Pecan Shortbread Fingers

Shortbread cookies are always a fan favorite. They are delicious cookies that are not too sweet, but are just sweet enough. They are perfect for dipping in your tea or coffee. They are delicate and crunchy all at the same time, and just melt in your mouth. That could be because of all the butter used.

They get their name shortbread cookies, or biscuits, because of their short, or crumbly, structure, which is caused by the high proportion of fat. The traditional recipe, developed in Scotland, consists of one part sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour. Shortbread cookies have been around, in some form or another, since the 12th century. A Scottish biscuit through and through, shortbread is eaten on special occasions and hasn’t changed much from its original form in the Middle Ages. When you eat or bake traditional shortbread, you’re essentially enjoying the same buttery treats that the Scots did many centuries ago.

The famous Scottish Queen Mary is often credited with the invention, or at least refinement of modern shortbread, as it was the cooks at her court who further improved it by taking influences from French cooking that developed at the court, and refining the biscuit using butter, flour and sugar as the main ingredients.

With my love of butter, and the fact that I have a lot of Scottish and Celtic blood running through me veins, is it any wonder why I love these cookies so much? It seems pretty straight forward to me. My great grandmother, on my dad’s side, was a Ferguson from Scotland who met my great grandfather, from Wales, who was a Jones, on the ship bound to Australia. So the love of shortbread cookies, or biscuits is in my DNA.

As with anything, especially something that has been around for such a long time, there are always plenty of variations. My most recent shortbread biscuits, were topped with toasted pecan, and went down, well, like …. butter. They are called fingers because they look like fingers.

Pecan Shortbread Fingers

3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks softened butter

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 190* C.

Mix the butter, sugars and vanilla together until creamy, for about 2 minutes. Then gradually start adding the flour and mix in just until everything is blended together and the dough is moist enough to work with.

Form the dough into a rectangle then roll out to about 1 1/2 inches thick. You can roll it directly onto an ungreased cookie pan if you like then cut into fingers, but I found it easier to roll the dough out onto my island first and then transfer my fingers onto the cookie sheet after. You can have long fingers, or short stubby fingers, like mine. they will all taste the same regardless of their length. Once your fingers are made, press down on the ends with a fork.

Once the fingers are made and pressed with a fork, lightly press the chopped pecans into the tops of the fingers. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until they are lightly browned and a bit crispy.

It is hard to eat just one of these deliciously, buttery cookies. They are hard to keep for long, since they will all disappear in an instant.

Have a great day Everyone. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.