Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 1 hour
Wheaty and buttery and carmelized, gritty and salty and sweet, this shortbread is not for the faint of heart. They are not docile, melt-in-your mouth cookies; they are never-a-dull-moment cookies!
by Catherine Newman
What you'll need
- 2/3 cup salted butter (11 tablespoons)
- 1/2 cup sugar, ideally something grainy (I used a fairly coarse organic sugar, but something like turbinado or muscavado would be great) to emphasize the grittiness
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
How to make it
- Start by browning the butter in a small- to medium-sized pan over medium-low heat. Let the butter melt, then continue cooking it, swirling the pan constantly, until the butter gets golden-brown and smells nutty, another 3 or 4 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 325.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough starts to clump together and you don't see any dry patches, about 1-2 minutes
- Scrape it into a 9-inch glass pie plate or metal springform tart pan, then use your fingers to pat it down firmly and evenly. Prick holes all over the top with a fork or a toothpick, then use a sharp knife to score the shortbread into 16 wedges.
- Bake until deeply brown all over, 45 to 50 minutes, then remove it from the oven and cut immediately in the pan, retracing your lines with a sharp knife.
- Let cool completely in the pan before storing airtight.
