My shortbread cookie recipe makes tender, buttery, classic shortbread cookies that hold their shape in the oven and melt in your mouth. Dipping in chocolate is optional, but highly recommended! Recipe includes a how-to video!
The Best Shortbread Cookie Recipe
I’m very excited to be sharing my updated shortbread cookie recipe with you today! While I enjoyed the original for years, my old version started to feel more like a sugar cookie. I wanted to make some tweaks for more tender, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth results that still held their shape beautifully. This is true, classic, perfected shortbread.
Why Try This Recipe
- They’re a classic. Everyone should have a good staple shortbread recipe in their repertoire, and now, this is mine. No, it’s not super flashy, but it’s a classic and it’s a good, solid recipe.
- It’s simple. Shortbread uses only 6 ingredients and comes together quickly with just a brief stint in the refrigerator. No, it’s not as flashy as praline cookies or apple pie cookies, but that’s the nature of shortbread.
- It tastes good! It has a buttery flavor and a texture that slightly crumbles beneath your teeth and absolutely melts in your mouth.
- It’s versatile. Include or omit the vanilla extract, or substitute it for vanilla bean paste. Level up the cookies by substituting classic butter for European style. Add chocolate chips or dip in chocolate, and cut them into any shape you’d like (I opted for hearts, but you could skip the cookie cutter and just use a knife to cut into rectangles).
This is the perfect addition to your Christmas cookie tray. I can’t wait to hear how you like this updated version ❤️
What You Need
Classic shortbread is made with just butter, sugar, and flour, but I’ve found a few small adjustments make for even better results. Here’s what you need for my recipe.
- Butter. European butter is a great upgrade here! Since shortbread uses so few ingredients, the quality of each of them can really make a difference in the final outcome. I don’t often splurge for it and you do not have to, but you will have more tender and buttery results if you use European-style butter (this is because it has a higher fat content!).
- Powdered sugar. Similar to my shortbread-esque crust for my fruit tart, we’ll be using powdered sugar in this shortbread cookie recipe. This is also known as confectioner’s sugar, 10x sugar, or icing sugar.
- Flour. Use all-purpose (also often known as “plain”) flour. Self-rising flour will not work here. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure this; if not, you could over-measure and end up with a dry dough.
- Cornstarch. This promotes tender, melt-in-your-mouth results. It also helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven, so they hold their shape beautifully!
- Vanilla extract. This is not a traditional ingredient and you can leave it out if you’d like; however, I love the way it deepens the flavor of the shortbread. Vanilla bean paste or a scraped vanilla bean would also work!
Note that there is no baking powder or baking soda in this recipe–this is intentional and expected with shortbread cookies!
SAM’S TIP: Add your dry ingredients gradually! This dough is fairly stiff, and if you add them all at once, you will have a very tough time bringing everything together.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Shortbread Cookies
- Cream the butter with an electric mixer until lightened in color and creamy.
- Add the sugar gradually and keep mixing until the mixture is smooth.
- Stir in the vanilla extract until well incorporated.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Use your hands to form the dough into a flat disc, then wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
- Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it is ⅛-¼” thick.
- Cut shapes with a cookie cutter, making the cuts as close together as possible. Transfer the cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet and space 2″ apart. Re-roll the scraps and repeat this process to make more cookies.
- Bake until the edges are just starting to turn a light golden brown. This is about 9-11 minutes for my 2″ cookie cutter, but can vary depending on the size you use.
SAM’S TIP: If you don’t want to bake your dough right away, you can let it sit in the fridge for up to five days. It might be a bit tough to roll if chilled longer than an hour though, so you may need to let it warm up at room temperature a bit before rolling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! I’d recommend mini chocolate chips as regular-sized ones could be too thick and bulky in the dough. I’d probably add around a cup, fold them in using a spatula after adding all the dry ingredients to the dough.
Yes! If you’d like to do this, follow the instructions for cut-out cookies in my how to freeze cookie dough post.
The main difference between these two cookies is the ingredients and the ratios of the ingredients. Sugar cookies typically contain eggs, while shortbread cookies do not. Shortbread also has a higher ratio of butter to flour and are usually more crumbly and tender as a result.
If you’re on the hunt for a great sugar cookie recipe, try my easy sugar cookie recipe!
I’d love to hear how you like this new shortbread cookie recipe, especially if you were a fan of the old one!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup (95 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon table salt
Recommended Equipment
- 2” Cookie cutter
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter until lightened, smooth and creamy.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- Gradually add sugar, stirring until light and creamy.¾ cup (95 g) powdered sugar
- Add vanilla extract and stir well.1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt and whisk until combined.2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch, ½ teaspoon table salt
- Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir until completely combined.
- Form dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 60 minutes.
- Once cookie dough is nearly done chilling, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface until the dough is between ⅛”-¼” thickness. Press a cookie cutter directly into dough, making cuts close together, and place cookies on baking sheet spacing at least 2” apart. Combine any remaining scraps of cough into a ball and re-roll to make more cookies.
- Transfer baking sheet to center rack of 350F (175C) oven and bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn a very light golden brown (bake time will vary depending on thickness of dough and size of cookie cutter).
- If desired, melt 1 cup/6 oz/170g chocolate and dip completely cooled cookies into chocolate. Place cookies on a wire rack and allow chocolate to set before serving.
Notes
Number of cookies
This will vary depending on the size of the cookie cutter used and how thick or thin you roll the dough. I use a 2” cookie cutter and get about 44 cookies.Butter
Upgrade to European-style butter for richer-tasting, more buttery cookies.Vanilla
Elevate your cookies by substituting 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste or the seeds of a scraped vanilla bean for the vanilla extract.Variations
Make a brown sugar shortbread by reducing the powdered sugar to ½ cup (63g), cream ¼ cup (50g) of brown sugar with the butter, and increase cornstarch to 3 Tablespoons.Original recipe
Original recipe can be found here.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Recipe and photos updated 11/30/23. If you’d like the original recipe, you can find it here.
Desain Produk
’m very excited to be sharing my updated shortbread cookie recipe with you today! While I enjoyed the original for years, my old version started to feel more like a sugar cookie.
Dani
These look delicious. Would it be possible to refrigerate the cutout cookies on the sheet pan to chill them before baking them?
Sam
Hi Dani! I would suspect that the dough will be pretty sticky to roll out so it may be tough to do. If you try it please let me know how it turns. 🙂
Dana Wright
Great recipe using it now to make shortbread cookies for a party thank you for the recipe
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We hope everyone loves them, Dana 🩷
Cats
I used this recipe for christmas cookies this year, however I did half it. Turned out wonderful, even the ones that got a little browner than id like, but that was only because mine took longer to bake than the reccomended time (perhaps mine were thicker). They taste so delicious and buttery, very flaky texture wise too. I did make some alterations, like half and halfing vanilla and almond extract, and also added a bit more sugar to my liking. However this didnt alter the recipe so much that it didnt work, so id say this recipe on its own and small tweaks will still give you a fantastically yummy cookie that will leave you wanting more. I chilled the dough before and in between baking/rolling out so it didnt get too soft, worked very well to keep the cookie shapes intact. Will definately make this recipe again !! :^)
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for the review! We are so happy you enjoyed the cookies 🥰
Jamie
My dough is kind of crumbly . How can I fix it so it will be easier to roll out
Sam
Hi Jamie! If it is crumbly when it’s being rolled out it may be too late. It may have needed to be mixed a little better or formed into a disc a little better. 🙁 Did you weigh your flour?
Fitz
Made this recipe and they turned out perfectly! They kept their shape and when you bite into them you can even see some flaky layers! The only thing I deviated from in the entire recipe was instead of chilling the dough as a disc, I rolled it out to the right thickness and chilled it in a flat sheet. I did have to wait a bit for the dough to be soft enough to use the cookie cutters without the shapes breaking, but I figured it was because of it being in a sheet. I’ll definitely be saving this recipe for the next time I want to make shortbread!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy it was a hit for you, Fitz! 🥰
Jessica
I just made these and they are the best shortbread recipe I have made. I watched your video and listened to all your advice and followed it exactly making sure to weigh my ingredients. Usually my shortbread cookies come out dry but this was just perfect. And the kids loves using the cookie cutter to make Christmas shapes! Thank you.
Tammy
Hello Sam! I would like to pre-make the dough to be baked in one to two days. Would there be any issues with rolling the dough and cutting the shapes BEFORE chilling or freezing the dough?
Sam
Hi Tammy! The dough can be refrigerated for a few days before rolling out and cutting out the shapes. It may need a little bit of time at room to be rollable. 🙂
Kay A
I’ve been baking shortbread cookies every Christmas for a decade. I wasn’t thrilled with the results, especially when I tried to dip them in chocolate. Too often they’d fall apart. And the dough was incredibly hard to roll out. This year I tried this recipe, and it was perfect!! I chilled the dough in the fridge for 24 hours, then let the rounds come to room temp. I had no problems whatsoever.
Theresa
Hi Sam,
Thank you for the recipe! I made a batch and they turned out great. I would like to make another batch with coconut, would I need to alter the amount of butter or flour? Thanks in advance!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Theresa! I haven’t experimented with adding coconut to say for sure if any alterations would need to be made. If you do try it I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
Theresa
Hi Sam,
The coconut version of your cookies turned out perfectly. I kept your recipe as is and added half a cup of unsweetened shredded coconut and added 1 teaspoon of coconut extract. It was a hit and I will definitely be adding your recipe to my annual cookie list. Thanks once again for an amazing recipe. Merry Christmas!🎄
Paula
My dough is very crumbly prior to refrigerating, is that normal?
Sam
Hi Paula! It should not be crumbly. Was it mixed well enough? Did you weigh your flour?
Sharie
i had the same issue with the dough being to crumbling, i added more butter after comparing a old recipe it was sticky so i through flour on the cutting board and rolled the dough. much more manageable . its resting in the fridge in plastic wrap till bake time.
Barb
I I just took the shortbread dough from the refrigerator and it is so stiff and hard I cannot roll it out. Any suggestions?
Sam
Hi Barb! Let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes before attempting to roll out. If it still won’t roll out there may be too much flour in the dough. 🙁
Marian C Greely
Since you are the shortbread queen, I hope you can help me.
I’m making a shortbread bar cookie. It includes pistachios, orange peel & chocolate.
I’ve refrigerated it for 24 hours. It is so crumbly there is no way I can cut it into bars or do anything with it. I refuse to toss it, there are too many yummy ingredients, including European butter!!!
I hope to hear back from you. I’m putting them back in the fridge for the 3rd time!
Cheers,
Marian
Sam
Hi Marian! I’m not familiar with the recipe you are using so I can’t advise on what is going wrong.
JB
Ours were the same when we took it out of the fridge. Dough just needs to be worked together a bit. That worked for us.
Lauren
mine is also just a pile of crumbs. guess i will add more butter and try again.
Christel Thiede
I love how you put the measurements again in the instructions so that I don’t have to scroll up to the ingredients. I’ve never had anybody else do that in a recipe and I love that you did that.
Katrina
I love how she does that also!! It
Makes it much easier!!
Lisa
Came out perfectly and taste so light and yummy- was careful not to pack the flour or sugar while measuring-also not overworking dough by overmixing- mine was hard when took out of fridge after hour so let it soften a bit before rolling
Dd
Would you freeze before cutting or after cutting ?
Sam
Either way should work here. 🙂
KATHY
I have never dipped cookies in chocolate before. Could you please give instructions on how to do it and what ingredients I need to do so and amounts. Thank you,
Kathy’s
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kathy! Check out the video for Sam’s detailed tutorial on dipping the cookies. We also have a post on how to melt chocolate chips in the microwave that might be helpful for you!
Deb
Would this recipe work for making stamped jam shortbread cookies using the William Sonoma stamp step? The other recipes I have seen for using those stamps call for granulated sugar. I would prefer trying the cookies with your shortbread recipes that call for powdered sugar. I also plan to make your whipped shortbread cookies, which look and sound so yummy.
Thanks,
Deb
Sam
Hi Deb! Honestly I have not tried it so I can’t say for sure how it would work.
Deb
Sam, I fully understand. I decided I should not spend the money on the William Sonoma stamp set. Thank you for getting back to me!