Orange and Star Anise Shortbread | Ottolenghi’s Sweet

The original shortbread came from Scotland. Likewise, the first printed recipe dating back to 1736 was from a Scotswoman Mrs McLintock. Moreover, the best shortbread cookies are none other than the Scottish Walkers in the iconic red plaid box. Back in my kitchen, I make a version of a orange and star anise shortbread which I’m been eyeing from a recipe published in Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Shortbread cookies are, as the name implies, short or crumbly in texture because the fat (or shortening) content is high. In fact, fat inhibits the formation of long gluten strands. That makes it a good thing for cookies, but not so desirable for breads. Because of the generous use of butter, in the old days shortbread was expensive and only reserved for special occasions, such as Christmas.

Since these are rich and decadent cookies, I make them only during the holiday seasons: to give, to keep or to use as decorations. It seems odd to see there is only 125 grams of butter relative to 430 grams (360 grams “00” and 70 grams of rice flour) in Sweet. That raises a red flag. Typically, a traditional shortbread cookie uses one part sugar, two parts fat and three parts flour. Based on this ratio, the amount of butter should be about 287 grams (430 x 2/3). A further check on a similar Ottolenghi’s recipe at the Guardian shows butter to be 250 grams, or double the amount published in Sweet.

So, dear reader, please make the correction on the orange and star anise shortbread recipe in Sweet (page 46). (I didn’t catch the error early enough and the dough was very dry and hard to work with.) We expect our shortbread cookies to be rich and buttery, making them a special treat for the holidays. Accordingly, butter should be front and center. Don’t skimp on it. The amount of butter to flour should read: 250 grams and 430 grams, respectively.

The only shortcut I’d take is to cut the cold butter and make the dough in the food processor rather than doing it by hand. When you hear the processor sputter, head’s up; the dough will soon come together. It’s much easier and faster to make the shortbread dough this way. After that, it’s a matter of chilling the dough so that it becomes more malleable to roll out. (The trick is to roll out the dough between sheets of parchment paper.) Lastly, the fun and best part is to cut out the cookie dough into festive and fanciful shapes: star, tree, stocking or your personal design.

Don’t worry if you don’t have the two flours called for in the recipe: Italian “00” and white grainy rice flour. All purpose flour, pastry flour or a combination of the two will work just fine. You can change the recipe any way you want, just keep the butter!

Print Recipe

Orange and Star Anise Shortbread

Ingredients

• 360g Italian 00 flour, plus extra to dust
• 70g white rice flour (grainy variety, such as Bob’s Red Mill brand, not the finely milled Asian sort)
• 165g granulated sugar
• ⅛ tsp baking powder
• 1½ tsp finely ground star anise (from 2-3 whole star anise; use a spice grinder)
• 1 tsp flaked sea salt, lightly crushed
• finely grated zest of 1 large orange
• ½ vanilla pod, scraped seeds
• 250g unsalted butter, fridge-cold, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Instructions

1

Sift the flour, rice flour, sugar, baking powder and star anise into a large bowl. Add the salt, orange zest and vanilla seeds, mix to combine, then add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mix is the consistency of breadcrumbs. Gradually mix in the egg, using your hands or a wooden spoon, until the dough comes together, then shape into a rectangle, wrap tightly in clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour to firm up. You can make the dough up to this point a day ahead and leave it in the fridge overnight but, if you do, let it sit at room temperature for half an hour before rolling. (You may also need to bash it a bit with a rolling pin, so it’s nice and malleable: if it’s too cold, it will crack when you roll it.)

2

Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Cut the dough in half and. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one half to just under 1/4 inch/0.5cm thick. Using a cutter, cut stars or other shapes out of the dough and transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spaced 1/2 inch/1 cm apart. Press together all the scraps, roll and cut again, and repeat until you’ve used it all up. Repeat with the remaining dough.

3

Bake for 16-17 minutes, in batches if need be, rotating the tray halfway through, so they cook and colour evenly. They should be golden brown on the edges, lightly golden in the centre and have a golden brown underside. Transfer to a rack and leave to cool completely.

Notes

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/25/ofm-christmas-baking-recipes-yotam-ottolenghi-shortbread-stars