Miss Julie served this traditional Scottish cookie, made from a family recipe, to the children and adults attending our
Passport to the World: Scotland program. Her Scots Irish great great great grandfather, John Gibson, settled in Southeast Ohio around 1800.
After a bite, one smiling child commented: "This is GREAT!"
Ayrshire Shortbread
Yield: about 70 small pieces
l lb. butter
l cup sugar
1/2 cup brown rice flour
4 1/2 cups flour
l. Leave out butter at room temperature until soft.
2. Combine sugar, brown rice flour and flour, mixing well.
3. When butter if very soft, add dry ingredients in small amounts, working them in with a spoon.
4. When the dough becomes difficult to work with the spoon, knead in the remainder of the dry ingredients with your hands. Knead until you have a soft, well-mixed dough.
5. Pat the dough out on a cookie sheet (I use a large jellyroll pan) in a square or round until it is 1/2 inch thick. Make sure the dough is a uniform depth. Press the tines of a fork on top to form a loose pattern of parallel rows.
6. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove cookie sheet from oven and cut shortbread into finger-length pieces. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes longer.
Enjoy!
