Shortbread, despite the name, is not really bread these days, but a type of biscuit or cookie, although it is "short." The short part of the name comes from the crumbly texture of the finished biscuit.
Shortbread is made from white sugar, butter and flour at its base, although other ingredients are also sometimes used. Originally, shortbread was a type of biscuit bread baked in medieval times. This bread was a bread roll that was twice baked.
Today, shortbread has a practically indelible cultural association with Scotland. Although it is made in the rest of the UK, and similar biscuits are made in some other countries, it is Scottish shortbread that is the best known. Shortbread is eaten throughout the year, but is much more common at Christmas and the New Year (or Hogmanay in Scotland). The biscuits can come in a variety of shapes, with the most common being fingers, rectangular in shape, petticoat tails, which are made from a large circular biscuit cut into wedges, and rounds, which are simply round biscuits.
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