Go For This Type Of Butter For The Best-Tasting Shortbread Cookies

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Are you baking shortbread cookies this week? Before you do, let me give you an expert tip for making the best-tasting shortbread ever. If you're wondering why you should trust me, well, I've authored two authoritative baking cookbooks, and I baked over a thousand cookies, shortbread included, when developing recipes for '108 Asian Cookies.' 

My best baking tip is to always be picky about the type of butter you use to bake delicious shortbread cookies and go for European or European-style butter, which may be, in fact, the absolute best butter for baking. Why, you ask? Let's start by defining how European-style butter differs from American butter. To qualify as European-style, the butter must contain at least 82 percent butterfat and no more than 16 percent water content. 

Conversely, American butter only needs to contain a lower minimum of 80 percent butterfat, and may have more water content. This makes American butter milder in taste than European-style butter. So, when you make shortbread cookies with European-style butter, your treats are richer and more buttery in flavor. That's especially important for shortbread cookies, since these no-nonsense treats are known to be predominantly buttery in flavor.

While it's difficult to mess up a batch of shortbread cookies, even as a novice baker, consistency always matters. From batch to batch, you don't want surprises. So, for reliable results, I always reach for the same European-style butter when I bake — Plugrà European Style Butter. This butter has exactly 82 percent butterfat. Its consistency ensures your shortbread cookies will retain their shape, won't spread drastically, and won't be too crumbly or too crispy, each and every time you bake them. 

Aside from being rich and buttery in flavor, shortbread is known for its texture: crumbly and melt-in-mouth tender, yet still crispy and snapable. You'll never find a chewy shortbread cookie, which is characteristic of cookies with higher gluten content, or flour, versus fat. The higher butterfat content in European-style butter is thus perfectly suited for making the best shortbread.  

So, if you're making shortbread, or any other cookies that taste better buttery and rich, be sure to reach for European-style butter and save your American butter for cooking. Start by trying this delicious and easy Christmas shortbread cookies recipe.