# Why is shortbread so expensive?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** food-cooking
**Created:** [November 15, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401 "2021-11-15T16:29:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/1 "2021-11-15T16:29:16Z")
Basically what the title says.
At the local grocery store, shortbread cookies are consistently the most expensive cookies out there. I just checked on-line and saw the same price for 4.5 oz packages of shortbread, as 7oz packages of other “premium” non-shortbread cookies.
In my ignorance, I would think the fewer ingredients would result in simpler processing - but maybe they require a greater amount of butter or some other pricey ingredient.
I suspect there is some Anglo shortbread mafia responsible for price-fixing…
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### Author:  [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/2 "2021-11-15T16:31:50Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> but maybe they require a greater amount of butter or some other pricey ingredient.
I think that’s it. They contain a lot of butter and butter is more expensive than flour and sugar.
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### Author:  [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/3 "2021-11-15T16:44:39Z")
I second the comment about butter being the cause. That is certainly the reason. Given the cost and the “bad for you” when you eat this in quantity, I only treat myself to a box of Walkers once a year. And then I try to savor every crumbly bite.
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### Author:  [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/4 "2021-11-15T16:48:27Z")
OTOH, it’s one of the easiest cookies to make. The ingredients may cost “a lot” if you are a cookie manufacturer (which makes me shudder…what do they actually consider putting into cookies they sell?!) but it’s pretty cheap for us consumers. Shortbread is a great candidate for “do it yourself and save money” kind of similar to brewing your own coffee.
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/5 "2021-11-15T16:50:49Z")
I make my own butter for my shortbread cookies which helps keep down the cost somewhat but compared to sugar and flour, fresh cream is still more expensive, and butter is a required ingredient no matter where it comes from.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/6 "2021-11-15T16:52:11Z")
My wife does back cookies occasionally. (Next up, pecan nut thins - almost a nutty shortbread - for my upcoming birthday!). Not sure why she never tried shortbread.
I COULD suggest that she make her own butter - but then again, I DO like sleeping in the bed! 😉
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### Author:  [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/7 "2021-11-15T16:54:48Z")
I’m humbled…@dolphinboy and others would consider making your own butter? Holy smokes!
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/8 "2021-11-15T17:00:06Z")
Making fresh butter at home is dead simple. Put heavy cream into a blender, run it on high for a few minutes, and butter happens. Remove the buttermilk (you can save it for your recipes), rinse the butter under cold water in cheesecloth, add salt, and put it into an appropriate container. Take about 20 minutes max. It’s kind of messy to make, but it is worth it in the tasting.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/9 "2021-11-15T17:28:42Z")
Aw hell - I milk my own cow that lives out back!
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### Author:  [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/10 "2021-11-15T17:49:50Z")
I never knew what store bought butter tasted like till I was about 8 years old. My mother had a hand crank butter churn, she would make a couple pounds a month. Ate dinner at a friends house and saw a yellow cube of something on a plate. I thought it was margarine and didn’t think I would like it. It tasted like butter but didn’t look like what I was use too. I was use to a bowl of whitish butter with a bit of liquid around the edge. The butter churn broke when I was about 15, we ate stick butter from then on.
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### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/11 "2021-11-15T17:58:43Z")
I pour the heavy cream into a quart jar and shake shake shake!
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### Author:  [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/12 "2021-11-15T18:06:46Z")
Are any brands of shortbread cookies made in the US? I always thought Walker’s was expensive because it’s imported.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike1)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/13 "2021-11-15T18:13:28Z")
If you have the NY Times Cooking app (well worth it!) try Alison Roman’s “Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies.”
More work than a simple drop cookie (you have to roll the dough into cylinders, chill it, cut it with a serrated knife, and not forget to sprinkle with coarse salt), but the damnedest best cookie ever.
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### Author:  [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/14 "2021-11-15T18:34:48Z")
> [@nelliebly](#):
>
> Are any brands of shortbread cookies made in the US?
Lorna Doones say they are shortbread, but I’d be shocked if real butter is involved. Still my favorite no-chocolate chips involved US made store bought cookie.
[https://www.google.com/search?q=are+Lorna+Doones+shortbread&rlz=1C9BKJA\_enUS856US869&oq=are+Lorna+Doones+shortbread&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i22i30l3j0i390l2.15853j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=ZaCqEHyPD7S9iM](https://www.google.com/search?q=are+Lorna+Doones+shortbread&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS856US869&oq=are+Lorna+Doones+shortbread&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i22i30l3j0i390l2.15853j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=ZaCqEHyPD7S9iM)
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/15 "2021-11-15T18:39:24Z")
Not only do I make my own shortbread cookies from scratch, but my living room is full of amber waves of grain.
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### Author:  [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/16 "2021-11-15T18:45:32Z")
You’re right! No butter or butter-like substances. Ingredients:
> Unbleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid), Soybean and/or Palm Oil, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Corn Flour, Salt High Fructose Corn Syrup, Baking Soda, Soy Lecithin, Cornstarch, Artificial Flavor.
No butter + made in the U.S. must be why they’re cheaper than the real deal. That’s the long and short of it.
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### Author:  [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/17 "2021-11-15T19:14:40Z")
> [@nelliebly](#):
>
> That’s the long and short of it.
Better than no shortbreads at all, is about the most one can say~plus I can afford them! Walkers are at most a twice a year treat.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/18 "2021-11-15T19:45:30Z")
I buy Pepperidge Farms Shortbread cookies. Chessmen are my favorite cookie.
They are premium priced.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/19 "2021-11-15T19:51:38Z")
The partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil is probably margarine.
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### Author:  [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-shortbread-so-expensive/954401/20 "2021-11-15T20:08:14Z")
There’s Keebler’s Pecan Sandies, too, and of course no butter in those either, though they do contain actual pecans.
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