Shortbread Stickiness

[DonnaJ]

I am using the 1-2-3 recipe for shortbread and the dough is coming out so sticky it's hard to pat it into a pan. I had been using Lurpak salted butter and things went well. Changed butters to an American brand and the sticky started. Changed back to Lurpak unsalted and the dough is really sticky, too. Chilling doesn't seem to help, the cookies spread out to a thin layer, but they do taste good even if they are a bit greasy. Anyone have any thoughts on this problem? I do live in a humid climate and take the butter right out of the refrigerator before mixing.

 

[retired baker]

I am using the 1-2-3 recipe for shortbread and the dough is coming out so sticky it's hard to pat it into a pan. I had been using Lurpak salted butter and things went well. Changed butters to an American brand and the sticky started. Changed back to Lurpak unsalted and the dough is really sticky, too. Chilling doesn't seem to help, the cookies spread out to a thin layer, but they do taste good even if they are a bit greasy. Anyone have any thoughts on this problem? I do live in a humid climate and take the butter right out of the refrigerator before mixing.

Some recipes call for corn starch. It might help.
I use the cheapest butter I can find.

 

[DonnaJ]

I added more flour and some rice flour. That seemed to work beter. So much for the "traditional" recipe!

 

[retired baker]

I added more flour and some rice flour. That seemed to work beter. So much for the "traditional" recipe!

Always always take a thumb size chunk of dough and test bake in the oven before committing the batch to bake.
Especially when using a different ingredient or an untried recipe.

 

[DonnaJ]

Good idea, thanks. I crumbled the ones I baked and will use them in home made ice cream. That works great to use up disasters.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I am using the 1-2-3 recipe for shortbread and the dough is coming out so sticky it's hard to pat it into a pan. I had been using Lurpak salted butter and things went well. Changed butters to an American brand and the sticky started. Changed back to Lurpak unsalted and the dough is really sticky, too. Chilling doesn't seem to help, the cookies spread out to a thin layer, but they do taste good even if they are a bit greasy. Anyone have any thoughts on this problem? I do live in a humid climate and take the butter right out of the refrigerator before mixing.

I’ve written several threads on shortbread. But this one has the most detail.

Shortbread biscuits/cookies

I'm going to use this recipe with the same amounts of each ingredient, but unsalted butter and some salt added. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLatKPv1A54 And as I have a fresh bag of ground rice, I'm intending to substitute some of the plain flour with it. So, 240g plain flour and 100g rice...

www.baking-forums.com

 

[Josey]

Good idea, thanks. I crumbled the ones I baked and will use them in home made ice cream. That works great to use up disasters.

This kind of dough needs to be chilled, as heavy butter and egg dough will get sticky if too warm. Even your hands can transfer too much heat, if handled too long without being chilled. You can roll the dough between some sheets of parchment paper before chilling, and it will chill faster ... and you shouldn't have to wait too long, as butter will solidify pretty fast.