Scottish Shortbread

Basic, but fabulous. Shortbread is easy to master, and makes a great gift any time of the year.

4 sticks of butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups flour, sifted

Preheat the oven to 300F degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla. Mix in the flour gradually.

Press or roll the dough into the desired shape. I use a 10” x 15” baking sheet and spread the dough to the edges, which results in about ½-inch thick dough, but it can also be rolled to ½” thick and baked in a freehand circle or the configuration of your choice.

Bake for 40-50 minutes. IMPORTANT: Slice immediately after removing from oven, or the shortbread will break. I use a stainless steel scraper (see picture) to cut the shortbread. Cool completely in the pan.

If you'd made shortbread earlier, you could have been having tea and shortbread right now. No worries--just make it now.