This Scottish favorite has a wonderful buttery taste and firm but light crumb – an irresistible combination. If you happen to be in Yountville, California, at approximately 2pm you will see members of my pastry team from the French Laundry kitchen briskly walking up the road on their way to Bouchon Bakery, where their daily routine of mixing, rolling, cutting, baking and bagging 9 kilos of shortbread is about to begin. This winner of a recipe is my mother’s. She is amazed that even to this day I choose to use her recipe over any others
Source: Chef Claire Clark
Serving: 15
225g/8oz plain flour
75g/23/4oz caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
150g/5 /1/2 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
50g/13/4oz granulated sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 °F/Gas Mark 4. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the caster sugar. Using a sharp knife, slit the vanilla pod open lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the tip of the knife. Add the seeds to the bowl, along with the butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients. As the mixture begins to come together, use your hand to help it form a dough (alternatively, you could use an electric mixer with the paddle attachment on a low speed to make the dough).
Shape the dough into a ball and flatten it slightly. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1 cm/1/2 inch thick. Cut into 15 oblongs and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the baking sheet around and continue baking for 10 minutes, until the shortbread is golden brown. Remove from the oven and dust with an even coating of granulated sugar. Leave on the baking sheet to cool.
Chef Clark’s Notes
* Cutting the biscuits into oblongs (or squares) will give you a higher yield and prevent wastage and unnecessary trimmings.
* For a perfectly even finish, use a tea strainer to dust the biscuits with sugar when they come out of the oven.