Growing up Southern, it’s easy to love food. For Megan Driscoll, it sent her down the path to become a classically trained pastry chef. She opened her first pastry shop on the West Coast in 2012. “Tarts were my specialty and I decided to replace the pate´ sucree´ traditionally used to make tart shells with shortbread, a cookie I’ve loved since my childhood growing up in Virginia.”
“When it comes to food, folks in the South have an unparalleled appreciation for butter and I really wanted to showcase that in my baking. But, as we all know, butter sometimes gets a bad rap.” Megan laughs. “Good butter is more than just a stick of fat lost in a sea of ingredients; its beautiful, full flavored baking gold. It’s a nostalgic ingredient that often reminds people of something their mother or grandmother used to make. Using shortbread for my tart shells was a hit and ultimately led to the creation of the line of shortbread we make today.”
In 2016 Driscoll and her husband decided to leave the West Coast to be closer to their families in Virginia and Kentucky so they packed up the pastry shop and brought their passion for shortbread to Nashville. “We rebranded The Shortbread Shop and made our first sale in June 2017.” Driscoll’s mom and sister moved from Virginia to help with the business.
Cookies from The Shortbread Shop are deliciously buttery with the perfect hint of salt. Shortbread is made in small batches using only a handful of fresh, all natural ingredients: unbleached flour, European style butter, couverture chocolate, organic herbs and oils and hand harvested kosher sea salt.
Their cookies are the perfect blend of artistry and baking. “It really is as delicious as it is pretty and our branding really speaks to that.” Megan clarifies, “We pride ourselves on the care we take creating our shortbread; every single cookie that leaves our kitchen is handmade from start to finish. We’re very mindful of the quality of our ingredients and source our herbs and oils from local organic flower farms around Nashville.”
Megan understands that most of us have memories of food that take us back to childhood. “We truly love the association because we put a lot of love into our cookies and we’re happy you can taste it!” In the South there’s a real reverence for craftsmanship, the integrity of the process is just as important as the finished product. For Megan, “There’s a satisfaction that comes from creating something with your own two hands and that really is at the heart of our business. ”
