Common Ingredients in shortbread Recipes

We researched the most common ingredients in over a dozen popular shortbread recipes and found the top 15 ingredients.

The most common ingredients in shortbread dishes are flour and butter.

Confectioners sugar, white sugar and eggs are also common ingredients in shortbread recipes. For herbs and spices, vanilla extract is popular. Salt is in 70% of shortbread recipes.

The average shortbread recipe has about 7.4 ingredients, with a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12.

In terms of directions, shortbread recipes have about 8.3 steps on average, ranging from 1 to 42 instructions.

Ratios of Common Ingredients in Shortbread

For 2 cup flour (250 g), the median and average amounts of other significant ingredients are below. Some ingredients are potential substitutes for others, meaning they almost never exist together in a single shortbread recipe, and are marked below.

Ingredient	Median	Average	% of recipes with flour	Potential subsitutions
salt	half a teaspoon (3 g)	0.69 teaspoon (4 g)	70%
confectioners sugar	three quarters of a cup (90 g)	1 cup (119 g)	60%
vanilla extract	1.3 teaspoon (6 g)	4.6 teaspoon (19 g)	60%
butter	1.3 cup (303 g)	2 cup (454 g)	50%
milk	4.5 teaspoon (23 g)	2.7 teaspoon (14 g)	20%	egg yolks

Ingredients by Average Weight in Shortbread

We also found the average content of the significant ingredients by weight in shortbread recipes. This would be: 35% butter, 35% flour, 12% confectioners sugar, 10% white sugar, 5% chocolate and 1% walnuts.

Here are the top ingredients, listed in order of popularity.

flour

Flour is the most popular ingredient in shortbread dishes. In fact, 100% of shortbread recipes contain flour.

Flour is often included in shortbread dishes in amounts of 2 cups or 1.5 cups.

In shortbread recipes that contain flour, it is on average, 29% by weight.

For shortbread recipes, flour is frequently used with salt, vanilla extract, confectioners sugar, white sugar and butter.

butter

Another popular ingredient in shortbread is butter. From the recipes we've sampled for shortbread, 100% have butter.

Variations of butter include:

• unsalted butter chunked: 10% of recipes

In recipes for shortbread, butter is often used with flour, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, salt and white sugar.

salt

Salt is another common ingredient in shortbread dishes. In fact, over 70% of shortbread recipes contain salt.

Variations of salt include:

• maldon sea salt: 10% of recipes

Flour, vanilla extract, white sugar, butter and confectioners sugar are commonly used together with salt in shortbread dishes.

confectioners sugar

Another popular ingredient in shortbread is confectioners sugar. From the recipes we've sampled for shortbread, over 60% have confectioners sugar.

Confectioners sugar is often included in shortbread dishes in amounts of half a cup.

In shortbread recipes that contain confectioners sugar, it is on average, 17% by weight.

For shortbread recipes, confectioners sugar is frequently used with flour, butter, vanilla extract, salt and butter. However, egg yolks is almost never used together with confectioners sugar in shortbread dishes.

vanilla extract

Vanilla extract is another common ingredient in shortbread dishes. In fact, over 60% of shortbread recipes contain vanilla extract.

Vanilla extract is often included in shortbread dishes in amounts of 1 teaspoon or 2 teaspoons.

In shortbread recipes that contain vanilla extract, it is on average, 0.6% by weight.

In recipes for shortbread, vanilla extract is often used with flour, salt, confectioners sugar, butter and white sugar.

white sugar

Another popular ingredient in shortbread is white sugar. From the recipes we've sampled for shortbread, over 50% have white sugar.

In shortbread recipes that contain white sugar, it is on average, 16% by weight.

Flour, salt, vanilla extract, butter and confectioners sugar are commonly used together with white sugar in shortbread dishes.

eggs

Eggs is another common ingredient in shortbread dishes. In fact, over 30% of shortbread recipes contain eggs.

Variations of eggs include:

• egg yolks: 30% of recipes

For shortbread recipes, eggs is frequently used with cream cheese, white sugar, butter, egg yolks, heavy whipping cream, flour, vanilla extract and salt.

egg yolks

Another popular ingredient in shortbread is egg yolks. From the recipes we've sampled for shortbread, over 30% have egg yolks.

In shortbread recipes that contain egg yolks, it is on average, 2% by weight.

In recipes for shortbread, egg yolks is often used with salt, flour, butter, white sugar and maldon sea salt.

Potential substitutions for egg yolks in shortbread:

• milk

Also, egg yolks is not often used with confectioners sugar.

milk

Milk is another common ingredient in shortbread dishes. In fact, over 20% of shortbread recipes contain milk.

In shortbread recipes that contain milk, it is on average, 1.9% by weight.

Flour, confectioners sugar, butter, white sugar and raspberry jam are commonly used together with milk in shortbread dishes.

Potential substitutions for milk in shortbread:

• egg yolks

chocolate

Another popular ingredient in shortbread is chocolate. From the recipes we've sampled for shortbread, over 20% have chocolate.

Variations of chocolate include:

• white yellow chocolate buttons: 10% of recipes

For shortbread recipes, chocolate is frequently used with unsalted butter chunked, flour, white sugar, vanilla extract, orange zest and salt.

maple syrup

Maple syrup is another common ingredient in shortbread dishes. In fact, over 10% of shortbread recipes contain maple syrup.

In shortbread recipes that contain maple syrup, it is on average, 3% by weight.

In recipes for shortbread, maple syrup is often used with butter, flour, brown sugar, oats, freeze, egg yolks, salt and white sanding sugar decorating. On the other hand, maple syrup is almost never used with confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, white sugar and milk.

heavy whipping cream

Another popular ingredient in shortbread is heavy whipping cream. From the recipes we've sampled for shortbread, over 10% have heavy whipping cream.

In shortbread recipes that contain heavy whipping cream, it is on average, 1.4% by weight.

Cream cheese, white sugar, eggs, butter, egg yolks, flour, vanilla extract and salt are commonly used together with heavy whipping cream in shortbread dishes. Conversely, heavy whipping cream is not often used with confectioners sugar, butter and milk.

maraschino cherries

Maraschino cherries is another common ingredient in shortbread dishes. In fact, over 10% of shortbread recipes contain maraschino cherries.

In shortbread recipes that contain maraschino cherries, it is on average, 0.3% by weight.

For shortbread recipes, maraschino cherries is frequently used with butter, flour, confectioners sugar, green maraschino cherry and vanilla extract. However, white sugar, butter, egg yolks and milk are almost never used together with maraschino cherries in shortbread dishes.

green maraschino cherry

Another popular ingredient in shortbread is green maraschino cherry. From the recipes we've sampled for shortbread, over 10% have green maraschino cherry.

In shortbread recipes that contain green maraschino cherry, it is on average, 1.5% by weight.

In recipes for shortbread, green maraschino cherry is often used with butter, flour, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract and maraschino cherries. On the other hand, green maraschino cherry is almost never used with white sugar, butter, egg yolks and milk.

walnuts

Walnuts is another common ingredient in shortbread dishes. In fact, over 10% of shortbread recipes contain walnuts.

In shortbread recipes that contain walnuts, it is on average, 9% by weight.

Butter, flour, white sugar, egg yolks, salt and maldon sea salt are commonly used together with walnuts in shortbread dishes. Conversely, walnuts is not often used with confectioners sugar, vanilla extract and milk.

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