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Shortbread

January 10, 2016 by Lois Britton 27 Comments

We have a gift exchange during our staff Christmas potluck lunch in December. I work at a church, so that’s why it’s not a “holiday” potluck. We exchange real gifts at this gathering, not white elephants (those are saved for the Epiphany party, of course). The gifts are given Secret Santa style. I was the lucky recipient of a beautifully decorative shortbread.

shortbread

Since my boss, the Interim Rector, had brought an identical shortbread for us to sample during the  potluck. I had a really good idea who my secret Santa was. That’s good for you and me, because I asked for his recipe which he gladly shared, adding that what makes this shortbread different is the addition of corn starch, which keeps the end product a little softer than most.

Another secret he shared is that he heats his stoneware baking molds in the oven while its preheating. When the buttery batter is patted into the hot mold, it melts enough to completely fill all of the little nooks in crannies in the detailed mold. His mold is from Hartstone. They are still making stoneware. This beautiful mold isn’t in their current inventory, but I noticed several just like this on eBay in the $20-25 range. With the heart pattern this shortbread and/or pan would make a great Valentine’s gift.

A friend brought me a tin of Walker’s shortbread when I was in the hospital after delivering our twin daughters. As an experienced mom of three, she said, “you’re going to get lots of things for the babies. This is for you. A little something to enjoy when you’re up during the middle of the night.”

Twins

Torrejon Air Base, Spain, 1983

Ever since then, shortbread has become a comfort food in my dictionary. If you’d like to give it a try, here’s the Canon’s recipe for shortbread.

shortbread 1

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Shortbread

★★★★★ 5 from 4 reviews
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 60 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
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Description

A rich, short pastry, delicious plain or baked in a decorative mold!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 cup corn starch
  • Pinch of salt (this would be my addition because I think even sweet favors are brightened by a hint of salt)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 (may heat mold during preheat)
  2. Melt butter
  3. Add sugar
  4. Add flour and corn starch, one cup at a time
  5. The mixture will be very crumbly
  6. Pat into two 8 inch molds (for a thick shortbread) or into one sheet pan (will be thinner)
  7. Bake for 40 minutes
  8. Reduce heat to 300 and bake 20 minutes longer

Notes

Freezes well!

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @PolishHousewife on Instagram and hashtag it #polishhousewife

 

Lois Britton

An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com,  she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.

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Filed Under: Breads, Christmas, Cookies

Previous Post: « Pancakes and Blis!
Next Post: Smigus-dyngus (Easter Monday) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julie Kenkel

    January 11, 2016 at 10:12 am

    I LOVE shortbread and this is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing Lois!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      January 12, 2016 at 7:49 am

      My pleasure, Julie. I think it is the prettiest shortbread I’ve seen. I’m impressed with the boss’ baking ability!

      Reply
  2. David

    January 14, 2016 at 6:48 am

    Great… now I need a shortbread pan! 🙂 Okay, I am excited to buy a shortbread pan, but I know someone in this household who is going to say, “One thing comes in, one thing goes out.” Do you suppose an empty wine bottle will count for the one thing that goes out?

    The recipe looks amazing, and knowing that it came from someone I know is even better! Thanks to both of you for sharing it!

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      January 22, 2016 at 9:27 am

      Hahaha! I’m sure we can work something out, David. I’ll blog about something that makes you need a new pan. Then you blog about something that makes me need a new pan.

      My blogging friend, ButterYum has a pantry devoted to pan storage. I’m am properly jealous!

      Reply
  3. Bollywood lounge

    February 18, 2016 at 3:21 am

    And there comes one more tasty food. Thanks for sharing this.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  4. Linda

    March 19, 2016 at 1:27 pm

    How nice! I love shortbread. 🙂

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      March 22, 2016 at 8:30 am

      Thanks, Linda!

      Reply
  5. Namaste India

    March 31, 2016 at 2:29 am

    Love thus shortbread. Its really tasty.

    Reply
  6. vicki

    December 12, 2016 at 3:14 pm

    I’ve been noticing cornstarch in shortbread recipes lately and wondered why. So glad you posted this recipe and the mold info. Absolutely gorgeous. I had no idea you had twins!

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      December 13, 2016 at 9:17 am

      No matter how much we bake, there is always a new tip out there!

      Yep, 2 pregnancies, 3 daughters! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Holly

    June 25, 2017 at 8:01 am

    Found a Hartstone shortbread mold at a local sale. Had NO idea how to use it, but thought it looked fun. Thank you for posting this recipe!!!! Turned out perfect very first try!!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      June 25, 2017 at 3:03 pm

      Congrats, Holly, on your find of the Hartstone mold! I’m delighted to hear the recipe worked well for you!

      Reply
  8. Amanda

    November 13, 2017 at 4:28 pm

    I love this recipe, it’s the first I’ve seen specifically made to suit a short bread pan. But this makes me cry.

    I live in Australia and no one really stocks those types of pans here. I have found a few companies that will ship them but it would cost $50+ which I just can not justify spending as it is more than the pan costs.

    I might have to see if someone I know in America can see how much they could ship it to me for, but I’m so scared it’ll be broken during shipping.

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      November 14, 2017 at 12:57 pm

      The next time someone comes to visit!

      Reply
  9. Margaret Longhurst

    December 19, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    Where can I buy this mold?

    Reply
  10. Margaret Longhurst

    December 19, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    Sorry I don’t know what you mean,I just want to know where I can purchase this mold mine has finally broken

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      December 19, 2017 at 8:58 pm

      Hi Margaret, the last time I looked, the Hartstone company no longer made this exact mold. I suggest that you search eBay for Hartstone mold to see if you can find one this this. Good luck in your search!

      Reply
  11. Dilice Bayley

    November 14, 2018 at 10:48 am

    I still have shortbread in oven so I don’t know how they taste yet but I was looking at other recipes and most said to prick dough with fork before baking, is this a necessary step for this recipe? Also the alternating ingredients instruction was confusing, I added the sugar to butter and then alternated corn starch and flour. Wondering how long to leave in molds and any tricks for removing them. The dough was beautiful and it smells great, this is the first time I have baked shortbread. Thank you.
    Dilice

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      November 14, 2018 at 8:58 pm

      Hi Dilice, let me know if your shortbread bubbled up as it baked. This is the reason for pricking with a fork. I’m afraid I haven’t made the recipe, I just ate it. The author didn’t give me that step in his recipe, but if your dough bubbles. I’ll certainly add it. Thanks for investigating for the rest of us. Fingers crossed!

      Reply
      • Dilice Bayley

        November 15, 2018 at 2:35 am

        Turned out delicious,

        Reply
        • polishhousewife

          November 15, 2018 at 12:47 pm

          I’m so happy to hear that, congrats on a good bake!

          Reply
  12. Georgia

    December 20, 2018 at 9:31 pm

    Thank you for this delicious recipe. The tip about preheating the shortbread molds along with the oven gave this bake a beautiful and successful outcome!
    I was ready to give the molds away. I’ve never had a successful release of shortbread from a mold. Thank you again! Shortbread. It’s what’s for Christmas this year.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      December 21, 2018 at 2:29 pm

      That’s great news, Georgia. I’m so happy to hear it worked well for you!

      Reply
  13. Josephine

    December 11, 2019 at 2:39 pm

    I have 2 of these stoneware molds. The are very popular in Scottish cookie baking. I’ve made shortbread many times but without the cornstarch. I think this ingredient will give the cookie a finer texture. I will make two molds tomorrow for a church sale. I will use Irish butter! Thanks for the recipe, your story, and the tips! Merry Christmas!

    Reply
  14. Gail Lam

    April 1, 2020 at 12:42 pm

    The original recipe from Hartstone that comes with the mold is different .
    1cup butter
    3/4 cup powdered sugar
    1 1/2 cup AP flour
    Pinch of salt

    I process everything in a FP then press into the buttered mold as pictured and bake on 325* for 40-45 minutes

    Reply
  15. Esther Good

    March 8, 2021 at 11:20 am

    I haven’t made the recipe yet…. why are some recipes calling for granulated sugar and others want you to use powdered sugar?

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      March 9, 2021 at 10:30 pm

      The recipe was told to me as granulated sugar.

      Reply

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