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.
Cora
Delicious, I will make it again for sure.
Denise
The best!
Yvonne
Best shortbread cookies, easy, delicious, and simple ingredients. I did add vanilla extract.
Thank you
Jenna
These are melt in your mouth good! The perfect cutout cookie. I’m never making sugar cookies again!
auntie em
This...this is the recipe I have been hunting for. Thank you!
Nancy Lerer
I was always told how difficult it was to make a good shortbread cookie, but after making this recipe and sharing the cookies with several different people, I have been converted!!
This recipe is SUPER EASY and makes a delicious shortbread!!
I strongly recommend that you try this recipe!!
Kim
Love shortbread cookies easy to make and bake.
Jill Ritch
Just made a batch of these cookies and they are yummy. I added a cup of toffee chips and that a little more sweet and crunch. Such an easy thing to put together on a snowy afternoon.
Sue
Would gluten free flour work?
Abeer Rizvi
I haven't tried that to know how it would affect the recipe. If you try it, I would love to hear how it turns out.
Hannah
I used Bobs Red Mill 1-1 gluten free flour and it worked great!
Sue
Do the cookies hold their shape and it spread?
Abeer Rizvi
They hold their shape and do not spread.
Jeanne
I made these to take to a new neighbor. I could have eaten the whole pan myself. I shop the Goodwill store looking for pretty little plates for $1 and or so and give a plate of cookies to people. This is the perfect recipe and tell the recipient not to return the plate. Use it to share with someone to keep the friendship plate traveling.