Whisky, Oat, & Currant Shortbread

Shortbread with whisky, oats, and currants

Whisky, Oat, & Currant Shortbread

These cookies are deliciously buttery, and just sweet enough (as all good shortbread should be). But they're also decidedly different, thanks to the chewy bits of whisky-soaked oats and currants, inspired in part by the classic Scottish dessert cranachan.

Course Dessert

Cuisine European, Miscellaneous, Scottish

Keyword dessert with whisky, shortbread variation, whisky

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Resting time (for the currants and oats) 1

Total Time 1 1

Servings cookies

Calories 156kcal

Ingredients

Whisky Oats

3/4 cup steel cut oats
6 tbsp Scotch whisky

Soaked Currants

1/2 cup dried zante currants (see note)
2 tbsp Scotch whisky
1 tsp vanilla

Cookie Dough

4 cups all purpose flour (see note)
2 cups butter softened
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 tsp salt
whisky soaked oats (from above)
whisky soaked currants (from above)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Day 1 - Soaking the oats and currants

Combine steel cut oats and 6 tbsps of whisky in a small, resealable container. Stir and seal the container tightly. Leave over night.
Combine currants, 2 tbsps of whisky, and vanilla in a second small, resealable container. Stir and seal the container tightly. Leave over night.

Day 2 - Shortbread time!

If you haven't already done so, take the butter from the fridge to let it soften.
With a stand- or hand-mixer, thoroughly combine the soft butter, sugars, and salt. I prefer to use a paddle attachment for this.
Add the soaked oats and currants to the mixture and thoroughly combine.
With the mixer running, add the flour 1 cup at a time, pausing to allow it to incorporate in the butter mixture. Once all of the flour has been added and fully incorporated, stop mixing and set the dough aside.
(Note: if desired, the dough can be refrigerated at this point and the cookies can be finished later).
Preheat an oven to 350°F (175°C) and place a rack in the approximate center.
While the oven is heating, shape small handfuls of dough into balls. See "Cookie Size" notes below for details.
Gently flatten/shape the dough balls onto a baking sheet, making sure to space them out a bit to account for spread. You can line the pan if you want, but the quantity of butter in the dough generally makes the baked cookies very easy to remove from the bare tray.
Place a baking sheet of cookies in the oven. Bake until the bottom edges are turning a light golden brown and the cookie centers are set. The actual time will vary depending on your oven, how cold your dough was, the size of the cookies, and your specific baking sheets. In my oven, 50 gram cookies took 20-22 minutes, while 30 gram cookies were done in 16-17 minutes.
Remove the finished cookies from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to touch, transfer to wire rack or cool plate.
Repeat the baking steps with all remaining dough.
(Note: I like to use a second baking sheet to measure and flatten the next batch while the first batch cooks. This makes it less likely that you'll encounter problems with hot/cold spots in your oven.)

Notes

Flour quantity - the metric quantity given here (600 g) is based on my actual measurements, rather than a 'standard' volume-to-weight conversion.

Whisky - I used a single-malt Scotch whisky. I wouldn't use anything terribly expensive, and I think that mellower whisky is the way to go. Lots of smoke or peat will probably taste out of place. Other highland-style whiskies can be substituted, as can Irish whiskey, rye whisky, or even bourbon. Each brings its own characteristics into the recipe.

Zante Currants - Zante currants are NOT black currants. They are a type of very small raisin, made from Black Corinth grapes. They are simply sold as 'currants' in most English-speaking parts of the world.

Cookie Size - A heaping tablespoon of dough should yield cookies that are around 40 grams, but feel free to experiment with the size that looks right to you. If you have a small kitchen scale and you like being very specific (I do), consider measuring out individual balls of dough between 30 and 50 grams, per your preferences. Shortbread cookies tend to cook quite well at any size, but the actual cooking time will vary.

Nutrition