Easy Shortbread Cookies Recipe

Why I Like This Recipe

• Minimal ingredients. Did you know that shortbread cookies are made with only 3 ingredients? Butter, powdered sugar, and flour. That's it!
• Easy to roll out and cut. You can roll and cut out shortbread cookie dough the same way you would for cutout sugar cookies.
• Rich flavor. Shortbread cookies have a strong butter flavor. I use salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter if you'd like to control the cookie's salt content.

What Others Are Saying

Nice recipe my husband loved !!---Marie

Used these for Christmas cookies this year with buttercream frosting. They were yummy thanks!---Carol on Pinterest

Tips and Tricks

• Press the dough together with your hands. Have a little patience with the dough. It will resemble coarse sand at first. Turn the mixer off and form the dough into a ball with your hands. What first looked like coarse sand will turn into a beautiful dough.
• Fudge frosting. This is entirely optional, but adding a swirl of fudge frosting to each cookie makes them taste like a softer version of Keebler E.L. Fudge cookies. The frosting is amazing and can be used for so many different recipes. You'll be tempted to eat a freshly frosted cookie, but trust me, it's worth waiting 30-45 minutes for the frosting to set up a bit for a fudge-like consistency.
• Cookie size. This recipe makes 30 delicious shortbread cookies. I like making mine smaller (2"), but you can make them any size you'd like.

Ingredients

• Butter: I exclusively bake with salted butter. If you'd like to control the salt content in the dough, use unsalted butter and add about ½ teaspoon of salt to the recipe.
• Powdered sugar: Using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar creates a softer, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
• Flour

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Classic Shortbread Cookies

Step 1: Combine ingredients in a large bowl using an electric mixer. The dough will resemble coarse sand. Turn the mixer off and form the dough into a ball with your hands. What first looked like coarse sand will end up forming a beautiful dough.

Step 2: Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Dough should be about ½" thick. Cut out into small circles using a cookie cutter (2" are my favorite size) and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Step 3: Bake at 325 degrees for 13-15 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely.

Step 4: If adding frosting, spoon frosting into a pastry bag and pipe frosting onto cooled cookies (or spread with a butter knife). I like using a 1A frosting tip. It's large and takes about 2 seconds to frost each cookie.

Let frosting set up on cookies 30-45 minutes for a fudge consistency.

Store cookies in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

Shortbread Cookies FAQs

More Shortbread Recipes To Make

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