Are you ready for a simple, delicious, and, dare I say, life changing shortbread recipe? This shortbread tastes great on its own, or topped with fruit, my lavender honey syrup or some confectioners sugar. The first time I ever ate this shortbread I was hooked. It is the most delicious thing since well… someone combined butter, sugar and flour and put it in the oven. Get ready to impress with the best shortbread recipe on the web!
Whenever I’m craving something sweet and I don’t have ice cream in the freezer or some leftover Halloween candy I typically will make myself some shortbread. And then immediately eat half of it before I can even get it in the oven… plus a few more pieces once it’s actually ready… I can’t help it, it’s too delicious! The ingredients are simple enough that I pretty much always have them on hand, and if I don’t have enough room temperature butter I put some sticks of butter in my bra while I get all the other ingredients together. Hey, when you need room temp butter for the best shortbread you do what you gotta do!
What is the best shortbread recipe you’ll ever find, you ask?
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup room temperature butter (salted, always salted)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Recipe:
1. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a medium Bowl
2. Add butter, egg yolk & vanilla to the dry ingredients
*I just want to note that we measure vanilla with our heart in this family. That means when a recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla we pour the teaspoon… and then let it overflow for a second before dumping the teaspoon in, effectively adding another teaspoon. That’s how I was taught to make this recipe and I have never looked back!
3. Mix it all together with your hands until the dough holds together and can be formed into a ball
4. Try really, really hard not to eat all of the dough (note to self)
5. Press shortbread into a 10×10 pan, or divide dough into two and press each half into 9 inch pie pans (you have options here. What did I promise? Versatility.)
6. Flatten evenly into pan(s) and crimp edges, or make small slashes around the edges with a fork
7. Poke holes into the surface with a fork
8. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes until edges are just turning golden brown
9. Remove from oven and let cool completely before trying to remove from pan(s) it is very soft when warm
10. Cut and serve with toppings of your choice! If you decide to add the lavender honey syrup I simply brushed it over the surface using a pastry brush
I hope you enjoy and agree this is the best shortbread recipe you’ve ever found. It’s definitely a crowd pleaser around here, and satisfies a sweet tooth when you’re in a pinch and don’t have any fancy ingredients on hand.
What do you think?