Highlander Shortbread
The most delicious shortbread recipe… Highlander Shortbread have all the best bits of any shortbread, but with a demerara edging, making them next level.
Recently, someone asked Granny, “What’s your favourite thing to bake?” and without hesitation, she answered with “Shortbread!” I’ve already shared Granny’s famous Shortbread recipe, but inspired by recent events, I thought it was now time to share another variation of the classic Scottish Shortbread – which incidentally is my favourite kind – Highlander Shortbread!
If you follow Baking with Granny on social media (Facebook & Instagram), you might have seen our recent excitement of being invited to London to take part in the first episode of the new series of Bake Off: An Extra Slice. As it was following on from the first of this year’s The Great British Bake Off, and a change to the usual schedule with them debuting with biscuit week, we were asked to bring a biscuit-themed bake along with us.
After a bit of thought, we decided on some regional biscuits and baked a selection of shortbread to take on our adventure. We travelled down on the train from Edinburgh to London on the Saturday morning, with the shortbread safely tucked under Granny’s seat. After arriving in London around midday, we headed to the Television Centre to drop off our bake, before grabbing some lunch and returning to start filming at 3.30pm.
The afternoon/evening involved a lot of waiting but was overall a fantastic experience, with us even getting to see the new episode of The Great British Bake Off days before it debuted on TV. And we even made the final edit, and can be seen talking about your selection of regional biscuits. You can see it on All4 – I should mention that we were asked before if I minded going along with the joke, and of course, I agreed!
Out of the shortbread we took along, it included my favourite kind – Highlander Shortbread. The biscuit itself is made to the same recipe as Granny’s Shortbread, but the technique and the addition of a demerara sugar coating add a little something extra to these perfect buttery biscuits.
They are best enjoyed with a cup of tea (or a dram of whisky, should you prefer!) and also make a great gift too. Always a definite showstopper if you ask me!
Top Tips for Highlander Shortbread:
• Chill the dough well: Wrapping the Highlander shortbread dough in cling film and chilling it before slicing helps keep the rounds neat and prevents over-spreading during baking.
• Use a sharp knife: For clean, even slices, use a sharp, non-serrated knife when cutting the chilled shortbread dough into rounds.
• Give an even coating: Roll the dough log evenly in demerara sugar, so that each highlander shortbread biscuit has the same golden, crunchy edge.
• Careful not to overbake: Highlander shortbread cookies should be pale golden, not deeply browned. Take them out of the oven just as the edges start to colour for the perfect texture.
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Highlander Shortbread
EQUIPMENT
- Cling Film (plastic wrap)
- Baking Tray
INGREDIENTS
- 75 g Caster Sugar (Superfine Sugar)
- 150 g Butter or Block Margarine (at room temperature)
- 200 g Plain Flour (All-purpose Flour)
- 25 g Corn Flour (Corn Stratch)
- 100 g Demerara Sugar
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 180°c (160°c for fan-assisted oven, Gas Mark 4 or 350°F) and grease a couple of baking sheets with a little excess butter/margarine.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter/margarine and caster sugar until it becomes light and fluffy.
- Sift in the flour and cornflour and mix to form a stiff dough, using your hands if necessary. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured worktop and gently knead until smooth.
- Roll your dough into a ball before forming it into a long sausage (about 5cm in diameter). Wrap the sausage-shaped dough in some cling film and transfer to the fridge. Leave for about 30 minutes to stiffen slightly.
- Place the demerara sugar and cinnamon (if using) into a spare baking tray, before removing the dough from the fridge and roll the sausage-shaped dough through the sugar, ensuring it's completely coated.
- Cut the sugar-coated dough into circles around 1cm thick and transfer to your pre-greased baking trays. You should get about 15 biscuits.
- Bake in your pre-heated oven for around 10-15 minutes until the tops are lightly golden.
- Remove from the oven and leave the biscuits to cool on their tray for around 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won’t always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
RECIPE NOTES:
- Storage: Highlander Shortbread is best enjoyed the day they are baked, but they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- Freezing: You can freeze the baked shortbread once cooled. Layer them between sheets of baking paper in a tub or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature before serving.
Alternatively, freeze the dough log (before slicing) for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the fridge overnight, then slice and bake as usual. - Substitutions:
- Butter or Margarine: Traditional recipes use butter, but block margarine works just as well for a dairy-free option.
- Sugar Coating: Demerara sugar gives the best crunch, but golden caster sugar works too.
Highlander Shortbread is a traditional Scottish biscuit made with a classic shortbread dough, shaped into a log, rolled in demerara sugar, and sliced into rounds before baking. The sugar coating gives it a distinctive and delicious crunchy edge.
Unlike traditional shortbread or petticoat tails, Highlander Shortbread biscuits are rolled in demerara sugar before baking. This creates a caramelised crunch around the edges, making it extra special.
Make sure to chill the dough thoroughly before slicing and baking. If your kitchen is warm, you can even chill the cut biscuits on the baking tray for 10-15 minutes before they go in the oven.
Free-from & Vegan:
Gluten-free: Use a good-quality gluten-free plain flour blend. Shortbread can be a little more delicate with gluten-free flour, so handle the dough gently and chill well before slicing.
Dairy-free: To make this a dairy-free shortbread recipe, simply swap the butter for a block margarine (not spreadable kind).
Egg-Free: Traditional shortbread recipes don’t contain eggs, so this recipe is naturally egg-free.
Vegan: Use a vegan block margarine in place of butter, and this recipe becomes a fully vegan shortbread.
N.B. Any advice or suggestions to make recipes “free-from” or vegan are purely that – suggestions. Please be careful to double-check all ingredients individually, taking extra caution when serving to those with allergies & intolerances.
For more info on common food allergies, please see food.gov.uk | For more info on coeliac disease, please see coeliac.org.uk | For more info on a vegan diet, please see vegansociety.com
Hello amy.ima Scot for Glasgow living in the USA I was so happy to find you and your Granny’s recipes.keep them coming.thnank you.
this is such an amazing website its the so enticing to see this delicious cakes .Keep up ….
Just made these with my 3 year old son and they were a real hit in our house! We didn’t put the dough in the fridge as my son didn’t have the patience for that but they still turned out delicious!
Oh it’s the highland shortbread I’m talking about btw!
Hi.
You had a 3 year old in close proximity to shortbread dough and managed to have dough left?
Respect!
Making a batch for a Christmas present for my boss so fingers crossed
Hello! I am looking for a shortbread cookie that is thick and holds it shape but melts in your mouth once you bite into it without being crunchy. Do you think this recipe would be better for that or your should I try your original Granny’s Shortbread instead?
Thanks!
Hey, I just used this recipe for a bake off competition for work tomorrow.
They taste so yummy. I’m hoping they are the winner.
Thanks for sharing
So easy to make! Confess I left them a little longer in the oven as I like it very crisp!
Taken lots round to my friends (in England so they Lloyd anything Scottish!!) and they think it’s amazing!
Made these yesterday, they are so good will be making them again and again
These were terrific. I’m a scot expat living in the USA and just made these for a holiday party. ( I made two batches and put chocolate chunks in one of them.) All my American friends went crazy for them with a couple saying they could never buy store bought shortbread again! These reminded me EXACTLY of my Aunt Betty’s highlanders. In the 70’s we would head through to Glasgow for her infamous Hogmany party every year. Her melt in the mouth ‘biscuits’ were the thing i most looked forward to as a child and this recipe was an exact replica of my memories. (She recently passed and I looked online for a recipe to make them in her honour and came accross your recipe.) Thank you!
I really thought nothing could beat your granny’s shortbread biscuits, it was the very first thing I tried to bake, just a few months ago. Then I made this, it is literally to die for. I always have it, in a good old fashioned tin container, everyone loves it. The texture is fabulous and the extra crunch from the Demerara is amazing. Brilliantly simplistic and tastes completely scrumptious!
Hello from Elgin, IL USA. This is the best shortbread cookie recipe I have ever made! It is such a simple, purely delicious cookie. Thank you, I look forward to making it many more times. It’s my new favorite.
need it in USA’s terms (i.e. what is 75 g, etc)
Sandra, try google many conversion charts, I would buy scales with metric measures on them. Do you know that USA and Myanmar are the only countries in the world not using the Metric system?
Hi Sandra. You need to buy a weigh scale really, or use a conversion chart. For demerara sugar, try turbinado sugar. They’re very similar.
Google it!, I do when I find American recipes in pounds and ounces. I am in South Africa
I’ve made these a few times now and they are delicious! So delicious in fact, this year I’m putting them into my hampers of home made food gifts that I give to family and friends every Christmas. Thanks for the lovely recipe.
Made these yesterday for Hogmanay. Can’t stop munching them. Perfect little biscuits, easy and quick. I didn’t have Demerara sugat, so I mixed dark brown sugar with white granulated sugar., Perfect. Now one of my favourite, go to recipes. Thankyou.,
Corn flour or corn starch?
Great recipes. We’ve tried loads now and love them all. Only problem I find is all the adverts on your page !!! Omg it takes ages to find the recipe and always distracted by adverts popping up
I love my Highlanders with no frills hence so I’m considering skipping the bit where you’re supposed to rill the cold dough in Demerara sugar. However I’m worried this will affect the sweetness. Should i just up the (caster) sugar at the beginning (the creaming process) by 75-100g if I want to leave out the Demerara sugar at the end? Or should i follow the recipe exactly as described and leave out the Demerara? Thanks in advance.
These are utterly delicious and so easy to make. I had no cornflour so substituted 25g of ground rice. Fabulous crisp melting shortbread.
Hi
My granny used to make these but she put icing ontop then a glacé cherry, hard to find here in the US or a walnut, one of my fav biscuits
I made these at school over 50yrs ago and always remembered them. They were delicious. I bought a packet of Walker’s Highlanders and they were good but not as good as I remembered. When I typed in Highlanders this recipe came up so I made some and wasn’t disappointed. They tasted exactly the same as I remembered all these years ago. Amazing taste, crumbly but melt in the mouth at the same time. Many many thanks for the recipe. I use it all the time now x