The Right Ratios

• Mix your basic dough using butter, flour, salt, and sugar. According to professional chef and blogger Ryan Boudreaux, traditional Scottish shortbread consists of 4 parts flour to 2 parts butter to 1 part sugar. However, these are flexible. Chef Mark Fitch, a baker who currently develops food products for Pepperidge Farm, increases the proportions of butter to 3 parts for every 1 part sugar. Adding salt is optional, but it will bring out the cookie's sweet, buttery taste.

The Best Bakeware

• An easy option recommended by "Cooks' Illustrated" is to use a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, as well as the collar of a springform cake pan -- just the circle part, not the removable bottom. With this method, you can press your regular dough into a circle, bake the shortbread as one mass, and slice into individual sized wedges. Another easy option is to spread your dough into a generously greased, square baking dish, as if you are making bar cookies. You can use a metal pan or a glass dish; beware that glass absorbs heat quickly so the shortbread may cook faster if you use a glass dish. The smaller your baking dish, the thicker your cookies will be, more like shortbread bars. The baking pan method takes all the fuss out of achieving melt-in-your-mouth shortbread, but it requires tweaking the basic formula for your dough.

Baking Sheet Basics

• For the springform pan version, use your regular dough. Close the collar of the springform pan, groove on the top, using it to press the dough into an even circle. Pop open the springform collar so the dough can expand a little, but keep the springform collar on the baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees and bake until the edges turn pale golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. Turn off the oven. You can immediately remove the open springform pan collar and use a chef's knife to slice the shortbread into even wedges. Then poke holes in each wedge with a fork or a toothpick. If you want, put the baking sheet with sliced wedges back into the warm oven to get extra crispy.

Baking Pan Plan

• It is just as easy to make shortbread bars, but you want the consistency of your dough to be softer: decrease the quantities of flour for a ratio of 3 1/2 parts flour to 2 parts butter to 1 part sugar. Use confectioners' sugar instead of granulated sugar to create a more delicate cookie dough. After you smooth the dough into the baking dish with a spatula, cover and chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Then prick it all over with a fork and bake in a 325-degree F oven until golden brown. This could take 25 minutes or 45 minutes depending on the specific quantities you use and how accurate your oven temperature is, so check for the golden color. Rotate the pan for even baking.

Flavors For Fun

• Depending on what flavors you like, add nuts, vanilla or almond extract, fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, or lavender, lemon zest, espresso powder or mini chocolate chips. If you add chunky ingredients like nuts or chocolate chips, fold them into the dough with a spatula just before you press into the baking dish or baking sheet. If you add extracts, powders, or zests, mix them with creamed butter and sugar before integrating the flour/salt. You can add herbs to the flour/salt mixture. The springform pan version will produce a shorter, crispier cookie which pairs well with herbs and zests. You may want to add chunky ingredients like chocolate chips or nuts to the softer baking dish version.