

There’s no place that keeps this tradition alive quite so well as Scotland, which is why shortbread is often associated with it. In some places in Scotland, a biscuit is sometimes broken above a bride’s head, and in others, shortbread can be a part of the tradition of first footing.

Are shortbread biscuits vegan?

You might have noticed that the thing that sets shortbread apart is its high butter content. A guaranteed nightmare for vegans, surely? But where there’s a will, there’s a way! And experience tells us that almost any recipe can be made vegan with a little creativity, and that includes shortbread.

Most commercial shortbread isn’t vegan. But as more and more people switch to dairy-free diets, some brands are starting to offer vegan and gluten-free shortbread. Even if you can’t manage to get your hands on some vegan shortbread, the good news is that it’s super easy to make vegan shortbread at home.

What is millionaire’s shortbread?

The humble shortbread’s sweeter and fancier young sibling, millionaire’s shortbread consists of layers of crumbly shortbread, gooey caramel, and creamy chocolate to top it off. Chocolate and caramel are tried and tested partners in crime, so it’s no surprise that they can bring a dash of decadence to what is fundamentally quite a simple biscuit. And when all three come together, it’s not hard to imagine how this variation on shortbread got its name.

Perhaps we’re slightly biased towards biscuits with chocolate… But if you ask us, the real miracle of millionaire’s shortbread is how it can turn a modest 900-year-old recipe into the modern mouthwatering dessert that we know and love today.

How to make shortbread biscuits

The great thing about shortbread being so old is that we’ve had plenty of time to perfect the recipe! These biscuits are easy and fun to make, but no less tasty than something more complicated. This shortbread biscuit recipe has everything you need to get started.

Ingredients

• 150g plain flour
• 100g chilled butter
• 50g caster sugar

Method

• Put all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
• Rub the mixture together with your hands until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs.
• Squeeze the breadcrumbs together to make a dough.
• Roll the dough out onto a floured surface, and cut into your chosen shape. Then place the biscuits on a baking tray.
• Put the dough in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes, then bake for 15-20 minutes.
• Enjoy!

It’s really as simple as that! And you don’t have to settle with the standard finger or wedge shapes. You can always get out the cookie cutters to make your shortbread in whatever shape you want.

Because of the simplicity and the chance to get your hands stuck in with the dough, shortbread biscuits are the perfect recipe for baking with kids, so if you have any little ones who would love to help out, we’d definitely recommend shortbread.

How to make millionaire’s shortbread

You really can’t go wrong with plain shortbread, but it’s undeniable that millionaire’s shortbread has that extra “wow” factor. And the good news is, it’s not that much harder to make than regular shortbread.

You can take your shortbread base from the recipe above, then whip up some smooth caramel. The Caramel for millionaire’s shortbread consists of butter, sugar, and condensed milk. The ingredients are heated together in a pan until the mixture is thick and gooey. Spread a generous layer over the shortbread and leave to set, then melt some chocolate using the double boiler method and pour over the cooled caramel.

Personally, we’re a fan of dark chocolate for its rich flavour that balances out the sweetness of the caramel, but a good, high-cacao milk chocolate is always a good choice too — we’d recommend the 40% Milk Chocolate Batons for their snappable shape and perfect chocolate to milk ratio. Leave everything to cool, then cut into slices and take a bite.

Shortbread chocolates from Hotel Chocolat

We just can’t get enough of the irresistible combination of shortbread and chocolate — it’s truly a match made in heaven! Our fantastic chocolatiers seem to agree, because they’ve carefully created the Trillionaire’s Shortbread Chocolates. It’s all the indulgence of a millionaire’s shortbread and more. We’ve put our own spin on the shortbread/chocolate/caramel combination by adding a moreish hazelnut praline to the mix.

And for all the hardcore shortbread lovers, our 18 Chocolat Shortbreads tin is all you need. Simple yet exquisite, our take on this classic biscuit comes with three different types of chocolate-covered shortbread. Perfect for nibbling and dipping.

Whether you’re getting covered in flour in the kitchen or winding down for the night with a couple of after-dinner treats, shortbread biscuits are a treat everyone can enjoy.