The best, old fashioned, classic, homemade, quick, easy shortbread cookies recipe, made with 3 simple ingredients: Butter, Sugar, Flour. Soft and crumbly!
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My family and friends love this classic holiday cookie. It's soft and buttery and just melts in your mouth. You can take it over the top by dipping in chocolate, drizzling glaze. They are also great as a homemade gift and perfect for dunking in coffee. These are just as popular as my Classic No Bake Cookies and my Best Sugar Cookies (Small Batch).
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Key ingredients
- Butter- Use salted butter for this recipe.
- Powdered sugar- This is much different from granulated so be sure it is the kind that looks like snow.
- Flour- All you need is the general all-purpose kind.
Variations
- Add a zest- Mix in 1 teaspoon lemon zest and drizzle lemon icing or this drizzly Lemon Glaze, when cookies are fully baked and have cooled down. You can also use lime zest.
- Make it chocolatey- Mix in ½ cup mini chocolate chips. You can also make simple chocolate dipped cookies or drizzle melted chocolate on top of baked cookies.
- Add sprinkles- Mix in ¼ cup small colorful sprinkles. You also use seasonal or holiday themed sprinkles to fit the theme.
- Make cookie sandwiches or thumbprints- With cherry, raspberry, or Easy Homemade Strawberry Jam.
- Use an icing or glaze- Once the cookies cool down, spread vanilla frosting on top or drizzle a sugar glaze.
- Mix in some nuts- Mix in ¼ cup finely chopped nuts such as almonds, pecans, walnuts.
- Use herbs- Mix in crushed dried herbs such as rosemary, lavender, or even roses.
- Cranberry orange option- Mix in ¼ cup chopped dried cranberries and 1 teaspoon orange zest.
- Add some color- Use gel coloring to tint the dough and make it fun for kids birthday parties.
How to make homemade Scottish whipped shortbread cookies?
- Cream together- Butter and sugar.
- Mix in- The flour.
- Roll out- The dough.
- Cut out- Into shapes.
- Bake- And enjoy.
Tips and techniques
- When lining the cookie tray with parchment paper- It's wise to leave a little hanging off the sides to make it easy to lift out the cookies, once they are fully baked.
- This is probably the only time I would ever ask you to use salted butter- It creates that authentic sweet and salty flavor. Of course, you can replace salted butter with unsalted butter, if you like.
- Let the dough be crumbly- It is supposed to look that way and does not need added liquid.
- Do not over-mix the dough- Because that will yield tough cookies.
- Keep in mind- That there are no eggs, no baking powder, and no baking soda in this recipe. Do not add them in.
- Only all-purpose flour works well in this recipe- Do not replace it with any other flour.
- You must use powdered sugar rather than granulated sugar- Because it blends together better and more smoothly with the butter.
- The butter must be at room temperature so that it blends together smoothly and evenly with the other ingredients.
Recipe FAQs
Shortbreads have a soft and crumbly texture because of the large quantity of butter whereas sugar cookie are firm, soft and sometimes chewy. The latter also has baking powder or baking soda to help it rise.
No, they do not have eggs. They are only made with butter, sugar and flour.
No. This cookie dough is supposed to be crumbly. Do not add water or omilk to thin it out because it will change the texture.
Storage
- Make ahead- These can easily be made 1-2 days in advance.
- Room temperature- These can stay out in a cookie jar up to 5 days.
- Refrigerate- In a sealed container for 7 days.
- Freeze-In a sealed container for up to 1 month.
More classic cookies
- Easy Stained Glass Cookies
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (Soft and Chewy)
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Soft and Chewy)
- Classic Snickerdoodles Cookies
- Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Recipe
Easy Shortbread Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Butter Salted, Room temperature
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 3 cups All-purpose flour
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add flour and mix until just combined. The cookie dough will be very soft and crumbly. That's the way it's supposed to be!
- Now, you have 2 options: 1) Spread mixture on a cookie tray, lined with parchment paper. Poke decorative holes with a fork and bake OR 2) Make cut out shapes like I did by kneading the dough a little and then rolling it between 2 sheets of wax paper. Then, use cookie cutters (like a small rectangle cutter) to cut out shapes. Use a spatula to gently pick them up and place them on a cookie tray, lined with parchment paper and bake.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are firm and slightly golden brown.
- If you went through option 1, remove tray from oven and quickly use a sharp knife to cut rectangle slices. Let the cookies cool down completely then remove from tray and enjoy. If you went through option 2, remove tray from oven and allow the cookies to cool down. Then, enjoy!
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed cookie jar for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Jodi
This recipe is so simple and nice, love it! The dough is easy to work with and the cookies are delicious. Thanks!
Nelann
This is my second time making these delicious cookies! And they are a HIT each and every time! My mouth was watering when I took them out the oven. I was able to get in three batches! My husband isn't as much of a fan as me (our sweet tooth differ), but he appreciates my baking fever and participates when I ask him to taste everything! LOL Thank you! ❤ (Insert chef's kiss and the "muah" sound!)
Abeer Rizvi
Thank you sooooo much!
Ritu Parna
This is really a wonderful recipe. Try this recipe once and you will want to eat it again and again.
Lois DiMarzio
These are the perfect ingredients for cookie baking with toddlers. They can eat all the raw dough they and you don’t have to worry about them getting sick.
I cut the recipe in half because I knew my toddler had a short attention span and I didn’t want lots of cookies. The dough was very stiff and hard to roll. But it tasted great!
Going to make them again this year with 2 toddlers!
Marella
I made these with my little granddaughters to go with a tea party, and it was so easy to make! I added 1 tablespoon of vanilla, a pinch of salt, and increased the powdered sugar to 1 1/2 cups instead of one cup since I did not plan to frost or sprinkle the cookies. The cookies expanded more than I expected so they lost some of their shape. We made heart-shaped cookies. The recipe also does not recommend a thickness to which to roll the dough and the thickness may affect baking time.
Marsha
So easy and delicious. If you need a quick cookie to bake, this is it. I made them with my grandson and we cut out hearts for Valentine’s Day. So happy to find this recipe.
Sharon Heiss
Good Afternoon,
Why did my beautiful shortbread cookies spread ??
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
3/4 cup confectioners sugar ( might have been a little more than that)
Please help !!!!
Abeer Rizvi
Hi Sharon... your recipe and quantities are different than my recipe above. Mine uses: 1.5 cups Butter Salted, 1 cup Powdered sugar and 3 cups All-purpose flour.
Judy Bernard
Can you freeze these cookies?
Abeer Rizvi
Yes, once they have cooled to room temperature, freeze in a tightly sealed container for up to 1 month.
Breila
What's the yield on this recipe?
Abeer Rizvi
It's in the recipe card. The yield is about 36 small cookies.
Muthoni
Delicious cookies definitely recommend for beginner bakers , I added a tablespoon of vanilla essence for extra flavor and came out very well . Takes a short time and little energy. Perfect for family gatherings and birthday parties. Can be very addictive