The ratio is 1-2-3. One part sugar, two parts butter, three parts flour. That’s the whole recipe. Everything else is technique.

Ingredients

  • 100g sugar (half cup, roughly)
  • 200g butter, room temperature
  • 300g all-purpose flour (about 2¼ cups)
  • Pinch of salt

That’s it. No vanilla, no eggs, no leavening. Shortbread is butter and flour agreeing with each other. Anything else gets in the way.

Method

Cut the butter into the flour with your hands. Not a food processor. Your hands. You want flat, floury pieces of butter, not a paste. Stop when it looks like rough crumbs.

Add the sugar and salt. Mix with your hands until it starts to clump. Press it together into a mass. It won’t be smooth. That’s fine.

Press into an ungreased 9-inch pan. A tart pan with a removable bottom is nice but not required. Push it flat and even with your fingers. Prick all over with a fork.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes. This matters. Cold shortbread holds its shape.

Bake at 325°F for 40-45 minutes. You’re looking for pale gold, not brown. The edges will be slightly darker.

Score into wedges while still warm. Cut through when cool.

Notes

Room temperature butter means room temperature. Not soft, not squishy. If you can dent it easily with a finger but it still holds its shape, that’s right.

The flour doesn’t need sifting. The butter doesn’t need creaming. The dough doesn’t need resting beyond the fridge time. This isn’t fussy baking. It’s just paying attention.

My grandmother made this every December. Same recipe, same pan, same fork marks. I use her pan now. The scratches are hers.