It's officially Burns Night next Wednesday, the day many Scots will be tucking into traditional delicacies to celebrate our foremost poet, Robert Burns.
And while I am certainly partial to the good old classic of haggis, neeps, and tatties, there is one other Scottish treat that I could find myself tucking into pretty much all year round - shortbread.
It may be but a humble looking biscuit, but shortbread has become so universally beloved by many that even the late Queen Elizabeth II had a favourite recipe she enjoyed at Balmoral Castle.
In my humble opinion, the best shortbread should be lightly golden, slightly crumbly and rich with a melt-in-the-mouth butter taste, with a light smattering of sugar on the top.
Fun fact about shortbread - it was only eaten on special occasions or by nobles and royals in the 12th century due to the fact that butter was considered a "luxury" item. I mean, with the prices of butter soaring these days, not much has changed since then.
Luckily, we don't have to make it from scratch and max out our budgets and, occasionally, ruin our kitchen by going all out for a tub of butter - we can just grab a few packets ready-made from the supermarket.
While there are many major Scottish brands out there, such as Walkers, Paterson's and Dean's, the cost of living has myself and many others moving away from branded items.
So, to save some pennies, I picked up shortbread fingers from Aldi, M&S, Tesco and Asda to find out if non-branded shortbread would be just as good. Here's how I got on.
What shortbread biscuits did I try?
Since there are so many different shapes and brands out there that you can choose from, I decided to keep it simple and fair by sticking to own-branded shortbread biscuits from the supermarket.
While I am a fan of the petticoat shape myself, I did find that it was quite difficult to find, so I settled for the more common finger shape, which wasn't all that bad, as it makes it easier for dipping into tea.
Here were the shortbread biscuits I managed to nab:
- Morrisons Shortbread Fingers - 95p
- Aldi All Butter Shortbread Fingers - 69p
- Tesco All Butter Shortbread - £1.10
- Asda Shortbread Fingers - 85p
Here are my thoughts on each shortbread finger.
Morrisons
Off to a decent-ish start with Morrisons shortbread which had a lovely light golden appearance and what looked like a decent dusting of sugar on the top.
For me, the defining feature of a good shortbread biscuit is the texture of the biscuit, which has to be buttery and soft, with the right amount of crumble to it.
I did find that Morrison's was mostly soft and, as soon as I took a bite, the inside did have that softer, crumblier texture that I was looking for. Also, you could taste the richness of the butter.
My only complaint? There didn't seem to be a decent dusting off sugar once I had taken a bite, so looks were a little deceiving here. Without the extra sweetness, it can lead to a dry biscuit and I don't think I'd be tempted to eat quite a lot of these in one go.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Aldi
Next up was Aldi's All Butter Shortbread Fingers which came in a snazzy Scottish designed package, complete with red tartan and the Scottish flag for extra effort.
When compared to Morrisons' shortbread fingers, Aldi's were slightly smaller, but they were over 20p cheaper, so I couldn't be complaining too much.
Despite the cheaper price, Aldi's rich shortbread certainly didn't skimp on the flavour, as they were both buttery and sweet, making them taste that bit moreish in my mind.
The biscuit itself was also lightly golden and had a wonderful crumbly bite to it that I love. That being said, I did find that the inside of the biscuit was not as crumbly, so it was a little more solid than I would have liked, but it's a flaw I can easily overlook.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Tesco
Second to last were the All Butter Shortbread Fingers from Tesco which, like Aldi, came in a cute Scottish packaging with red tartan. Honestly, both Aldi and Tesco deserve some point for that alone.
That being said, I did feel like this one was slightly a little bit underwhelming coming so soon after what were mostly decent shortbread biscuits.
I'll start with the positives - it looked absolutely gorgeous and had all the hallmarks of really good shortbread. It appeared as if it had been baked the longest with its golden colour and there seemed to a be a good smattering of sugar,
Unfortunately, this did not translate to the taste. Tesco committed the cardinal shortbread sin by not really being crumbly and were more crunchy. I also found that it didn't have the sweetness to counteract the rich and buttery flavours, so that was a bit of a disappointment.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Asda
Last, but certainly not least, was Asda and its Shortbread Fingers which, quite frankly, were in the most basic packaging out of the entire lot. Add on the fact that it wasn't the prettiest looking biscuit either...
But looks can certainly be deceiving, as evidenced with Morrisons, as I have to admit that Asda's little shortbread fingers more than lived up to the expectation that I placed on them.
The biscuit itself was a lot more decadent than I expected - it had a rustic crumbliness that melted in the mouth, made even better by having the most full flavour out of the lot.
Each finger was rich and buttery, whilst also being that bit sweet with a really great dusting off sugar on the top.
Solid win here to Asda who has blown the others out the water with its Shortbread Fingers that were also the second cheapest of the bunch.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Overall verdict
A day spent scoffing shortbread is never a day wasted to me and I have been quite lucky to find that nearly all of the supermarkets offered some decent shortbread.
Taking the lead here was Asda with its 85p Shortbread Fingers that may have looked basic in packaging, but were anything but basic in flavour. Its rather moreish biscuit took the crown and I did begin to wonder if it could compete with some of the top Scottish shortbread brands.
Coming in second place was Aldi, with its budget 69p All Butter Shortbread Fingers which could have been a more soft, crumbly biscuit, though it did make up for it in flavour. Morrisons 95p Shortbread Fingers trailed in at third place with a rather decent buttery biscuit that sadly lacked the sweetness I was looking for.
Unfortunately, Tesco's All Butter Shortbread Fingers, which were the most expensive at £1.10, couldn't live up to the rest of the shortbread fingers standards with its harder texture and lack of sugar dusting.
All in all, I have to consider this a success, as it was the two cheapest supermarkets - Asda and Aldi - that managed to really impress me, meaning your shortbread really doesn't have to be a luxury item for many any more!
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