Buttery with a melt-in-your-mouth texture, easy shortbread cookies are simple to make with only 5 ingredients! Perfect for holiday gifting.
More favorite cookie recipes include butter cookies, ricotta cheese cookies and meringue cookies.
Table of Contents
Easiest Shortbread Cookies
These shortbread cookies are the perfect recipe to make when you’re wanting to whip up last-minute Christmas cookies. They are so easy to prepare and I bet you already have all the ingredients on hand.
They have a rich buttery flavor and will literally melt in your mouth like Mexican wedding cookies or gooey butter cookies. They’re not overly sweet and you can keep them plain or customize with mix-ins or toppings. This twix cookie recipe has a delicious shortbread base!
These traditional shortbread cookies are a classic cookie recipe for a Christmas dessert board or cookie exchanges!
Recipe Ingredients
With just a few ingredients shortbread is full of flavor and delicious! Each of these ingredients is known to be a pantry staple that will blend together perfectly. These are the best shortbread cookies!
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Butter: Soften the butter to room temperature before beating it together.
- Sugar: You have to have a little sugar in cookie dough! This will add sweetness.
- Vanilla extract: Always a favorite ingredient in cookie recipes.
- Flour: Added for the texture and thickness of the shortbread cookie.
- Sea salt: A sweet and savory cookie! Just a sprinkle will balance out the flavors.
Sugar Cookies vs. Shortbread
Although the two contain similar ingredients, shortbread cookies are eggless and also contain more butter than your classic sugar cookies. This gives them a texture that’s dense and firm, while sugar cookies are usually on the softer side. Sugar cookies also rise and spread a bit more than shortbread, giving them a bigger surface for decorating.
If you love thick sugar cookies, try my Swig cookie recipe! It’s soft and chewy like a sugar cookie but the thicker texture may remind you more of a butter cookie or shortbread.
How to Make Shortbread Cookies
This shortbread cookie recipe starts with 5 simple ingredients: butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, and flour. That’s it!
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Cream butter and sugar. Beat the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla until creamy and fluffy.
- Mix. Mix in the flour slowly and stir just until combined. Roll into a log and refrigerate.
- Slice and bake. Slice the cookie dough into rectangles or stamp lightly into flour. I like to add holes with a toothpick on top. Bake for 10 minutes or until the bottom is lightly golden.
Expert Tips for Good Shortbread
There is always a hidden secret when making the best recipe! The classic shortbread cookie recipe is simple to make but these tips will make them above the rest.
- Make sure to use only real butter and vanilla in these shortbread cookies to get the best flavor.
- Chill the dough for about an hour, or until it’s firm to the touch. This helps the butter solidify so that the cookies don’t spread while baking.
- Bake them in the oven just until the bottoms are slightly golden. You don’t want to overcook these unless you like crunchy shortbread cookies.
- A little tip if using cookie stamps or cookie cutters. Make sure to dip the stamp into flour BEFORE stamping (preferably after each stamp) to keep the dough from sticking.
Recipe FAQs
Shortbread cookies are a light golden brown all around the cookie. The bottoms can be a little deeper golden brown and on the edges but not too dark.
Yes! Substitute the butter to coconut oil if you would like a different flavor.
Absolutley! If you choose to use salted butter you can omit the extra salt. Unsalted butter is mainly used in baked dishes to help control how much salt is being added to the dessert since each brand of butter has its own amount of salt being added in.
Customize Your Cookies!
These shortbread cookies taste delicious plain, but could also be dressed up with frosting, glaze, lemon, a chocolate drizzle, nuts, chocolate chips, or sprinkles. You could even add jam like in a thumbprint cookie!
I love to double the recipe and make one batch plain and the other batch into cranberry orange shortbread cookies. They are so delicious!
Storing + Make Ahead
These cookies will stay fresh for up to 1 week in an airtight container or about 3 months in the freezer. You can also prepare the dough up to 1 week in advance. Shape into a log and then wrap tightly with saran wrap. Then store in the fridge until ready to bake.
5 star review
“Love how simple shortbread cookies are! And this is a great recipe to use as a base and then decorate as desired. We love them chocolate dipped over here!”
-Gina
Are you looking for more buttery cookies?! Try these cinnamon roll cookies, gooey butter cookies, or brown butter blondies.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
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Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter , 2 sticks at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar , or powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla on medium speed 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Slowly mix in the flour and stir just until combined and the dough is smooth.
- Shape the dough into a log and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour, or until firm.
- Slice the cookie log into 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick slices. Place on the baking sheet.
- Using a toothpick, prick holes on the top of each cookie to create the look of a traditional shortbread cookie. You could also use a cookie stamp or keep plain if dipping in melted chocolate.
- Bake 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are barely golden. You don’t want the tops or edges to brown. Let cool on the cookie sheet 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: 5 Ingredients Or Less, American, Christmas, Cookies, Desserts, Freezer-Friendly, Holiday Cookies, Nut-Free, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is also the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook. Here you will find easy family-friendly recipes for every occasion.
Can you make these with almond flour?
I haven’t tried, but let me know how it goes if you give it a shot!
Is powdered sugar the same as icing sugar?
Yes :)
What is the difference in texture etc using powdered sugar vs granulated? Do you have a preference?
The powdered sugar is a little lighter cookie, so it depends whether you’d prefer them lighter or a little more dense :)
Salted or unsalted butter?
I use unsalted butter :)
Love how simple shortbread cookies are! And this is a great recipe to use as a base and then decorate as desired. We love them chocolate dipped over here!
These are FANTASTIC cookies! Great recipe to have on hand for the holidays
I love these cookies. Making them later today!
i am very new to baking, so one part of the ingredients is a little confusing.
Are you saying 1 cup of butter plus 2 more sticks of butter? or are you clarifying how many sticks make a cup of butter?
Hi Karen! 1 cup of butter=2 sticks. :)
What is preferred, powdered sugar or granulated!
The powdered sugar is a little lighter cookie, so it depends whether you’d prefer them lighter or a little more dense :)
Great recipe! I used to make stamp cookies with my mom. She still has the stamps we used…old jelly jars! They used to put special prints like stars and flowers on the bottom of jelly jars so women would keep the jars to use as stampers on one end, cookie cutters on the other, a cup when not in use for cookies, and sometimes a rolling pin as well. You’ve got some cute stamps. :)
I LOVE these! .. too pretty!
Mine didn’t turn out quite as pretty as yours but they were so delicious! And talk about EASY!
Not sure what I did wrong. My dough turned out a little dry. I am not an experience baker. I didn’t want to waste anything so I took time and made balls and then flatten them. They turned out ok and taste delicious. I do have a cookie stamp that I bought from kitchen stuff plus. I dipped it in flour befor stamping, but the dough was cracking. So I decided to do without the cookie stamps. I am open to suggestions as I don’t really know much about baking. So please share so that I can make them better next time. Thanks.
Hi Kavita! Everyone measures flour a little differently so I would recommend adding the 2 cups of flour and then slowly adding in the last 1/4 cup until you get a goo texture for the cookie dough. :)
I want to stamp some cookies for May The Fourth, but my stamps are shapes too. Can this recipe be rolled out after being chilled? I don’t want to use up the last of my butter without asking first :)
I haven’t tried it, but rolling it out should work! May The Fourth be with you! :)
These turned out delicious! A bit more golden but that’s probably because of the butter. Thanks for the recipe!
These are so pretty, and I can’t believe there’s only 4 ingredients!
I don’t have the adorable stamps, so I made the cookies and flattened them with a glass instead. They aren’t as cute as your cookies, but they taste amazing. Plus they were so easy to make. Thanks for another great recipe!
These are amazing!
These cookies are so fun and so cute (along with your little ones faces!), I’ll definitely be trying these out soon!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com