For shortbread, buttery texture is everything, which is why most recipes limit the liquid they use and rely on eggs as the only binder. Bakers are hesitant to add water, which, when worked with flour, creates gluten. But dry shortbread dough is hard to work with and often results in overly brittle cookies that shatter instead of melt in your mouth. The solve? Using vodka to moisten the dough instead. Vodka interacts with flour differently than water, creating no significant gluten formation because it can’t hydrate the proteins properly. Just two tablespoons creates an easy-to-work-with dough. Baked into wedges, these sandies strike the perfect balance between tender and pleasantly crumbly, with deeply toasted pecans and rich brown butter for an extra nutty flavor. They’re a fresh take for those who grew up with the packaged variety “made by elves.”
Instead of cutting shortbread into ornate shapes or forming into precise soldier-like planks, this recipe opts for pressing the dough into a pan, which cuts back on prep time and creates a laid-back look. Just make sure you cut your dough into wedges before it hits the oven; this initial scoring ensures the baked shortbread can be sliced into neat wedges without breaking apart.