An tardily Buttery Shortbread Cookies recipe! It’sec everything you honey most the elegant shortbread process: light sugariness, textured crispiness on the exterior, in addition to perfectly tender within. They’re made alongside alone FIVE ingredients and optional (simply highly recommended) chocolate!
Looking to brand those pretty swirly-shaped cookies? Try my butter cookies recipe.
Shortbread – The Perfect Christmas Cookie
These are such uncomplicated, humble cookies with rich too tempting flavors. They are delicious classics on their own, merely they are likewise rattling easy to customize (meet variations ideas below).
All that butter does the pull a fast one on inward this Scottish-mode shortbread. A lot of the best foods kickoff out alongside a generous dose of butter, don’t they?
Not alone does character butter convey an abundance of rich season, simply it likewise gives them their distinctive crumbly and flaky texture.
Sure, you have lots of options to buy shop-bought shortbread this time of yr… just homemade buttery shortbread cookies are a game changer. They are fresher, cheaper, have a ameliorate butter flavour as well as a more tender texture. You’ll definitely be able to sense of taste the divergence with homemade shortbread.
Plus, these move together with transport good and then they are nifty for holiday gifting or Christmas cookie swaps. Tis the flavor for cookies, and then let’sec get baking!
Buttery Shortbread Cookie Recipe Ingredients
- Unsalted butter: Salted butter can be used likewise (cookies will just be lightly saltier), simply omit the salt inwards the recipe.
- Granulated sugar: If you want cookies a niggling sweeter you lot tin increase saccharide to ii/3 loving cup.
- Salt: Just function measure fine table table salt.
- Vanilla extract: Use existent vanilla for the best shortbread.
- All-function flour: I like to role unbleached all function flour. I’ve actually converted to baking more often than not amongst that this twelvemonth. It has a ameliorate flavour than bleached as well as I wonder well-nigh the chemical bleaching process of bleached flour. If bleached is all yous take, it volition work.
How to Make Buttery Shortbread Cookies Dough
Stand Mixer
- Mix common cold diced butter, carbohydrate together with salt in an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until combined.
- Blend inward vanilla together with mix good.
- Add flour in addition to mix until fully combined. It volition appear dry at beginning simply it will come up together every bit you continue mixing.
- Compress dough together.
Food Processor
- In a large food processor pulse flour, sugar and salt.
- Add butter and blitz a few times so dot over with vanilla.
- Pulse until it comes together.
By Hand
- Whisk together flour, carbohydrate too table salt in a bowl.
- Add butter, point vanilla over as well as rub mixture alongside fingertips until there are small crumbles.
- Knead mixture until evenly blended together with dough comes together well.
- Chill dough to get in easier to go amongst earlier slicing if needed.
Shaping as well as Baking Buttery Shortbread Cookies
Roll dough too piece alongside knife: This method is what I’ve used here. You’ll scroll the dough out into a i/3-inch thick rectangle on a floured surface. Trim away uneven edges, then cutting dough into rectangles (or squares). Transfer to baking sheets and chill until house, so bake in 350 degree oven 13 – 16 minutes.
Roll dough too cutting with cookie cutters: Roll dough as directed then instead of cut into squares or rectangles cut into desired shapes (re-ringlet scraps), chill as well as bake every bit directed.
Shape dough into logs as well as slice: This choice simplifies things a piddling because you don’t take to curlicue dough out. Rather yous can curlicue dough into two log shapes (press house and so at that place aren’t holes within). Slice 1/3-inch thick and then refrigerate too bake as directed.
Pressing dough into a pan: This is the simplest method. Rather than shaping beforehand but press dough into a nine by ix-inch baking pan. Bake 325 nigh 35 minutes and then cutting into squares spell warm.
How to Store Buttery Shortbread Cookies
- Let cookies cool completely on wire rack.
- Then shop inward an airtight container.
- Cookies can be stacked.
Shelf Life
- Shortbread should continue up to 3 weeks at room temperature.
- Or freeze up to iii months.
Variations
- Try alongside other extracts such every bit almond, coconut, maple, java, rum extract etc.
- Add citrus zest. Lemon or orange is delicious.
- Mix inward finely chopped nuts.
- Add mini chocolate chips.
- Season with spices such equally cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
- Blend inwards sprinkles, like I did here.
- Sprinkle with coarse sugar earlier baking.
- Decorate amongst royal icing (similar the Christmas tree blueprint to a higher place).
- Prick the cookies with a fork for a classic shortbread appearance.
- Dip in white chocolate or milk chocolate instead of semi-sugariness. Finish amongst festive sprinkles.
Helpful Tips
- Using common cold butter in the recipe skips the involve to chill dough i – 2 hours beforehand. I highly recommend this to relieve fourth dimension, likewise using butter makes dough easier to run amongst as well as cookies spread less.
- Mix long plenty to fully incorporate ingredients.
- Work to whorl dough an fifty-fifty thickness for fifty-fifty baking.
- Bake on ungreased cookie sheets and so cookies spread less (don’t worry amongst all the butter inwards them they don’t stick).
- Bake one canvass at a time for fifty-fifty cooking, proceed other canvas chilled (over again and so cookies spread less).
More Classic Cookie Favorites to Try
- Butter Cookies
- Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Stained Glass Cookies
- Shortbread Bites
- Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
Shortbread Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ane cup (226g) unsalted butter, common cold, diced into tiny cubes
- ane/2 cup (100g) granulated carbohydrate*
- i/iv tsp salt
- ane tsp vanilla extract
- 1 three/four cups (248g) unbleached all-role flour** (scoop too level to mensurate)
- 8 oz. semi-sugariness chocolate, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Add butter together with carbohydrate to bowl of electrical stand mixer. Sprinkle salt around into bowl. Set mixer on medium-low speed and blend until combined.
- Add vanilla too blend mixture until good combined (butter should be evenly blended inwards), scrape downwardly bowl equally needed.
- Pour in flour in addition to mix until combined.
- On a floured surface, coil dough out 1/3-inch thick. Cut into squares or rectangles (using a cookie cutter or knife. I did almost 3 by i-inch rectangles here).
- Transfer to ungreased baking sheets spacing one-inch apart. You can dust of excess flour from scrapes, compress together as well as re-scroll.
- Transfer baking sheets to fridge together with chill thirty minutes. Halfway through preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake ane sheet at a time inward heart of oven until cookies are simply ready virtually 13 - xvi minutes. Tip: around ix minutes if your cookies are spreading uneven on edges you lot tin can take away from oven in addition to function a butter knife to scoot spread constituent back inward in addition to even out their edges.
- Let cool on baking sail 15 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat amongst second baking sheet.
- If opting to use optional chocolate finish: Place chocolate inwards microwave prophylactic dish. Melt in twenty instant increments on fifty% power, stirring between intervals until melted as well as smoothen (or melt in a double boiler on the stovetop).
- Dip cooled cookies nearly halfway into chocolate, lift cookie and then work bottom side of cookie along inside bowl edge to withdraw excess chocolate. Transfer to parchment newspaper lined baking sheets and so refrigerate to gear up.
Notes
- *If y'all desire them a petty sweeter you lot tin can use 2/three cup sugar.
- **If you lot are at high height or if your cookies are normally prone to spreading and then add together together with extra 2 - iii Tbsp flour.
VARIATIONS
- Try with other extracts such every bit almond (y'all'll only need about i/ii tsp), kokosnoot, maple, coffee, rum extract etc.
- Add citrus zest. Lemon or orange is delicious.
- Mix in finely chopped nuts.
- Add mini chocolate chips.
- Season with spices such every bit cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
- Blend inwards sprinkles, like I did here.
- Sprinkle amongst coarse saccharide earlier baking.
- Decorate alongside majestic icing (similar the Christmas tree blueprint above).
- Prick the cookies amongst a fork for a classic shortbread appearance.
- Dip inwards white chocolate or milk chocolate instead of semi-sugariness. Finish amongst festive sprinkles.
Amount Per Serving
Calories 141
Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*