Cranberry Orange Pecan Scottish Shortbread
Try my recipe for traditional Scottish Shortbread like we eat here in Scotland, but this time with some added flavours & textures. Such a simple biscuit/cookie to make, with no decorating required, this is a perfect make-ahead cookie for food gifting.
Equipment
- Scales or measuring cups
- Large spoon
- Stand or Hand Mixer, (or Medium-Large Mixing bowl & spoon)
- Pastry Cutter/pastry blender (optional)
- Knife & chopping board
- Baking/parchment paper
- Baking Sheet/Tray x 2
- Rectangular Cookie Cutter (Optional - 6½cm x 3cm/ 2½" x 1¼" used, & a 4cm / 1¾" square cutter)*
- Palette knife or sharp kitchen spatula
- Timer or Phone Timer
- Cooling rack
- * See Notes after Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 225 grams Butter, unsalted, cubed & softened (1 cup/2 sticks or 8 oz)
- 110 grams Caster Sugar (3¾ oz), ½ cup Extra/super fine sugar)*
- 225 grams Plain Flour (1 ¾ cups All Purpose or 8 oz)
- 110 grams Corn Flour (3¾ oz, 1 cup less 1 tbsp Corn Starch)
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 tsp Orange Extract (Or zest of 1 orange)
- 73 grams Dried Sweetened Cranberries (1¼ cup, 2½ oz)
- 52 grams Pecans, roughly chopped (¾ cup, 1¾ oz - Optional - hazelnuts also work well)
- Granulated Sugar for topping
Instructions
Prepare The Biscuit Dough
- Weigh/measure & cube the butter before leaving to soften. (Cut about 1cm or ⅓” size as smaller surface area will soften faster). Forgot or in a hurry? Try this video hack for softening in about 12 minutes.
- Add the sugar to your mixing bowl before adding in the softened butter & lightly mixing by hand before moving onto using the hand mixer or stand mixer, on a low speed to begin with . Use the mixer and k-paddle (not the beater attachment), to 'Cream' the butter & sugar together.
- Prepare 2 or 3 large baking/cookie sheets/trays with some baking/parchment paper, greasing in place if these do not have any lip (or your cookies might slide off).
- Sieve over the flour, corn flour/starch & pinch of salt and gently start to mix into the sugar/butter mixture by hand only. Do not use a mixer or food processor.
- Take a Pastry Cutter/Pastry blender and push down on the bottom of the bowl, rotating left & right. Repeat on all areas of the mixture until the butter has taken on all the flour. This is recommended if your hands hurt or tire easily & will only take a minute. Alternatively, you can do this ‘Cutting In’ process, with 2 butter knives, or rubbing the mixture between your fingertips. See this done in my British Scones video, at 5 minutes in. **Note the mixture will not come together into a ball, but be crumbly at this stage.
- In the mixing bowl, or on top of lightly floured baking/parchment paper, very gently use your hands and squeeze the dough till it comes together. Then form into a rectangular or square shape, (about 4"/10cm width), rather than a flat disc.
Flavouring The Shortbread
- Lightly flour a counter/worktop or some baking/parchment paper, and use your fingers or palms, to open the dough up a bit more, no need for a rolling pin. (See Photo 3 before this recipe card for a visual). Then dot over half of the orange extract (1 tsp), and gently knead into the dough for a few seconds. **If you want to make 2 different flavours, you can half the dough at this stage.
- Open up the dough again and add in half of the cranberries & nuts before folding over the ends, towards the centre, to cover over the nuts & fruit. Turn over the dough, rotate 90 degrees and repeat the folding process. Then repeat with the remaining orange extract, cranberries & nuts. You should have an orange smelling, fruit/nut studded dough now. Gently form into a rectangular shape & chill for 10 minutes to relax the dough a little. *Tip – you can chill the shortbread dough in the fridge overnight if needed, by wrapping well with cling film/plastic wrap.
Cutting Out The Shortbread
- Lightly flour a counter/worktop or some baking/parchment paper, and use a rolling pin to open up the shortbread dough to a rough rectangle or square shape, with a thickness of about 1-1½ cm ( ⅓– ⅔“). *Tip - use 2 sheets of paper to do this & keep the rolling pin clean). Use a flour dipped rectangular cookie cutter to cut out the shortbread, leaving moving the dough till you have finished cutting out. Pull back the excess dough, use a fork to 'Dock' the shortbread pieces, before carefully transferring to a prepared cookie tray with a palette knife. (See Photo 6 before this Recipe Card).
- Traditionally, Scottish shortbread is made without a cutter and freehand, in biscuit ‘fingers’ or Petticoat Tail triangles. For Petticoat Tails, shape ⅓ of the dough into a ball then a flat disk, 1-1½ cm ( ⅓– ⅔“) deep, about 10cm (4″) in diameter. Cut into 6 triangles, 'Dock' the surface, and crimp the edges, by squeezing the dough between your thumb and index finger.
- For simple shortbread fingers, shape the dough into a rough rectangle by hand, with a depth of 1-1½ cm (⅓– ⅔“). Trim the edges straight, and cut biscuit fingers about 1½ cm (⅔“) wide by 6¼ cm (2½” ) long. *Cut slightly thinner, as they puff a little on baking. Use the left-over scraps to make petticoat tails, or more fingers. Go over the cuts again if need be, as the cranberries and nuts make cutting not as easy. Again 'Dock' the shortbread fingers before placing on the tray, with at least 1½ cm (⅔“) gap in-between the biscuits.
Chill The Shortbread Dough
- Place the baking sheets/trays in the fridge for 1 hour. This step should not be omitted or the shortbread will spread and join together and lose their soft texture.
- Alternatively, you can cover the cut-out shortbread with cling film/plastic wrap and leave in the fridge overnight or for 2 days maximum, and simply bake directly from the fridge).
Bake The Shortbread
- Before the 1 hour is up, set the oven to 180°c/160°c Fan/350°f/Gas Mark 4.
- Place 2 of the prepared shortbread trays/baking sheets in the centre of the oven & bake for 14 - 18 minutes. You may need a little longer, however do not over-bake. Only the edges will be turning a very pale golden colour and the rest will be pale like sugar cookies. Turn & rotate the trays during baking if needed, but after 8 minutes. Test by gently pushing the biscuit, which should move but still be soft.
- Place the cookie tray on top of a cooling rack, sprinkle plenty of granulated sugar on top of all the shortbread and leave where they are for 5 - 10 minutes. Meanwhile bake your 3rd lot of shortbread.
- Once the shortbread has had 5 - 10 minutes to cool and set a little, you need to very carefully transfer & remove from the baking sheet. Scottish shortbread is extremely delicate so the best way to do this is use the baking/parchment paper, by pulling one end and sliding the shortbread (and paper), onto the cooling rack. Then leave to cool down completely.
Serving & Storing
- Enjoy cranberry orange pecan shortbread once cooled, with tea or coffee (or Whisky if you prefer).
- Store cooled Scottish shortbread in an airtight tin or container for at least 7 days. Metal cake or cookie tins are highly recommended. I have had Scottish shortbread still taste great after 14 days.
Video
Notes
Cookie Cutter - for these updated photos I used a rectangular cutter - 6½cm x 3cm/ (2½" x 1¼") & for a second batch a 4cm (1¾") square cutter. You can use other cutter as per the photos above this Recipe Card.
Caster Sugar - US equivalent is Extra/Super Fine Sugar. Process your own from Granulated sugar - see my sugar comparison photos before this Recipe Card.
Alternative Ingredients - hazelnuts and walnuts also work well in place of the pecans. In the square biscuits, I replaced the nuts with chocolate chips. Orange zest can be used if you don't have orange extract, but I highly recommend using extract.
Recipe Yield/Servings - this shortbread recipe makes 32 biscuits if using the same size rectangular cutter as I did for the fingers. Or 41 with the square cutter. For nutritional values only, 1 serving is based on 1 rectangular shortbread finger.
Scottish Shortbread Tips
*Don't omit the Cornflour (Corn Starch), as it gives the melt-in-the-mouth texture. As well as proper butter, this makes a traditional Scottish recipe we are used to here in Scotland.
*Only very light, minimal kneading to bring dough & inclusions together.
*Do not skip the chilling stage - very important for these and most biscuit/cookies.
*Don't over-bake - should be pale like sugar cookies, firm up on cooling & be a very soft delicate texture.
Please see the detailed recipe process photos & further information, before this Recipe Card. Where readers' pics and feedback page can also be found.
See my original Scottish Shortbread recipe, or Chocolate & Coconut Scottish Shortbread (shown above & below).
Love cranberry orange combination? Then why not try my other Scottish recipe - Madeira Cake. This is also great with fresh or frozen cranberries, or try the new Cranberry Orange Madeira Cake Muffins version.
Please take a few seconds to rate this post & recipe - by scrolling down to the very bottom of the page, thanks Caro xx
NUTRITIONAL VALUES – I am not a qualified nutritionist, and all nutritional values approximate & based on a serving of 1 rectangular/finger biscuit as per size stated above, where recipe yield is 32 rectangular biscuits/cookies. Make more or less cookies & the nutritional values will change. Values calculated from website My Fitness Pal.com, where more macros can be found & tracked. Go to my Cranberry Shortbread Pecan Scottish Shortbread recipe on MyFitnessPal.com
Nutrition Facts
Cranberry Orange Pecan Scottish Shortbread
Amount per Serving
Calories
112
% Daily Value*
Fat
7.12
g
11
%
Saturated Fat
4
g
25
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
2
g
Cholesterol
15
mg
5
%
Sodium
50
mg
2
%
Potassium
10
mg
0
%
Carbohydrates
11.37
g
4
%
Sugar
5
g
6
%
Protein
1
g
2
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.