Don't Skip This Quick Step Before Baking Shortbread Cookies, Or Else They'll End Up A Bubbly Mess

When life gets busy, be it around the holidays or a family celebration, it can be tempting to try to make things go as quickly as possible. This can especially become the case with cooking and baking — when you're making multiple trays of cookies for neighbors or friends, you naturally just want to shove them in the oven fast. But there is one quick step you can't skip for high-quality shortbread, and that is pricking the dough with a fork.

Bakers typically prick a series of holes into shortbread for a number of reasons. Yes, it gives it that iconic punched design, but it's also for logistical reasons. Shortbread contains a lot of butter, which produces steam as it melts. If the steam doesn't have a way to escape, the dough will start to form air bubbles and puff up in the middle. If this happens, the dough won't bake evenly, and rather than having that signature, crumbly — aka short — texture they're known for, the cookies could end up soft and underbaked in the middle — especially if it's a thick batch. 

A fork is typically used to create the holes, but a skewer works, too. The process, also known as docking, is simple. Take a fork and punch the tines into the surface of the dough. There's no need to be scared; you can actually go all the way to the bottom. Just make sure you don't skip any large spots.

The pattern doesn't need to be uniform, but you can create a nice design if you want. Depending on your shortbread cookie recipe, the holes could actually melt together during baking, but if you want them to remain prominent, chill the dough before baking so that it holds its shape. Double-baking shortbread cookies is also a great trick if you do have that extra bit of time.

Even if you cut your cookies into rectangles before baking, you still need to poke them. Just a few holes should do it, but if you want to make like a Scottish traditionalist, you could try for 13. The iconic Scottish shortbread company Walker's always puts 13 holes in each shortbread finger, as a nod to the old "baker's dozen" saying. This is from when medieval English bakers would make an extra loaf of bread per dozen to avoid being penalised for underweight bread.