Buckwheat Shortbread
I love shortbread. I know some are less enamored with the dry, crumbly texture but when using great quality butter, the key ingredient; it brings this Scottish specialty to a new level. Served with tea, its natural accompaniment, it is pure bliss.
I think now is a good time to discuss butter, we eat a lot of it in this house (and have very good cholesterol reports and excellent blood pressure), but it is of the highest quality – grassfed, organic, artisanal butter. Yes, it is more expensive, but if you spend the extra money, it turns into a virtual health food and you can eat more of it without getting sick!
I know some of you are probably shaking your heads right now in dis-belief, but you see, butter has gotten a bad rap over recent years because the quality of butter found in most grocery stores is dismal. A lot of you may have seen the news that Paula Deen, known for her butter laden foods has finally come forward being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, many of you are probably not surprised and many of you might think butter is the culprit, or even fat for that matter. But really, it is all about quality. Just think about our great-grandparents who cooked with a lot of butter and were in good health.
Most “butter” these days has canola or other oils on the ingredient list, or “natural flavoring” (code word for MSG) – especially when you get into the realm of “light” “lowfat” or “spreadable butter”. Just look at the ingredient list for Land O’ Lakes “light” butter: Ingredients: Butter (Cream, Salt), Water*, Buttermilk*, Contains Less Than 2% of Food Starch-Modified*, Tapioca Maltodextrin*, Salt, Distilled Monoglycerides*, Lactic Acid*, Potassium Sorbate* and Sodium Benzoate* (Preservatives), PGPR* (emulsifier), Natural Flavor*, Xanthan Gum*, Vitamin A Palmitate*, Beta Carotene* (color). Sorry but that isn’t butter anymore, it is a chem lab.
Even if your butter just contains cream and salt, it is likely from cows fed on grain and pumped with hormones, probably living in terrible conditions and that really makes all the difference in terms of your health and your arteries. If you eat grassfed butter, you are basically eating a nutritious, body boosting food, made up of vitamins, minerals and healthy fats coming from healthy animals eating nutritious grass.
So please, use good quality, healthy butter when cooking. I recommend Kerrygold – which can actually be found in most grocery stores (usually in the gourmet cheese section, but ask your store’s customer service for more info). I also like Organic Valley’s Pasture butter (green package) and Vermont Butter & Cheese’s European style butter, in that order. In a pinch, go for Cabot – found in groceries all over the country! If you can’t afford good quality butter, use less of it and substitute in olive oil.
Now onto the shortbread- since we are celebrating all things Scottish in January , shortbread is a perfect addition to the subject. A traditional shortbread is nothing more than sugar, butter and flour- in a one to two to three ratio, respectively. That is it. Traditionally it was made with oat flour, but most modern versions are made with white flour.
This time I opted for buckwheat flour. I had some delicious buckwheat shortbread this past summer and decided to try my hand at making my own version! It is virtually the same taste as “normal” shortbread, although a bit nuttier – which just compliments the butter- and gives the shortbread a darker color.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups buckwheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (honey works also)
1 stick of cold butter, cut into small pieces
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 300 F. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then pour maple over top, using your hands, a pastry cutter or a fork, mix in the butter, a little at a time until you have a crumbly dough.
Press the dough into a prepared (greased with butter) 9-inch round pan. If you have a shortbread pan, even better! Bake for about 40 minutes or until golden in color. Let cool about 10 minutes, then flip pan over onto a dish and remove the shortbread. Cut into wedges while still warm. Serve with tea or coffee!
vanillasugarblog - January 19, 2012 at 4:14 pm
I am bookmarking these beauts.
Nicely done Jenn.
And great write up about the butter; I agree grassfed should not only be for beef but just about all things animal fat/protein based.
Rosa - January 19, 2012 at 4:37 pm
I only eat butter (no margarine) and good oils. Here, we are still lucky to get REAL butter (without additives, etc…).
Like you I love shortbread. Your version must be very flavorful and si healthy! I’m intrigued by its composition.
Cheers,
Rosa
marillyn @ just-making-noise - January 19, 2012 at 7:00 pm
I HEART scottish shortbread! I was recently given a recipe from a Scottish couple who almost never share how they make their scottish shortbread… I was SHOCKED to find that it asked for a cup of cornstarch along with the usual ingredients!!! Why you think they do that? Their kids are first generation american scottish… so this couple were born and raised in Scotland before moving to USA.
Cara - January 19, 2012 at 9:08 pm
I have a bag of buckwheat flour I haven’t tapped into yet. This sounds so simple and delicious!
Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul - January 20, 2012 at 6:26 am
Finally! Some one spoke sense about good butter…Well said. I pay a little extra but ensure what goes on my sourdough (from an artisan bakery) is from a cow in Tasmania! Love the shortbread Jenn…always good with a “cuppa”
The Hungry Housewife - January 20, 2012 at 8:30 am
I totally agree…good butter is key!!!!
Arlene (Mom) - January 20, 2012 at 3:45 pm
Yes, I get butter from Ireland at the store that is grassfed and organic. When you don’t use a lot of butter to begin with, it is worth the little extra costs. Oh and I’d like some tea and shortbread. Yummmmmy.
Francesca De Grandis - January 20, 2012 at 8:09 pm
Yay, I am a butter eater, and a big believer that healthy butter is good butter, so it is nice to see it affirmed, thanks! I use Organic Valley but the yellow box, so thanks for suggesting the green box, I did not know about it. The yellow box is organic sweet cream, bc I do not like buying salted butter. Salted butter tends to be less fresh, or that used to be the case, maybe things have changed, but I used to be able to taste that salted butter has often been on the shelf too long. OK, I am off to learn about Organic Valley green box, yum.
Jamie - January 21, 2012 at 5:38 am
An excellent and informative post, Jenn. I am lucky to be living in France – not only because people are not afraid of butter nor are cows injected with hormones, but because we are well informed as to the source of all cream/milk/butter products. Right down to which region’s butter is best for cooking, baking, puff pastry, etc. It is easy to trace a dairy product’s source. And happily for me that my husband also worked many years in the professional veterinary press – food production and safety falls under the domain of veterinarians – so I am doubly aware. Butter, as with everything else, is a natural product and like everything must be eaten in moderation. And quality, as you say, is crucial. Thanks for this great post. And I love shortbread with coffee: the dry, barely sweet treat is the perfect afternoon snack. Yours looks wonderful! And buckwheat? Reminds me of the dry wholewheat biscuits I ate by the dozens after the birth of my second son. Yum!
Donna - January 21, 2012 at 9:02 pm
I absolutely agree about butter! We eat a lot of it too – and real butter, without any of the bad stuff is so good for you – a lot of people have no idea the bad rap it hasn’t gotten and that it’s not true. I think margarine is worse, considering it’s not natural in any way. My hubby who has allergies to preservatives gets super sick if he even gets near margarine too.
These cookies look absolutely beautiful and I love the idea of using buckwheat, I’m so intrigued by the idea of it and I will have to try it!
Ivy - January 22, 2012 at 1:04 pm
I love shortbread and butter does taste amazing but as Jamie said, everything in moderation. I mostly use butter during Christmas and only a few times throughout the whole year.
Part Time Homemaker - January 24, 2012 at 11:27 am
Oh yum, gorgeous pictures!!! I completely agree with you on the butter…all those substitutes and “things masquerading as butter” are just evil! I don’t know if I can get buckwheat flour here in Manila but if not i might try this with regular flour. 🙂
cat @ NeoHomesteading.com - January 24, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Sounds so simple, unique and nutty! I bet these are so delicious.
5 Star Foodie - January 24, 2012 at 4:49 pm
Beautiful shortbread, so great that it is made with buckwheat flour!
Kathy (aka Mrs Dull) - February 5, 2012 at 10:12 pm
I too am a shortbread fanatic! Definitely have to try this one. Butter quality is extremely important. I also wanted to mention that you have to be very careful with olive oil as a substitute. Much of the world supply of olive oil is of poor quality or has been cut with other oils. To learn more take a look at “Extra Virginity: the sublime and scandalous world of olive oil” by Tom Mueller.
The Leftover Queen - February 6, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Kathy – as with everything, it is important to source good products. I use a lot of olive oil in my cooking and will continue to do so! 🙂
Emma - February 11, 2012 at 7:22 pm
I just made these & I think I converted to UK quantities wrongly – it came out as 450g buckwheat flour and 60g butter. I thought this odd, as normally It’s almost as much butter as flour, but I thought buckwheat might be different. I was wrong – I now have a lovely-looking tin of revolting tasting flour cake! Can anyone tell me how many grams this recipe means when it says ‘1 stick’ as the conversion site said 60g but it’s clearly an error. Thank you 😉
Aimee - June 18, 2012 at 8:32 pm
I too had a little trouble with this recipe…It came out dry and crumbly(it was acting like it needed more moisture of some sorts). So sad. But we’ll try again with more butter and see what happens!
Etelka - November 30, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Hello, just found your site. You don’t say how many grams of butter to add, just that you need a stick. Where I am, in Australia, butter is sold in 250 or 500 gram blocks. Looking forward to making shortbread with buckwheat flour.
Thanks