These whipped shortbread biscuits are rich, crisp, melt-in-the-mouth. Reminiscent of the Baker's Eet-Sum-Mor biscuits. And they only need pantry ingredients!
Eet-Sum-Mor's are some of my favourite store-bought biscuits of all time. There is something truly moreish about them. And probably the first biscuits I go for in Baker's variety pack (followed by the Jolly Jammers or Strawberry Swirls).
This popular biscuit has a fine crumb, with just the right amount of crispiness. After looking at the ingredients - it became clear to me that this might be a whipped version of shortbread.
A little shortbread history
There is something magical about the simplicity, ease and rich buttery flavour that shortbread has to offer. Shortbread originated in Scotland - with traditional recipes calling for one part white sugar, two parts butter and 3 parts oat or wheat flour.
Whipped shortbread is usually made using icing sugar instead of granulated or caster sugar, taking advantage of the added starches in the flour to lighten the flour. And I tried this method, but I don't really like the flavour that icing sugar only gives the cookies.
Ingredients for Whipped Shortbread
Butter is a key flavour in these biscuits. If using salted butter, simply leave out the additional salt, if using unsalted butter, additional salt is a must!
Flour - plain, standard grade or all-purpose flour is what this recipe calls for.
Icing Sugar or Powdered Sugar adds sweetness with the added starches give the biscuit a tender snap. Using icing sugar plays a similar role as when using cornstarch (maizena) in the biscuits.
Caster sugar can be substituted with white granulated sugar. Plain white or caster sugar gives a crispness to this biscuit that is otherwise completely lost with just using icing sugar.
Salt - add if using unsalted butter. The salt brings out the flavour of the butter and flour.
Making the EET-SUM-MOR Biscuits
Making the biscuits begins with room temperature butter that is soft enough to beat and whip. The butter and sugars are then whipped together until light and fluffy.
The flour is then added to the butter and mixed in using a spatula or wooden spoon until all the flour is coated. The biscuit dough is then kneaded together 3 to 5 times until it turns into a nice cohesive ball.
Place the biscuit dough on a piece of parchment or baking paper or floured surface and roll the dough out to 0.5 to 1cm in thickness. To mimic the shape of the EET-SUM-MOR's cut the biscuits into 4cm x 4cm squares.
TOP TIP - if the dough of your shortbread feels too crumbly, work it a bit more with the spatula.
The temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. For convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted, or air-fryers, the temperature must be reduced by 20°C/25°F, or the gas mark by 1.
For best baking results invest in an oven thermometer, as the temperature dials on the oven may not be accurate.
Resting the biscuits in the fridge
Resting these biscuits in the fridge allows the cookies to fully hydrate, the butter to set, the flavours to develop and will stop the cookies from spreading in the oven when baking.
These biscuits should rest for at least 30 minutes, or the dough can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for up to a week. If you really want to make shortbread ahead of time - the dough can be frozen for up to a month. Simply defrost in the fridge overnight before baking.
Baking the shortbread biscuits
Place the biscuits on a piece of parchment paper or on a silicone baking sheet and bake at 170°C and 10-15 minutes. The shortbread cookies are done when they are a light golden brown.
The shortbread cookies will be soft when they are first taken out of the oven and will need to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Fun EET-SUM-MOR Variations
If you want to add some variety to your shortbread cookies - toss in a handful of chocolate chips, a quarter cup of sprinkles, or even some chopped nuts!
Whipped Shortbread (Eet-Sum-Mor)
Ingredients
- 180 grams butter
- 50 grams icing sugar
- 100 grams caster sugar
- 250 grams plain or standard grade or all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter
Instructions
- Allow the butter to come to room temperature, it needs to be soft enough to whip.
- Beat the butter, caster sugar, icing sugar together using a stand mixer, electric handheld mixer or whisk until the butter is light, fluffy and aerated.180 grams butter, 50 grams icing sugar, 100 grams caster sugar
- Add in the flour and salt, mixing with a spatula or wooden spoon until a soft pliable dough forms. Knead the dough 3-5 times bringing the dough together into a ball.250 grams plain or standard grade or all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt
- Place the dough on a piece of parchment or baking paper, and pat it into a square. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough until between 0.5 and 1cm in thickness. Cut the dough into 4cmx4cm squares on the parchment paper. Place the biscuits in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C/340F and bake the biscuits for 10-15 minutes, until the biscuits are a nice golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
- Biscuits can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate, accuracy of nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.. If scaling the recipe remember to scale your cook and bakeware accordingly.
Maite says
The dough melted immediately it got into the oven.
Mary-Lou says
Hi,
Would love some more information so I can troubleshoot the issue, dough melted immediately as it got in the oven could indicate that the cookies did not rest in the fridge, or that there is an issue with the butter or with the ratio of ingredients used.
If you could let me know what type of butter you used? Sometimes people accidentally use spreading butter/margarine and this type of butter just does not work for baking cookies. And how long the cookies rested in the fridge. Which is especially important during spring and summer (especially in South Africa).
Would love to hear back from you.
Thanks,
Mary-Lou