We Tried 9 Shortbread Recipes
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- Опубліковано 4 чер 2024
- In this video, I taste my way through 9 popular shortbread recipes in search of the best recipe!
The full breakdown, including the data analysis and my top picks, is posted on my blog. Thank you to our sponsor, @imperialsugar for providing the high-quality pure cane sugar that made each of these shortbread perfectly sweet and tender.
Blog post: www.thepancakeprincess.com/20...
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Videography by Michael Ma from Makin Media: makinmediastudios.com/
Recipes (in order shown):
00:00 Intro to the shortbread bake off
00:32 Tasting the benchmarks: Walkers and Dean's shortbread
1:42 Ted Lasso: www.thekitchn.com/the-officia...
3:00 Food52 (Bien Cuit): food52.com/recipes/81249-bien...
4:20 Tartine: www.tmhostess.com/2014/11/tart...
6:09 Cook's Illustrated: traceysculinaryadventures.com/...
8:04 Taste of Home: www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/s...
9:19 Food and Wine: www.foodandwine.com/recipes/b...
10:40 New York Times: cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1...
12:16 Christina Tosi: milkbarstore.com/blogs/christ...
13:30 Seasons and Suppers: www.seasonsandsuppers.ca/cris...
15:17 Favorite picks!
16:29 Wrap up
In case you're new here, here's how a bake off works:
- I bake 9-12 different recipes in one day
- Samples of each recipe get distributed to a team of tasters
- Tasters rank each sample for flavor, texture and overall appeal
- We analyze the data and rank each recipe according to the scores!
Walkers is the gold standard! I would want the one that taste the most like it and has the same texture.
I completely agree. The recipe that tastes most like Walkers is the one that contains only flour, butter (salted) and sugar in the proportions 3, 2, 1 (easy to remember). Nothing else. The secret is in the amount of handling of the dough (as little as possible), and the temperature/cooking time (differs per oven) to get the "bone" (the characteristic shape and size of the lighter coloured part visible when you break the shortbread in half). Grate the cold butter and mix it using cold hands (cool them under a cold tap). If you cannot get salted butter, add some salt, this is really important to get the rich taste. One prepared, immediately put the dough in the baking tin, score it, fork it and bake it. No resting, no curing, no overnight in the fridge, no nonsense of any kind. You may not get the best result immediately, because it takes time to know your oven. Once you do, these will be the best and most authentic shortbread biscuits you will ever taste.
I absolutely adore this series. I can’t begin to imagine how much goes into these videos! So thank you! They are highly appreciated ♥️
Thank you so much Alisha!!! They are indeed a ton of work but I so appreciate your kind words!
I don't know, I feel like she should at least be making the different recipes. Even only half so that we can see what she's talking about...
Wow, what a great review! After visiting the United Kingdom a few years ago, I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect shortbread. Thank you for all the links to the recipes!
i would love to see a banana bread comparison!
Wow, this is an incredible breakdown. Thank you for sharing these reflections!
What an incredible shortbread deep dive! Thanks for all of the work you put into this.
Thanks for trying and reviewing all of the recipes!
This was great. I would have liked you mention sweetness level, although you did enough work already, to be fair!. Thanks a bunch!!!
Love these bake off videos they’re so helpful when choosing which recipe to use as my “go-to”! Please please help me out and do brownies soon! Haha
I Just watched the shortbread made for the queen at Balmoral in Scotland. He was a chef there. He used cornstarch too. Plus vanilla bean paste. Made the holes so it cooks better. I think it would be the best one.
Thanks for the video! This is so helpful❤❤
I would love to see the cooking process and footage of cooking each one instead of solely talking about it! It would be more engaging and fun to see the process! I love your comparison blogs.
A great point, I would also LOVE to show more of the process but it would just be many more hours of filming so I haven't figured out a good way to do this yet. I do try to capture some of the process on Instagram stories for now!
Such a great video. Happy Holidays
Made many of these recipes, made a mistake with the Tartine recipe the first time, but still came out. Did the recipe again and liked my mistake recipe the best!
What was the mistake?
I can’t imagine how much butter you used! Haha another amazing video/bake off 😍
Pounds upon pounds!! Thank you bb!!
Love your work!
Thank you!!
I love that you did this! You deserve all the love, because it is not cheap 'n easy to do all that work. I'm going trust your tastebuds and give the Ted Lasso (which I'd never heard of) a try.
Thank you so much; I think Ted Lasso is truly incredible and I hope you enjoy!!
I love these videos sm I’ve been reading your blog for a while but I just recently discovered your UA-cam channel and whenever you upload it literally makes my day 💜❤️💜❤️🥰🥰
Awww THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!
Shortbread is my favorite cookie so this was super interesting to me!
Thank you so much for all the effort this must have taken you! So appreciated. Any idea if you can freeze baked shortbread (single layer on a sheet pan)? How does the unbaked dough hold up? Thanks a lot.
Thank you for the kind words! Yes, you could definitely flash freeze the shortbread (freeze until solid as a single layer, then break up and put in a freezer bag for later)--but obviously the flavor won't be as fresh! I think the dough would hold up for several days in the fridge, but I haven't tried for longer than that.
Thanks so much!@@erikathepancakeprincess
Please make more videos. We miss you x
Awww
If you like very butter desserts, you may also want to try Turkish flour halwa or the indian mysore pak. Both made with humongous amounts of butter/ghee.
Love this, but the background music is making me crazy!
Haha noted, will change up the vibe for next time!
Can you do a comparison of vanilla cakes?
Wow - a lot of work to make all of these and then also to describe them accurately!
Kerrygold - high quality? It was always seen as a cheap brand when I was growing up. I use Paysan Breton or Isigny Sainte Mère salted butter for the best buttery taste. Cornstarch always gives a soft, slightly claggy mouth feel. For a smooth, flat top, use the bottom of a cup measure or mug - see backyard chef video.
thanks, this was great!! i always get stuck on recipes, knowing one version could BLARRGH and another be the heavens shining down. (usually meals, not baking). i started getting walkers shortbread recently. had it last year for 1st time, and it was so much different from those cookie tin things which i hate. got me wondering what the recipes were like. never even heard of deans. i'm part scot, so perfectly happy to stay with walkers lol. but curious where deans is from. also, walkers has one that's in the shape of scottie dogs and.... ah. hard not to love.
Ahh yes Walkers is definitely another gold standard; Dean's was a recommendation from someone who came from London!
I'm really surprised you didn't do the Canada Cornstarch recipe. But I love that you did this!
Ahh have never heard of it, will look it up--thank you!
One thing I noticed right away… making short bread should be thinner and more uniform size. Plus most important is docking it with a fork before baking… none of the shortbreads you baked were docked( poke holes with fork) to cook evenly.
Good point about uniformity; I could have rolled them more evenly. I did dock the shortbread that called to be docked (like Seasons & Suppers for example)!
Well, I'm prejudiced in favor of my Scottish grandfather's recipe that seems just slightly different from each of the ones you tested. But I have a question: was it just agreed that no one would dock the cookies (holes in the top)? IMO, it adds to the unique "shortbread-y" texture one is looking for.
Has anyone ever seen a more browned version? My mom always made them that way, baked a good bit longer than I ever did (she was an Aussie if that made a difference), but pale is the only way that ever seemed legit to me, though I never said that to her.
Mine may be the simplest: butter, caster or regular sugar, flour. That's it unless you used saltless butter, then you'll want a little salt.
Combine all, pat out on a pan, press the 4 sides (recipe says "flute") with a fork, dock it (place holes all over with a fork), pre-draw lines with a knife.
Now is the odd part: We are instructed to bake 20-25 minutes at 350°F, 15-20 minutes at 250, and 200° to total an hour. I'm not at all sure why, either something quirky about the original oven, or I actually think it makes sure the interior is done to the right degree without the outside getting crunchy. An alternative is to bake at 300° for 45 minutes. To this day, I use the 3 temperatures out of loyalty to the original recipe! 😁
When done, cut them again while still hot. I've always cut them in squares. Cool on a wire rack. Remember all the days at Grandma's when she made these for you. Whoops, that's just me.
My Scottish Grandma made these for me when I was in elementary school and I will never forget that flavour. No store bought shortbread cookie compairs. She was 97 when she passed away a couple years ago.
@@southernbellebabiesYes, my grandma's were tied up in wonderful buttery flavor along with representing pretty much every single wonderful visit I had with her. Sounds like you have the same kind of memory. Children are so lucky when they have nurturing grandparents.
Interesting video & comparison of recipes. I found the recipe from Martha Stewart (the one where she bakes it in a round mold with thistle design on it) to be closest to that of Walkers Shortbread. I baked this version & my friends were clamoring for more.
Noted, will have to try that recipe--thank you!
What about ....WHIPPED SHORTBREAD ...
now that is one i want to try
Can someone tell me where I can get the exact measures of the ingredients?
I want one of ted lassos and the other one would be seasons and suppers one.
Check her description. She links to each recipe.
Please do a cinnamon roll bake off! I tried Joshua Weissman's and Brian Lagerstrom's but am curious about others.
Who’s were better?
I know it’s been a long time since you did this testing, but have you looked at the binging with babish recipe? I’m just wondering if you or anyone else knows how it compares to these.
I haven't! But I'm starting a micro bake off series in my newsletter so this would be an interesting one to look at!
Hack: Cover the bowl of the food processor with plastic wrap before you put on the lid. Keeps the lid from getting dirty and all that wasted product!
Great channel! Do coffee cake!!
No recipes from Scotland?
I have been looking for a shortbread cutout recipe as I can’t get enough of Whole Foods ‘Little Rae’s’ retail offering. I’ve researched some of the same recipes you offered, the rice flour addition, Euro
butters, egg yolks, brown sugar, and disparate cookbook recipes, so much so I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. I will rewatch this episode and narrow my favorites to a workable few that will come close to ‘LR’s’ taste and texture. If you have a suggestion for ingredients in the aforementioned listed flour, butter, egg yolk, etc choices please advise. Thank you, great content!
Have u found out the best recipe that you d recommend? Thanks
I saw a butter cookie recipe with powder sugar that made the cookie softer. Oops you just mentioned powdered sugar but maybe you could do 1/2 powdered and 1/2 reg sugar.
The ones with cornstarch would be similar, I think, because powdered sugar has cornstarch.
I use a 2-4-6 ratio
How many biscuits are you going to eat and what’s the point?
Do brownies?
What about a cookie that uses Ghee or browned butter??
This was not only a comparison across multiple recipes but a masterly presentation - brilliant! Are you planning on going to med school?
So I learned that European butter has a higher butter fat content and less water than American butter. Where does Australian butter fall?
I get the idea that you're putting the shortbreads in the fridge because of the loss of crispness. Right?
Fat content in the butter makes ALL the difference. 82% and over is the truth. Plus a deep buttery tasting butter.
this is such a great comparison! I also noticed the zillions of recipes. I have to say, your beautiful was so close to your mouth that I had to listen rather than watch you taste. Sorry! You're brilliant but maybe a bobbie pin? Keep up the great work!
Beautiful hair?
Stop saying Ted Laso cookie had powdered sugar - the graphics say granulated. that is regular table sugar, not powderd!
Well I can't very well stop saying it had powdered sugar now that the video is edited and published (: The graphic is wrong. The cookies have powdered sugar in them.
There is English short bread and a Scottish short bread.
The secret to short bread is using corn starch. 1/3 to half of what use in flour.
Should be crumbled, not a solid mass.Crumbled so it is short and then pressed into pan.
The brought biscuits are not what it should be.
Look up uk recipes .
All due respect, where is shortbread ever called crisp? No, it melts in your mouth, no chewing needed
Yeah, I definitely wouldn't class Walkers as the professionals 😂
Altering the proportions of the ingredients will change the texture. Shortbread should be viewed more as a method than a recipe. Some people prefer a crisper texture, that is a choice, it is still shortbread.
I agree. My preference is melt in your mouth. That’s what I look for in my shortbread. Not a fan of dense crisp shortbread cookie.
The people who eat shortbread dense and crisp are the people who invented it, the Scots. If you want it tender add your cornstarch and icing sugar, but that’s a cookie , not shortbread traditionally to the folk who pressed it in clay forms or rolled it in trays or molded it in petticoat tails. The Walkers are a Scottish lowland clan who do actually carry the tradition fairly well.
@@Elleliza3501since when is taste objective?….regardless what people think, taste is subjective like beauty and art
I liked your video and it was informative. I can understand why most chefs tie back their long hair. While beautiful ,your hair is touched many times to where it detracts from your message.
I don't get this video, there is only one shortbread recipe, 3, 2, 1 flour, butter (salted), sugar. Any other ingredient and it is no longer shortbread, but some other "cookie" as people keep calling it (it's a biscuit).
3, 2, 1 by weight or volume?
turn some lights on girl
Leave the graphics and text up much much longer, use more closeups of the things you are talking about. Those are all much more interesting and important than watching you talk.
I thought these are about real people's recipes and commercial brands'. Who cares?
Less touching the hair .
Please talk slowly and pronounce words clearly!
Remove the silly word “like” from your demos. Like it’s so annoying. LOL Interesting comparisons though, and useful.
Sorry but the tasting and evaluating the cookies is taking too long. I would have thought the testing had been done already and we get the results.
If you'd like to skip straight to the results, you can read the blog post! www.thepancakeprincess.com/2021/12/10/best-shortbread-bake-off/
Loved this comparison video. Thanks for sharing it. 👏👏😍