Brockenhurst Artisans: New Forest Shortbread In 2014, Tracy Thew began baking the shortbread her family and friends had always loved from a cottage in Burley as a retirement project. What started as a small artisan
Brockenhurst Artisans: New Forest Shortbread
In 2014, Tracy Thew began baking the shortbread her family and friends had always loved from a cottage in Burley as a retirement project. What started as a small artisan venture has since grown into an award-winning bakery, now based here in Brockenhurst, producing handmade shortbread enjoyed across the New Forest and the UK.
A proud member of the New Forest Marque, New Forest Shortbread supplies specialist retailers, hotels, garden centres and events, while remaining firmly committed to its original values: handcrafted baking, honest ingredients and traditional methods. Every batch is made using a traditional all-butter recipe, with no palm oil, artificial additives or shortcuts.
Whilst the bakery is not open to the public, I was lucky enough to be invited in. Visiting the bakery is a sensory experience in itself. On the day of my visit, the team were baking lemon shortbread and the aroma was unmistakable. The secret step in the recipe is that the dough is rested overnight before baking, helping create the rich buttery texture and delicate crumble the bakery has become known for. Ingredients are sourced as locally as possible, with British Anchor butter used, and every stage, from baking to packing, is still carried out by hand.
Seasonal and limited-edition flavours are regularly developed alongside the core range, with recent creations including watercress shortbread for the Alresford Watercress Festival, alongside savoury varieties such as Apple and Fennel, designed to pair with cheese.
Sustainability is also an important part of the business. Packaging is recyclable and features illustrations by local artist Will Drew, celebrating New Forest wildlife, stories and landscapes. Waste is kept to a minimum, with broken shortbread repurposed for samples and toppings.
The New Forest Shortbread team now includes around ten staff across the bakery and office, alongside an extended events team representing the brand at shows and fairs around the country. All team members are encouraged to work in the bakery so they can learn firsthand about the baking and production process, so they fully appreciate the ethos and background of the company. Events remain a key part of the business, allowing customers to discover the shortbread firsthand, with plenty of free tasters, and the opportunity to meet the people behind it.
This year, New Forest Shortbread features in the English Garden Magazine giveaway at the Chelsea Flower Show and continues to grow its presence within RHS gardens, hotels and independent retailers. Closer to home, the brand is a familiar sight at the New Forest Heritage Centre in Lyndhurst and, of course, the New Forest Show.
So where can you buy shortbread locally? In Brockenhurst New Forest Shortbread is in the Co-op, Foresters Arms and Village Veg as well as nearby garden centres and farm shops. You can subscribe online too – see the discount voucher for all magazine readers this month.
Tracy’s may just have turned 70, but she has one big ambition: for every hotel and holiday let in the New Forest to offer guests a true taste of the area through locally made shortbread. Judging by the bakery’s growth so far, that ambition feels well within reach.