Lemon & White Chocolate Einkorn Shortbread
Here, I’ve taken a classic shortbread recipe & added lemon zest, curd & chunks of white chocolate.
Browning the butter & using einkorn wholemeal flour gives these biscuits a subtle nutty flavour.
Ingredients Used
Einkorn Flour
Einkorn is an ancient grain that gives bread, cakes & biscuits a subtle nutty flavour. If you can’t get your hands on any then you can use a different wholemeal flour. I get my Einkorn flour from Shipton Mill in the UK.
Brown Butter
The first stage of making these shortbreads is to brown the butter then chill it until firm. My guide to making brown butter can be found here. Make sure to give the brown butter enough time in the fridge to firm up. It should be firmed up but still slightly soft.
Lemon & White Chocolate
I’ve used lemon zest & curd for this recipe & paired them with chunks of white chocolate. If you want to try something different, orange zest & curd would work great with some dark chocolate!
Baking The Shortbread
For this recipe, we bake the shortbread in a 9 inch square baking tin. This will gives us shortbread fingers that are roughly 1cm thick. If you want to use a bigger tin, keep in mind that the dough will be thinner and will need less time in the oven.
Sprinkling granulated sugar on the top of the shortbread before it goes in the oven gives it a really nice crispy top!
Portioning The Shortbread
Before the shortbread hits the oven, we use a bench scraper (or a knife) to lightly score 12 rectangles into the dough. Once the shortbread has been baked and left to cool for 5 minutes, we use a bench scraper again but this time to cut all the way through the dough. At this point we leave the shortbread to cool completely then serve.
Portioning the shortbread while its’ still warm will make cutting it easier & means that we get cleaner portions. If you were to cut it when it has cooled down completely, it will most likely crumble & break.
More Baking Recipes
- How To Make Brown Butter
- Brown Butter & Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Small Batch Lemon Drizzle
- Salted Tahini & Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Lemon & Almond Battenberg
- Traditional Eccles Cakes
Lemon & White Chocolate Einkorn Shortbread
Equipment
- 9" x 9" Square Tin
Ingredients
- 275 g Unsalted Butter
- 110 g Caster Sugar
- 130 g Plain Flour
- 70 g Fine Semolina
- ½ tsp Table Salt
- 2 Lemons, Zested
- 50 g Lemon Curd
- 100 g White Chocolate Roughly Chopped
- 2 tsp Granulated Sugar To Sprinkle On Top
Instructions
- Start by browning the butter. Cool to room temperature then chill in the fridge until firm.
- Preheat an oven to 160°c & grease & line a 9”x9” square baking tin.
- Next, place the caster sugar & lemon zest into the bowl of a stand mixer & massage the zest into the sugar.
- Add in the chilled brown butter & using the paddle attachment, beat until light & fluffy, around 3-4 minutes.
- Next, weigh the flours, semolina & salt into a bowl & whisk together.
- Add the lemon curd & flours into the butter & sugar mixture & mix until just combined, around 30 second.
- Finally, using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the white chocolate until combined evenly.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared baking tin & use a palette knife to spread the shortbread into an even layer. Next, use a dough scraper or knife to lightly score the shortbread into 12 even rectangles.
- Sprinkle the granulated sugar over the top then bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm & a light golden brown round the edges.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then whilst still in the tin, portion the shortbread into the 12 pieces that were scored before baking.
- Leave to cool fully in the tin before serving.
Notes
Cook the shortbread in the baking oven, on the bottom set of runners. The einkorn flour in this recipe is from Shipton Mill. You could use any wholemeal flour but for the best taste & texture I recommend using einkorn. Once you’ve added the dry ingredients, it’s important not to overwork the dough. The flour should just be combined before stirring in the white chocolate. Make sure to give the brown butter enough time to firm up in the fridge, it will take around an hour. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl regularly. This ensures that you get an evenly mixed dough.
