Not to be confused with Shortcake or Shortcrust pastry. Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two simple bannock recipe butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. The triangular wedges became known as “petticoat tails” in Scots and this form of shortbread has become particularly associated with Mary, Queen of Scots. It has been suggested that a French term for the wedges of shortbread was petits gâteaux or petites gatelles – little cakes, and this became “petticoat tails”.
Evidence for Mary’s baking and shortbread is sparse. In American English, shortbread is different from shortcake. Shortcake usually has a chemical leavening agent such as baking powder, which gives it a different, softer texture, and it was normally split and filled with fruit. Other ingredients are often substituted for part of the flour to alter the texture. Rice flour or semolina makes it grittier, and cornflour makes it more tender. Bere or oat flour may be added for flavour.