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Bien Cuit Shortbread

by:
May 16, 2019
4
82 Ratings
Photo by Rocky Luten
  • Prep time 10 hours 20 minutes
  • Makes 3 dozen cookies
Test Kitchen Notes

Featured in: The World's Best Shortbread Is No Longer Sold—but We Got the Recipe. —The Editors

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Ingredients
  • 302 grams unsalted butter
  • 93 grams confectioners' sugar
  • 3.5 grams kosher salt
  • 302 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 cup regular or raw sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
  1. Cut the cold butter and reserve at room temperature to temper slightly. Line a 13x9-inch baking sheet or baking dish with parchment paper.
  2. Mix the confectioners’ sugar, salt, and flour in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix for a few seconds to combine the dry ingredients.
  3. Add the cubed butter and mix on low speed until a smooth dough is formed and butter is fully incorporated. At first, the dough will look extremely flaky and dry; let it keep mixing and it will eventually come together into a dough.
  4. Dump the dough into the baking sheet ordish and spread it evenly to the corners. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
  5. The next day, heat the oven to 300°F. Dock the dough every inch or so with a fork. Bake until the shortbread is golden brown, 60-75 minutes.
  6. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn the shortbread out onto a cutting board, and slice into 4-inch x ¾-inch slices. Sprinkle with raw sugar and transfer to a baking rack to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.
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This Recipe is Featured In:

The World's Best Shortbread Is No Longer Sold—but We Got the Recipe

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134 Reviews

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Lorraine H. September 19, 2024
My grandmother , who was born in Scotland, gave me her recipe. First and foremost, she said never use unsalted butter for shortbread. The salt is very difficult to completely incorporate. Second, only use Caster sugar or pulse granulated sugar in the food processor. Powdered sugar contains cornstarch. Third, add a very small amount of rice flour. Mix only with your hands, no machine. I use a true jellyroll pan, not a quarter sheet. It’s perfect every time.
QuantumDelight September 18, 2024
Outstanding!

Grate your butter then keep everything in the freezer.

I like to add vanilla pastel
manitouanne September 8, 2024
How does one turn out shortbread from a 13” x 9” pan onto a board? This seems drought with hazards and will end up with a mess. How about cutting the shortbread while a little warm and lifting out?
Jennifer March 20, 2024
Okay - I put my parchment paper in my baking dish. How are you able to smooth the dough? I used fingers and left finger prints. Tried rolling a glass across it, left tire tracks. My rolling pin is too long for my 13 x 9 pan. Guess I should have used a cookie sheet?
EMaley May 13, 2024
I put latex gloves on and push it in with my hands and then smooth with a big spoon once it’s covered in Saran.
Lesley September 10, 2024
I put the dough between 2 sheets of parchment and rolled it to roughly 9x13, then moved it to the pan, then pushed the dough into the corners with my fingers. Worked perfectly!
Chris September 19, 2024
I use an offset spatula
cine September 20, 2024
Nine years ago, my ex ran off with a prosperous-looking rich person, with all the money, my offset spatula and all my incandescent light bulbs. Guess which one I needed, not wanted, the most since then.
roseann S. October 28, 2023
I measured grams and mixed with paddle then placed the dough as describe with a chilling. When baked and removed from pan I could not cut the bars as each cut broke the bar. Though really delicious I had nothing but small pieces to eat. What went wrong???
yona October 30, 2023
Maybe baked them too long? Or try cutting them before they cool completely, even almost right out of the oven. You might also try scoring the sheet of dough before placing it in the oven. Ashley V's comment below might be helpful. I agree with using a good, high-fat butter.
EMaley May 13, 2024
Could chilling for more than overnight cause this?
It’s just a waste of good ingredients at this point.
Kate R. October 17, 2023
Love this recipe, used the food processor and pulsed until just combined, assembled the dough at lunchtime and chilled for about 5 hours before baking, came out fantastic, will make again!
Catherine P. October 9, 2023
Love love love this recipe. I just piled it all into the processor, blitzed until it came together, and followed the rest of the recipe after that. Unfortunately for my waistline , very delicious!
Ma_Faldine September 24, 2023
I never made this shortbread simply because the recipe is metric and I didn't feel like converting it. Ins read, I made Ted Lasso's Shortbread. It's easy and the delicious!
lissness September 24, 2023
I adore these biscuits, as many of my unwitting guinea pigs do, but I do agree the recipe needs minor adjustments. I used a non-stick 13x9 tin and 45 minutes is ample time at the temperature provided. A dough scraper is your best friend here, it makes for a perfectly spread tin. I followed the advice of previous commenters and combined a sprinkle of both Maldon salt and turbinado sugar for extra deliciousness. Walker's could never.
Dana July 19, 2023
Turned out lovely, though I put chopped crystallized ginger in one half of dough and mini semi sweet chips and chopped tart cherries ( dried) in the other half. Next time I might try tart cherries with dried apricot and almonds as I have when making biscotti.
ChristineSoto May 20, 2023
update on my post of May 17, 2023. When first out of the oven and cooled a bit, they were a bit chewy. After they cooled completely, they hardened up to the extent that they were impossible to bite into. I thought i followed the recipe exactly, and I'm a pretty good home baker, but what i did wrong eludes me. Any thoughts?
Catherine P. October 9, 2023
Oh… mine didnt harden up like that at all, in fact I was worried they were going to be too crumbly, but it was perfect. The best I have eaten actually. Not sure what happened to you. Because I put everything into the processor and blitzed, I thought I was going to overwork the dough. But it was perfect.
ChristineSoto May 17, 2023
i made these for the first time today. The dough buckled a bit as it cooked, leaving a bumpy top, not the smooth looking tops of the photos with the recipe. So i wondered, after i turned it out onto a board, was i supposed to sprinkle the sugar on the bottom of the dough? Otherwise, i found the shortbread a bit chewy, with a delightful flavor.
yona April 25, 2023
THESE. ARE. AWESOME! But I must say, I got a bit scared after I put the butter in to the mixer. I'm a good cook, but a novice baker, so I'm not familiar yet with the way things work...the chemistry of baking. I followed the instructions to a "t," only I didn't have any unsalted butter, so I just used less salt. I mixed the dry ingredients, then began to add the cubed butter. I stood there and waited for it all to form a dough...and waited...and waited. It blended nicely, but never went beyond the "breadcrumb" stage. So I logged in and began to write a question to get some help; perhaps I got the measurements wrong. I have a scale, so the unit wasn't a problem. About halfway through my post, I heard the mixer begin to "work" harder (like it does when a dough begins to form). It went from "breadcrumbs" to a doughball in literally seconds! I was so startled, but also very pleased! My lesson? Have some patience. YouTube shorts are called "shorts" for a reason; they're deceptive!
Next time I make them, I'm going to add a little anise seed and sprinkle the top with sugar and cinnamon, like biscochitos!
LisaD March 26, 2023
I made these and they are delicious! Although, it is difficult to push the dough into a 13 x 9 sheet pan, so I rolled it out to make it easier and more even. It took around 45 minutes to bake, and I let it cool for at least 15 minutes. Even though I was very gentle and cautious about removing it from the pan, the bars did crack. Cutting them was also a bit of a challenge. I feel like when I make them again, I would cool them in the fridge, and then cut them. I think they would be less crumbly, and it would be easier all around. The finished product is absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I chose to finish them with Fleur de sel, and that to me, was the perfect choice.
Ashley V. March 16, 2023
Oh. My. STARS this recipe is amazing. I’ve made 4 batches in 3 weeks, and here’s what I’ve discovered:

1) DO use Kerrygold or similar (one of the gatherings I brought these to dubbed them “butter sticks” because you can TELL when the good stuff is used.). Unless you’re watching your salt intake, DO use salted butter
2) another comment suggested using a second piece of parchment to press the dough into the pan. Yes. Do this.
3) no need to dock the dough, I have yet to have it puff up while baking, even when I forgot, 2 batches in a row. Now I skip it.
4) DO give the cookies 5-7 minutes to cool in the pan before transferring, they are very delicate while warm
5) transfer from pan to cutting surface like it’s an upside down cake - cutting board over pan, and invert. Carefully remove pan, and voila!
6) DO add flaky salt once transferred to cutting surface and while still as warm as possible. The salt puts them over the top in the most mysteriously delicate way possible
7) DO slice while still warm. But be delicate.
8) DO NOT let the batch size dissuade you from making them, even if you’re a party of one. The recipe halves beautifully (yet another reason to use metric!), and the biscuits keep for a week - if they last that long.
Barbara B. March 14, 2023
Just made them. These are so delicious! Thank you!
michelle@dobber.ca March 12, 2023
Thank-you for the metric weight measurements! I have shifted my baking and bread making to weighing out the flour and butter (much more consistent than archaic imperial or cups) but there are maddeningly few recipes that come in weights. I also love the King Arthur flour recipes for this reason.
anniette April 3, 2023
I seek out the British versions of cookbooks for this reason: they always include easy metric measurements.
Robert F. March 12, 2023
Why or why can you not include measurements that do not require the cook to run to the nearest Sur La Table and buy a weighing scale? They are called "cups" and "tablespoons" and so on, and have been used in every cook book since Adam asked Eve to write down her recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Big disappointment, and egotistical to boot
Ashley V. March 16, 2023
Talk about egotistical, when it’s widely accepted that metric measurements are much more accurate than cups, tablespoons, etc. You can get an inexpensive scale on Amazon, and it’s not as if they take up much space.
Sara G. April 14, 2023
Baking is best done by weight. An inexpensive little digital scale is so handy to have in the kitchen. Not sure why you think only upscale shops sell these - our local supermarket chain sells one for under $20
Baker23 April 25, 2023
I bought a great small scale on Amazon for $11. My last scale (Oxo- cost about $25) lasted for over 20 years.
kerryn April 25, 2023
I live near the water (more humidity) and since I’ve started using metric to weigh my dry ingredients, everything turns out better. I didn’t believe it until I tried it!
stevesmycat June 15, 2023
Food scales are $10 on Amazon and worth the minimal investment. Imperial measurements don't work as well when baking.
courtrussell July 19, 2023
🤦🏻‍♀️ Talk about egotistical assuming that the American way of doing it is the “right” way when it’s definitely an inferior way.
Rachel R. November 4, 2023
There are so many things wrong with this comment that I am not sure where to begin. Buy a damn scale.
Lora S. March 9, 2023
Not what I expected, nor my favorite style of shortbread. Made as written plus added 1 t vanilla. In my opinion, the texture is too flaky, and too dry despite the butter residue on my fingers. I had expected more of a melt-away style shortbread. I was dubious about the application of turbinado AFTER baking and was right, it just falls off. IMO, would be better sprinkled on top before baking, and just lift out the shortbread with the parchment sling, rather than turn out onto a board. I can certainly understand why this would appeal to many, it's just not for me. I'm glad the bakery was kind enough to share their recipe, and glad I tried it.
Ma_Faldine March 7, 2023
Is this recipe available in standard, non-metric measurements? I tried looking at a conversion chart, but it is still not that easy to decipher.
Sherry W. March 20, 2023
Please Ma_Faldine, you can get a scale for $10-$15 dollars and you will be amazed at how often you will use it.
Ma_Faldine March 22, 2023
Thank you. Julia Child's "The French Chef Cookbook" has a conversion chart.
Laurelwieland October 9, 2024
You can’t really convert these measurements [accurately]. The gram measurements provided are a measurement of mass, while cups are a measurement of volume (mass divided by density). Mass is a measure of how much of the substance there is, while volume is a measure of how much space the substance takes up. With flour, the mass can vary by up to 50% for a given volume! This is why mass is considered far more precise and is often preferred.
As far as a conversion chart, a substance’s density is dependent on its chemical composition and varies based on external factors such as temperature and pressure (increases in altitude cause a decrease in pressure, which leads to a decrease in density).
If you were only trying to convert to ounces/pounds, however, all of this is irrelevant and the measurements given should just be divided by 28.35.