page_title: Shortbread
section_title: Shapes
hierarchical_section_title: Shortbread / Shapes
caption_attribution_description: Scottish shortbread fingers.
context_page_description: Shortbread is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts plain wheat flour. Other ingredients like ground rice or cornflour are sometimes added to alter the texture. Modern recipes also often deviate from the original by splitting the sugar into equal parts granulated and icing sugar and many add a portion of salt. Unlike many other cookies and baked goods, shortbread does not contain any leavening, such as baking powder or baking soda. Shortbread is widely associated with Christmas and Hogmanay festivities in Scotland, and some Scottish brands are exported around the world.
context_section_description: Shortbread is traditionally formed into one of three shapes: one large circle, which is divided into segments as soon as it is taken out of the oven (petticoat tails, which may have been named from the French petits cotés, a pointed biscuit eaten with wine, or petites gastelles, the old French for little cakes.  This term may also reference a petticoat's bottom); individual round biscuits (shortbread rounds); or a thick (¾" or 2 cm) oblong slab cut into fingers.
  The stiff dough retains its shape well during cooking.  The biscuits are often patterned before cooking, usually with the tines of a fork or with a springerle-type mold.  Shortbread is sometimes shaped into hearts and other shapes for special occasions.
caption: Shortbread fingers
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