Thursday, April 22, 2010

Walkers Shortbread Review

I was contacted by the generous folks at Walkers Shortbread a few weeks ago and they asked if I'd like to try out their new line of Homebake "Melt in the Mouth" Shortbread. I love their traditional shortbread, so of course I said YES!

One of the things that I appreciate and admire about Walkers Shortbread is that it contains minimal ingredients. When I say minimal, I mean just the basics: wheat flour, butter, sugar and salt! How many cookies on a typical grocery store shelf have just 4 ingredients? Not many I'm sure. There are no stabilizers, or fillers, no chemicals or artificial flavors or colors. NONE and I think that's pretty awesome, don't you?

After agreeing to sample their shortbread (my job is so rough!) they sent me 5 different varieties. Of course I got to sample their new line of Homebake Shortbread which includes Shortbread Fingers, Shortbread Triangles and Shortbread Rounds. I also received their traditional Pure Butter Shortbread Highlanders and the Pure Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread. yum!

Mr. H and I both tasted these one at a time and wrote down our tasting notes. I've listed them in order of preference, though all were delicious.

1st Place- Walkers Pure Butter Shortbread Highlanders

We liked these the best because they had the perfect balance of butter and sweetness. The edges are rolled in demerara sugar which gives them a little extra crunchiness. We liked that a lot.

2nd Place- Walkers Homebake Recipe Shortbread Rounds<>

These were very similar to the Highlanders just without the demerara sugar. They were buttery and not too sweet and had a firm texture but were not hard. These are a great basic shortbread cookie and really did "melt in the mouth".

3rd Place- Walkers Pure Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread

In addition to wheat flour, butter, sugar and salt, this shortbread cookie has sweet chocolate chips in it. These were really buttery with little pockets of sweetness scattered throughout. Mr. H really liked these but wished they were more chocolatey.

4th Place- Walkers Homebake Recipe Shortbread Triangles

These were the prettiest of the shortbread we had, but they were less sweet and buttery than the others. They were also the lightest and crunchiest of all.

5th Place- Walkers Homebake Recipe Shortbread Fingers

I was attracted to these fingers because they appeared to be the most homemade. I liked the lightly sugared tops and thought they resembled something that could come out of any one of our kitchens. Of course these were buttery just like the rest of them but they had a saltiness to them that the others didn't. They also seemed to be the most crumbly and sandy in texture.

The next time you come across a box of Walkers Shortbread, I hope you'll give them a try. I can say, without a doubt, that these will become a staple in my pantry. How can you resist that red tartan box?

Thank you Walkers!

22 comments:

b said...

I am so impressed with you!! :o)

Katie said...

What a nice job. We have this brand in the UK, its interesting to see its made its way to the USA too.

Laura said...

I WANT SHORTBREAD!! **sigh** these look lovely and what a nice review you did. But still...I want shortbread

Federkissen said...

Now I am jealous.

I Love Walkers and I am glad you can get theme in Germany ;)

oneordinaryday said...

Lucky you. Maybe we should try shortbread cookies, eh?

Michel-lee said...

Great review. I love shortbread. Can't wait to give them a try.

Julie said...

You lucky duck! I love walker's shortbread, although I've never seen the "homebake" variety. Very nice :)

cookies and cups said...

That's so great...love that they only have 4 ingredients! and really, you can't go wrong with a good shortbread!

Smitten Sugar said...

I love shortbread cookies. I will definitely have to give these a try.

Janet said...

I luuuuuuuuuuve Walker's Shortbread! Great review (as always) Reading this and staring at your Ferrero Rocher cupcakes, I couldn't help but think about how yummy it would be to dunk a shortbread finger into some warmed Nutella!

I'll be back... Gotta run to the store!

Joy Tilton said...

Loving the review! Makes my next shopping trip easy...the shortbread fingers!

♥peachkins♥ said...

I love shortbread cookies. I hope its available here..


blowing peachkisses
The Peach Kitchen
peach and things

Debbie said...

I love Walker's shortbread and I'm jealous you got to try all of those cookies! Lucky you! I think it's great that there are no additives and only 4 ingredients...that is wonderful!!!!

Karynefoodaddict said...

My favorite are the Highlanders too!!! Perfect choice!

Sandy aka Doris the Great said...

And here I've been buying the darned things for years! How do you get that job?

Memória said...

Wait! Where's the giveaway?! I want some shortbread hahaha. What a great roundup of the flavors. You gave such detailed descriptions that addressed all almost all the senses. Tell Walter's that I wouldn't mind trying out their products LOL!

tasteofbeirut said...

Agreed ! Like the Walkers shortbread a lot! They taste as close to homemade as one can get in a commercial product!

thrasherswife said...

Nothing I love more then a good shortbread cookie -- so jealous you were handed this opportunity, but thanks for sharing your input...

catherine @ www.unconfidentialcook.com said...

Thanks for checking in--things are still not exactly on track, but I'm hoping to get back in June.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Waving hand madly.....HI! Here I am! Monica! It's me...rememeber me? Ingrid? Yeah, that's right....ingrid! I know! Long time no see here in LtBG. I'm back! Yeah, for good...missed you too. :) I'll try to do better and not be such a stinky blogging buddy/commenter!

Happy Friday!
~ingrid

Unknown said...

You were definitely the right person for Walkers to choose to taste their product. You make them sound so delicious I can't wait to give them a try!

Ms. K.I.M. said...

I've tried the shortbread fingers and I like to eat them plain. I love a good butter cookie.

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