When I was growing up my mom baked at least a dozen varieties of cookies at Christmastime, including my favorite, buttery shortbread. Sadly, I did not inherit my mom's zest for baking, and have stuck to more generic recipes such as sugar cookies. Fortunately, I have found an absolutely delightful shortbread cookie from a Scottish company called Walkers that has more than satisfied my shortbread yearning.

History of Walkers

Walkers Shortbread first started in 1898 in the Scottish village of Torphins where 21-year-old Joseph Walker embarked upon his dream of making the finest shortbread in the world. Fast forward to the 1970s and now Walkers had begun exporting their products to over 60 countries in the world. I first took note of them only a few years ago when I spotted their shortbread on the shelf of my local grocery store and it's since become one of our family favorites for the holidays. Even my mom would approve of their mouth-watering shortbread because it really puts to shame any other commercially-available shortbread.

The company also now makes a wide range of cookies and biscuits, from traditional Scottish Stem Ginger & Lemon Cookies, Oatcake Crackers, as well as Shortbread with chocolate chips, nuts, and more. Here in the US I usually only see the traditional shortbread, but you can order any of the products online at www.walkers-shortbread.co.uk

About Walkers Shortbread Rounds

The traditional shortbread cookie of Walkers comes in several shapes, including fingers, rounds, and triangles. We usually get the rounds simply because that is what our store carried. They are designed to be a mini-version of the traditional shortbread cakes produced in the old days. We did try the festive shapes package this year when I saw it at the store. It is holiday version of the shortbread that contains 4 shapes-Santa, star, Christmas tree, and bell. It is the same great taste and texture, except it does have an extra sprinkling of sugar on top.

Walkers Shortbread is so tasty because it has a rich buttery flavor that literally melts in your mouth. Although it appears to be a hard cookie, it really isn't. The texture is soft and crumbly once you bite into it. The ingredients are so simple the way a true shortbread should be: wheat flour, butter, sugar, salt.

Shortbread Rounds come in a 5.3 ounce package with 9 cookies that sell for around $3.99. When I first started buying them I only saw them in specialty type food stores during the holiday season, but now I see them in most every grocery store all year around.

The only negative are the hit you'll take on calories and fat with this cookie--something this good doesn't come without some consequences! Shortbread does contain a lot of butter so you want to savor and enjoy this cookie and not eat a lot of them.They are a pretty good size cookie, measuring about two inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick. Each cookie contains 90 calories, 45 of those calories being fat calories. Total fat is 5 grams fat, 3 grams of that being saturated fat. Total cholesterol is 15 mg. and total carbs is 10 grams.

Final Thoughts

In our house our holidays wouldn't be complete without Walkers Shortbread Rounds. They are rich and tasty, and even with all the fat, who can say no to one of these?

This is an entry into the The Best Little W/O ever!

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