Scottish Shortbread

A parent accompanying the Glendora High School marching band on one of its trips to Scotland was given this recipe by May Tompson of Motherwell Scotland. I have adjusted the recipe by using bleached flour (original did not specify), and increasing the "pinch" of salt to at least 1/4-1/2 tsp. I have sometimes used extra-fine sugar. It helps the cookies hold their design, but I prefer the texture with regular sugar.

The recipe makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen individual cookies.

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup (8 oz. or two sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups bleached flour

Place sugar in mixing bowl. Cut up butter into pieces, and allow to soften slightly. Sprinkle salt over the butter and sugar. Cream with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add flour to butter mixture until dough begins to come together. I use a plastic scraper to form it into a single clump.

Form pieces of dough into 1-inch balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten with cookie stamps dipped in fine sugar.

Bake at 250F for 50-60 minutes. The time will depend on your baking sheets. Heavy ones may require the full hour. DO NOT BAKE BROWN.

Cool on rack.

In a tightly sealed container, shortbread keeps a long time.