Vegan Scottish Shortbread

Early forms of Shortbread originated in medieval times sometime around the 12 century, when bakers would repurpose leftover, dry bread by baking it again until it became incredibly crispy. This served as a frugal means to prevent waste. The earliest form of shortbread may have started as "biscuit bread," a twice-baked, hardened and dried bread that was made from leftover dough. At one point in history, a baker decided to replace yeast with butter, which led to the invention of early shortbread.

Yeast in medieval times

Although medieval Britain used yeast for baking bread the yeast was often sourced from brewing beer, a process that was also common during the middle ages. This type of yeast, known as brewer's yeast or barm, was a byproduct of the fermentation process and could be used to leaven bread. The process was less precise than it is today, as medieval bakers didn't have the understanding of yeast that we now possess however, they understood the basic principle that adding the frothy barm from beer making to their dough would result in a lighter, risen bread.

Bread, including the leavened bread, was a staple of the medieval diet in Britain and the type of bread one ate was often a sign of your social status with the wealthier folk eating manchet, a high-quality white bread, while the poor would often eat coarser, darker breads made with rye, barley, and oats.

16th Century Shortbread

Shortbread became popular during the 16th century and is often associated with Mary, Queen of Scots, who is said to have enjoyed Petticoat Tails, a thin, crisp, buttery shortbread originally flavoured with caraway seeds.

In the past,shortbread was quite expensive and considered a bit of a luxury so was not an everyday food and was only brought out on extra special occasions such as Christmas, New Years Day or Hogmanay as its called in Scotland, and celebrations including weddings.

At one time, a tradition from the Scottish Shetland Isles, considered it lucky to break an entire piece of shortbread over a newly married woman's head just as she crossed the threshold of the couples home! This shortbread would not have been a small biscuit or cookie rather a slab of shortbread!

Shortbread in old cookery books

''Mrs McLintock's Recipes for Cookery and Pastry-Work'', was published in 1736 in Scotland, and is believed to be the first cookery book that included a recipe for shortbread. It used brewers yeast or barm, but later versions replaced the barm with butter.

Mrs McLintock's original recipe:

''Take a Peck of Flour, put three lib. of Butter in among a little Water, and let it melt, pour it in amongft your Flour, put in a Mutchkin of good Barm; when it is wrough divide it in 3 Parts, roll out your Cakes longer than broad, and gathert on the Sides with your Finger, the Middle, and job it on the Top, then fend it to the Oven.''

Online Source: University of Glasgow Library.wordpress.com [Retrieved on 10th June, 2023].

Interestingly, this old recipe from the 1700s does not appear to contain sugar but old recipes were often written with the expectation that cooks would have the experience to know how to do stuff like oven temperatures, expected weights, types of flour, additional ingredients, etc.

And perhaps the inclusion of barm, the fermented yeasty by-product of beer making, was also sweet enough to add sweetness to the shortbread, as the recipe above McLintock's shortbread is for French bread which calls for a ''Mutchken of sweet barm''.

Shortbread on TV

Shortbread has made a frequent appearance in TV shows and films especially when Scotland is the setting. One example is the popular TV series "Downton Abbey", where Mrs. Patmore, the head cook, prepares various traditional British dishes. Shortbread also makes a frequent appearance in the Scottish Outlander TV series with Walkers, one of the leading brands of Scottish shortbread, even manufacturing a box of Outlander themed shortbread!

Modern shortbread

In recent years, shortbread has been enjoyed by cultures worldwide, and it can be found in almost any bakery or supermarket from classic versions to those including different ingredients such as chocolate, lavender, or rosemary.

Today in Scotland, shortbread continues to be popular especially during the festive periods of Christmas and Hogmanay, as well as Robert Burns night suppers and celebrations. Most Scottish bakeries, cafes and tearooms offer shortbread on their menu throughout the year, and shortbread is still connected to weddings as it is commonly given as a wedding favour or gift for wedding guests.

At Christmas time a nice packet of shortbread is a popular gift, and on the Scottish island where we live shortbread in every form possible from triangular petticoat tails to chunky shortbread fingers to animal shaped shortbread is available in the many gift shops with most tourists leaving with a least one package of shortbread.

Growing up in Scotland, shortbread was a staple at our family's traditional Hogmanay buffet and I would eat my fill whilst waiting until the stroke of midnight so that we could sing Auld Lang Syne as the bells rung, and the neighbours fireworks rattled around the neighbourhood! I've continued our Scottish tradition with my own children, but I've adapted the recipe to prepare vegan shortbread which is equally delicious.