Word Around Town

"Douglas Sweets makes shortbread – dry, crumbly squares packed with buttery flavor – and Scottish biscuits that are essentially cookies blended with surprising ingredients inspired by Townsend’s world travels: spicy Indian curry, Italian lemon and rosemary, Thai sweet basil and peanut. She also keeps things local, using Vermont products such as Cabot butter and King Arthur flour in her edibles."

 

"Douglas Sweets moved last fall to Vermont Artisan Village, where Townsend and her business partner —daughter Hannah, 25 — have a retail bakeshop. Filling the shelves are bags of shortbread, coffee and a lovely array of baked goods, including fruit tarts, galettes and cheesecakes — all of which are made with shortbread dough."

"Savor traditional Scottish shortbread, or try the treats in more exotic flavors, such as fennel-anise, ginger-spice or pistachio-lavender. The family of bakers offers the goods plain or dipped in chocolate."
"Douglas Sweets, a purveyor of traditional (and some non-traditional) Scottish shortbreads."
 

 

"You can add balance to this abstemious plan with the gift of shortbread cookies from Douglas Sweets in [Shelburne]. Owner Debra Townsend bakes modern riffs on her Scottish mother's traditional shortbread, with flavors that include beet and orange zest, pistachio lavender and double dark chocolate. The cookies are colorful, crisp and difficult to stop eating. "

 
"If you haven’t yet tasted the incredible goodies that come from Douglas Sweets, you’re going to have to trust us when we say that they’re practically perfect!  Each bite is truly an ideal shortbread experience: sturdy but delicate, buttery but balanced, filling but addictive."
 
 

" Gifts for people who love food...Since Douglas Sweets of [ Shelburne ] began making shortbread I can keep the oven off. Flavors include double dark chocolate, fennel and anise and lemon poppy."

"I have long bemoaned the wasteland of commercial cookies worth eating, but I can at last stop my moaning! I discovered this shortbread line while making our annual foliage time visit to Burlington VT. "

 

"Debra Townsend, owner of Douglas Sweets Scottish shortbread is the best! I've had their delicious cookies before and knew I wanted them for our wedding favors! I gave her the wedding vision, and she worked closely with me to come up with the most lovely packaging for our favors. The cookies are buttery and delicious. Our guests LOVED them! Douglas Sweets is easy to work with and knows how to make a beautiful presentation for your wedding. The perfect favors!"

"Like her mother, Townsend knows how to work hard. After running Douglas Sweets out of her condo’s kitchen for a couple of years, she and her daughter— who is named after Townsend’s inspirational mother—have grown the company into its current location in the Vermont Artisan Village in Shelburne. They have expanded the flavors of their shortbread, as well, including a foray into savory biscuits, and gained new markets, including Whole Foods."

"Townsend started with traditional shortbread but soon moved to versions that are dipped in either dark or white chocolate. She is constantly introducing new flavor blends including exotic ones that include ingredients like fennel, beets, and curry."

 

"This Vermont business makes traditional Scottish shortbread, and man is it delicious! "

 

 

"Delicious shortbread from a multigenerational family recipe."