Lazy Homemade Shortbread

Buttery and sweet, with just the right amount of resistance before it crumbles in your mouth, this lazy shortbread shaves minutes off the more traditional method. If the word lazy offends you, just call it easy.

We make most traditional shortbread recipes by cutting cold butter into the flour creating a sort of rough and sandy crumble. But years ago, I needed a quick recipe to make big pans of shortbread for a school function and I came across this one using melted butter instead. I have since made homemade shortbread the more traditional way but I must confess that when I’m in a hurry, I go back to this lazy shortbread time and time again.

Shortbread packages up nicely and would make a special gift for Mother's Day, don't you think?

Lazy Shortbread

If you want to change it up a bit, add some orange or lemon zest to the dough and sprinkle the top with orange or lemon sugar or a little more zest.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1 cup or 130g cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Slightly rounded ½ cup or 125g caster or fine grain sugar
1⅛ cup or 250g unsalted butter

To decorate the shortbread:
1 egg white, whisked with a teaspoon of water
2-3 tablespoons coarse grain sugar (I love using my lavender sugar here.)
Optional: edible glitter

Method
Line the bottom of a small 8x8in or 20x20cm pan with baking parchment and preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C.

Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in to a large mixing bowl. Add in the sugar and stir to mix.

Gently melt the butter in a small pot over a low heat then pour it into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until it is well combined and you have a soft, buttery dough.

Tip the dough into your prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Use a knife to score the top into 18 equal pieces. Use a fork or a skewer to poke decorative holes in each piece.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the shortbread is begins to brown slightly.
Remove from the oven and brush lightly with the beaten egg white.
Sprinkle the top generously with coarse sugar.

Bake for five more minutes.

Remove from the oven and lightly sprinkle with edible glitter, if using. This is purely for show but I love how it brings out the natural purple in the lavender sugar. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes.

Use a sharp knife to cut the shortbread into pieces where you scored. Leave to cool completely before removing from the pan.

Store in an airtight container once completely cooled. Or wrap some up and give it away!

Enjoy!

Pin it! 

.