Shortbread v. Scottish Cookies: What is the Difference?

Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread is an unleavened cookie and is only ever made with pure butter, whereas imitations often contain vegetable fat. A historical summary of shortbread can be found in Saveur. Made with only four simple ingredients: wheat flour, butter, sugar and salt, shortbread cookies have a crumbly short texture resulting from the high butterfat content, hence the name shortbread. Shortbread should contain at least 24 percent fat of which 70 percent should be butterfat.

Over the years, Walker's Shortbread added flavor choices to our classic shortbread offerings such as chocolate chip, stem ginger and vanilla, while still maintaining the signature shortbread texture. The line has increased also to include a variety of shapes such as fingers, rounds, triangles, Christmas shapes, and Scottie Dog shapes.

Scottish Cookies

Walker's Scottish cookies often have more ingredients than shortbread, including those that aid in leavening such as baking powder and baking soda. The leavening agents are responsible for the notable crunch and open texture of the Scottish cookie, which is not nearly as crumbly as shortbread.

Unlike Walker's shortbread cookies where the main ingredient is butter, Scottish cookies may contain vegetable shortening or a blend of butter and vegetable shortening. Therefore, the Scottish cookies have a distinctly different texture (crisper, firmer and crunchier) and flavor.

Walker's Scottish cookie flavors are Golden Oat, Salted Caramel, Stem Ginger and Belgian Chocolate. (Simply order the Scottish Cookie Assortment box to “research” them all!)

Know Before You Buy

Knowing the difference between Walker's pure butter shortbread and Scottish cookies will help you choose the cookie that best meets your individual tastes.

As mentioned above, the main differences between the two styles of cookies are butter content and inclusion of leavening agents. These differences result in very different texture and taste experiences.

What Remains the Same

No matter your preference, you can be sure to get a quality product from Walker's Shortbread. Founded in 1898, we remain a family-owned and managed company. All Walker's pure butter shortbread cookies and Scottish cookies are free from genetically-modified ingredients and contain no artificial flavorings, colorings or additives.