How can I halve this shortbread recipe that needs to be baked in a pan?

June 18, 2023 8:16 AM

I'm hoping to make this recipe for twice baked shortbread. I always halve cookie recipes to start with. Typically this is easy as each cookie is shaped individually. This recipe calls for either a 9.5" round, 4x14" rectangular, or 8x8" square pan. I don't have any pans that are half this size. How would you halve the recipe?
posted by wheatlets to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

Shortbread dough is usually pretty firm. I’d make a little retaining wall out of tin foil to halve my pan and press the dough into the half area. Maybe press it up against a chefs knife or offset spatula before you bake it to keep the edge from being too rounded.
posted by music for skeletons at 8:19 AM on June 18, 2023 [8 favorites]

I use a loaf pan in situations like this.
posted by momus_window at 8:25 AM on June 18, 2023 [12 favorites]

In terms of area, the suggested pans for the full recipe are 56-70 square inches. Do you have any pans with an area around 28-35 square inches?
posted by sriracha at 10:49 AM on June 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Seconding loaf pan, or I might use glass Pyrex dishes I have that are usually just for storage. Anything oven safe, really! I wouldn’t use math, just sort of eyeball it - knowing the cookies might be slightly thinner or thicker than intended as a result (and therefore I’d keep an eye on the time).
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 1:23 PM on June 18, 2023

Knowing the area of the recommended pan is key. Geometry for the win!

9.5" round pan is pi * r squared or just search for area of a 9.5 diameter circle = a little more than 64 (a 9" round pan is 64)
4x14 = 64
8x8 = 64

Your desired pan will be about half of 64 so 32 square inches for 1/2 recipe for the same thickness. For this purpose, I would use a rectangular 4x8 pyrex or, more ideally for the square edges, a 4x8 loaf pan (which is smaller than the standard 9x5 loaf pan). Going larger or smaller would make thinner or thicker shortbread and require a slight adjustment to less or more baking time.

Here is a helpful reference for both volume and area for baking pans.
posted by RoadScholar at 5:29 PM on June 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

4x14 = 64

It is not 64, but 56 and shows that the baking dimensions are not so strict for this recipe. The circle is 71 square inches, so again it is a rough measurement they are going for here. I would probably just spread it along the center of a larger pan until I felt it was about 4x7 or 4x8. You can get a spatula under it after the first bake so you might not even need the foil.
posted by soelo at 10:28 AM on June 19, 2023

I'd simply form it into an enormous cookie and place it on a regular cookie sheet. Shortbread recipes ordinarily hold their shape. That's how I make petticoat tails and round loaves of bread.
posted by Jane the Brown at 2:24 PM on June 19, 2023