Editing Shortbread (section)

== Shapes ==
[[File:Malcolms Scottish shortbread (7519979640).jpg|thumb|Shortbread fingers and petticoat tails]]
Shortbread is commonly formed into one of three shapes: 

* one large circle, which is divided into segments as soon as it is taken out of the oven (''petticoat tails'', which may have been named from the [[French language|French]] ''petits cotés'', a pointed biscuit eaten with wine, or ''petites galettes,'' the old French term for little cakes.  This term may also reference the shape of a [[petticoat]]<ref name="Brown 2015" />); 
* individual round biscuits (''shortbread rounds''); or 
* a thick (¾" or 2 cm) oblong slab cut into ''fingers''.

Shortbread may also be made in quadrant-shaped [[farl]]s.

In one of the oldest shapes, bakers pinched the edges of a shortbread round to suggest the rays of the sun.<ref name="Brown 2015" />

The stiff dough retains its shape well during cooking.  The biscuits are often patterned before cooking, usually with the tines of a fork or with a [[springerle]]-type mold.  Shortbread is sometimes shaped into hearts and other shapes for special occasions.