January 15, 2022

HERITAGE RECIPE : Scottish Shortbread


First, I have to admit that this is a total cop-out of a recipe. There are only four simple ingredients and not much work at all.

However, I am in a terrible mood today and I just don't feel like getting into a big mess with a recipe right now. 

I would like to thank Kroger Pharmacy for filling my prescriptions two days late; when you're on mood stabilizers and anti-anxiety meds and suddenly cut off from them, things can become a shit show after just one day. Just ask Jerry. I think he was excited to go to work today just to get away from me.


I understand that everything is slower right now, but I get the same meds every month and these were sent in with plenty of notice. Cutting someone off cold-turkey isn't cool.

Anyway, I feel terrible that this is how I am starting this heritage recipe! Heritage recipes are supposed to be light and fun. This recipe was submitted by Sharon Laura to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society. I promise that I will do her justice by finding another of her recipes and making up for it.

To make me feel even worse, Sharon is the daughter-in-law of my school bus driver that I had (and loved) all through elementary school! I would love to write a little about her, and I will do that in another post (she has submitted recipes as well, so I'll pick one of hers).

For today, though, I picked (what I thought was) a simple recipe. I almost managed to screw this up, though, because it started to crumble apart when I tried removing it from the pan (turns out I had to let it cool first)

As always, I made the recipe exactly as-written. I didn't make any substitutions or alterations. The "printer-friendly" version below is rewritten by me with any notes to clarify things.


Scottish Shortbread

1-1/4 c. flour
3 T. cornstarch
1/3 c. granulated sugar, divided
1/2 c. butter

Combine 1/4 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch and butter. Rub with fingers; press into ungreased 8-inch pan. Bake at 325 F for 40 minutes. Cut into wedges; sprinkle remaining sugar on top.

My Notes:

Simple enough, right? I mixed the ingredients in my mixer and then squished it all together with my fingers. The dough was REALLY dry and I never thought it would come together, but it did--barely. This is what it looked like before and after smushing it with my fingers.




And then after pressing it down to the bottom of the pan...



It looked pretty much the same after baking as it did before baking...



Getting it out of the pan was ridiculous. The whole thing just started crumbling apart. I wondered if I was supposed to let it cool first before removing it from the pan. So I tried to smush the crumbled part back in there, and then I let it cool. (You can see on the left where I started to try to lift it out and it crumbled apart on me.)



It worked out MUCH better after it cooled. In fact, it was absolutely delicious! It was very buttery tasting and not super sweet. It would be amazing served with some strawberries on top.

Anyway, I apologize to Sharon for my sour mood. I will try making this again when I am in a better mood and maybe I'll do better at it. I'm really looking forward to making one of Sharon's mother-in-law's recipes as well!

Don't let my bad mood stop you from trying this recipe--it really is delicious!  (And if you need a super fast, easy dessert for last-minute company or something, this is perfect. Just serve it with some fruit and it'd be really pretty!

5 comments:

  1. Sorry that happened to you Katie. This has happened to my husband and we have asked for just a few pills to get him through on his blood pressure meds and the pharmacy has done that for us and they just will fill the prescription subtracting the few they gave us. Recipe looks delicious! I hope you feel better. Thank you for sharing!

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  2. Shortbread is one of my favorites. I will need to try this. I was surprised to hear about the issue with getting your Rx especially since you should never go without it.

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  3. Shortbread is basically like a pie crust. I've made it often and it's supposed to be very crumbly and delicate when warm. Because it's mostly butter, the quality of your butter will dictate how good it tastes!

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  4. I love how real you are. Meds are so important no matter if they are for mental health, cancer, or cardiac conditions. I'm so sorry that happened to you. Good for you for making the recipe anyway, for sharing it with us, and for wanting to make it again. Sending hugs.

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  5. My husband also has bipolar and seems to go through this same shitshow with his meds every month It's so maddening. I'm sorry you're doing through it, too.

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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