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From a classic Scottish shortbread to Japanese salted shortbread and a big, crumbly Italian polenta 'tart', these biscuit variations cater to all tastes, including sweet and savoury.
Grab a slice
Brown butter pecan shortbread fingers
SWEET
"The key to good shortbread is slow baking until it is pale golden and cooked through," says expert baking teacher Anneka Manning. Her Scottish shortbread recipe uses four ingredients - butter, sugar, plain flour and rice flour - and is based on her Scottish great-aunt Anne’s recipe, creating a butter, melt-in-the-mouth biscuit.
Scottish shortbread Source: Alan Benson
In some ways, mamoul are like a Middle Eastern stufes shortbread, but really, they are their own thing entirely. Mamoul bi lorz feature intricate designs from the use of a special mamoul mould, making them into edible art. The centres of the mamaoul in this recipe, shared by Carol Salloum in The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, are filled with crushed roasted almonds, sugar, orange blossom water, rosewater and cinnamon, creating a heavenly combination of butter biscuit and aromatic filling.
Almond-filled semolina biscuits (mamoul bi lorz) Source: Adam Liaw
"There's something about the texture of polenta that I find addictive. I like cutting these shortbreads into flower shapes, but you can use any cutters you have available," says Caroline Griffiths of these biscuits, which make a lovely gift.
Crunchy lemon and polenta shortbread flowers Source: Chris Middleton
"The tiny islands that make up the tropical paradise of Okinawa are some of my favourite destinations in Japan.... Two of its most famous exports are a rich, black sugar called kokutou and mineral-rich sea salts. Of course, if you can get those products from Okinawa, more’s the better, but otherwise any dark brown sugar and sea salt flakes will do," Adam Liaw says of these simple but sensational shortbread fingers.
Okinawan salted shortbread Source: Steve Brown / Hachette Australia
These Puerto Rican shortbread biscuits are a favourite at parties and celebrations and are often given as gifts. Simple to make, but difficult to resist, there are endless variations on the centre filling – the ubiquitous guava jam or hundreds and thousands are both popular in Puerto Rico.
Shortbread biscuits with pineapple jam Source: Brett Stevens
"When I was a kid I would run home from school, grab a teaspoon from the drawer and scoop up sweet, stretchy mastiha fondant from the jar. I loved dunking my fondant in a glass of icy cold water and licking it like a popsicle. I created this shortbread recipe to highlight this beautiful spice, unique to the island of Chios in Greece," says Helen Tzouganatos. These make a lovely gift, too. "Tie your stars together with natural twine and add a personalised tag for a rustic handmade touch."
Mastiha shortbread stars Source: Helen Tzouganatos
SAVOURY
"Essentially shortbread, but made with ghee instead of butter, which enhances the flavour of the spices," says Kulsum Kunwa of these sweet-savoury shortbread biscuits.
Cumin, black pepper and ghee shortbread
"Sable, a savoury shortbread biscuit, originated in Normandy and date back to the 19th century. Commonly flavoured with parmesan or similar cheeses, this recipe calls for the addition of anchovies for an extra hit of salty flavour," explain Matthew Evans of his take on a classic.
Anchovy sables Source: Alan Benson
WITH A TWIST
"Simple and super quick to make, this shortbread will satisfy even the most hard-core chocoholic! For extra crunch, try adding some chopped roasted hazelnuts to the mixture with the chopped chocolate," says Anneka Manning of these chocolate biscuits.
Chocolate-and-hazelnut shortbread
These beauties from the BOSH! duo, Henry Firth and Ian Theasby, have everything – rich chocolate, gooey caramel and a crunchy biscuit base.
The BOSH! millionaire’s shortbread Source: HQ Non Fiction
Open sesame
Tahini shortbread buttons
This brittle, buttery tart — a giant shortbread of sorts — originates from Mantua, in Lombardy. "Literally meaning ‘big crumbly one’, sbrisolona is a tart of humble provenance. Its modest ingredients consist of nothing more than polenta, flour, butter, sugar and just one precious egg. Hazelnuts were included in the original recipe, but modern adaptations call for almonds," explains Valeria Necchio, who shared with us. , made with flour, polenta, polenta, caster sugar and egg yolk, includes lemon juice and grated lemon which adds a lovely citrus note to the butter biscuit (his recipe uses a mix of butter and duck fat, but we've made it using all butter, too).
Valeria Necchio's sbrisolona Source: Guardian Faber
It's hard to decide if it's the buttery biscuits or the rich dulce de leche filling that's the best bit of these South American sweets. Good thing you get both in every mouthful..jpg?imwidth=1280)
Caramel sandwich biscuits (alfajores)
