Basic Shortbread Cookies
Basic Shortbread Cookies

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With a buttery style and crumbly texture, they’re entertaining and beautiful.

Updated November 14, 2023

Mark Beahm

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Shortbread is a crisp-crumbly butter cookie. The centuries-old-current cookie is famously Scottish nonetheless now preferred all via the sphere. It’s preferred all via the vacations, nonetheless correct as welcome dipped in espresso on a Sunday afternoon.

These shortbread cookies own a thrilling play between sugar and salt that as soon as blended with their buttery style and crumbly texture are entertaining and beautiful. Humbly stunning on their possess with tea or espresso, they’ll additionally be sandwiched with jam, coated with glaze, or flavored with an never-ending checklist of mix-ins.

At its most general, shortbread is a cookie manufactured from flour, butter, and sugar. The cookie gets its title from its “short” texture. The high butter announce material and absence of liquids within the dough limit gluten vogue for gentle, crumbly cookies smartly off with butter.

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Shortbread Pointers and Tricks

With simplest three obligatory ingredients, shortbread cookies may most likely well perhaps be one among the ideal recipes you’ll bake. Nonetheless, this dough may most likely well also simply additionally be fairly sticky, especially when warm. 

  • To roll it out, make certain it has chilled for not not up to 30 minutes. When you may most likely well be disquieted about it sticking to your counter, you may most likely well be in a quandary to strive rolling it between two sheets of parchment paper. This is useful on story of it is straight forward to transfer the dough lend a hand into the fridge if it gets too warm.
  • If the dough sticks to your work flooring and likewise you’re struggling to free the reduce-out cookies, use a little offset spatula or one other flat spatula to gently pickle beneath the cookie and pretty gather them off your work flooring.

Shortbread Shortcuts

When you may most likely well be disquieted regarding the dough sticking otherwise you may most likely well also simply own less time, you may most likely well be in a quandary to affect gash-and-bake shortbread or bake shortbread wedges in cake pans. 

  • For gash and bake cookies, catch the dough and originate it into a log. Wrap the dough in plastic or parchment paper and relax for not not up to 1 hour. Carve cookies between 1/4 and 1/2 trot thick and bake. 
  • To bake shortbread wedges, you may most likely well be in a quandary to even skip chilling the dough. Divide the dough between two parchment-lined 8-trot spherical cake pans, compressing the dough into a inspiring layer. Bake for about 30 minutes at 325°F. Let the shortbread cool within the pan for 10 minutes, then use the parchment to gather it out. Carve the shortbread while soundless warm.

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My Favourite Butter to Use

With nearly as mighty butter by weight as flour, the secret to flavorful shortbread cookies is flavorful butter. For these cookies, I rob to use Kerrygold European-vogue butter, which has a increased butterfat announce material and a richer style. Stare a impress that has not not up to 82% butterfat. Kerrygold is my within most accepted. To gather an different you may most likely well be in a quandary to create the math from the straightforward job on the lend a hand of the bundle, nonetheless many brands own began marketing and marketing this quantity.

The ideal shortbread cookies own a prankish stability between salt and candy. They own got a noticeable sparkle of saltiness, nonetheless they’re soundless basically a candy cookie. The quantity listed in this recipe is for Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt and unsalted butter. When you’re the utilization of Maldon, table salt, or salted butter, reduce the volume to 1/4 teaspoon. The correct stability between candy and salty is continuously within most, so truly feel free to adjust to your possess style.

Adorning Solutions

Sugar cookies are inclined to be the walk-to cookie for adorning, nonetheless shortbread cookies are correct as factual of a canvas. When you rob a crisper, buttery cookie, why not strive shortbreads as a substitute?

  • Add sprinkles: Sprinkle some indecent sugar, granulated sugar, or sprinkles over the cookies earlier than baking them for some further crunch or a splash of colour.
  • Assemble a glaze: In a little bowl stir collectively 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 to a number of tablespoons of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Dip the tops of the cookies within the glaze and placement them on a wire rack to location. You may most likely well perhaps strive a lemon glaze by substituting lemon juice for the milk and lemon zest for the vanilla extract.
  • Royal icing: Employ your cookie adorning to the next stage with royal icing. Try your hand at these styles of bakery-stage tactics for stunning, expert-taking a see decorations.

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Assemble-Ahead Shortbread Cookies

Need to you’ve got a busy agenda, it can most likely well also simply additionally be complicated to work on a baking mission from commence to produce. Luckily, shortbread cookies are straightforward to affect with many alternatives to end and originate lend a hand up later.

  • Shortbread cookie dough, wrapped hermetic, keeps for 1 week within the refrigerator or for up to 1 month within the freezer. Let the dough thaw within the refrigerator overnight.
  • To really get forward, you may most likely well be in a quandary to freeze the unbaked, reduce-out cookies on a baking tray. You may most likely well perhaps bake them straight from frozen, though it can most likely well also simply put off a jiffy longer.

First-price for Freezing 

Shortbread cookies are unparalleled for freezing. After they’re baked and cooled fully, blueprint them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer to freeze them. As soon as frozen, transfer them into a freezer win. Baked shortbread cookies may most likely well also simply additionally be kept within the freezer for up to 1 month. To thaw, put off away them from the freezer win and blueprint them on a plate or baking sheet at room temperature. 

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Top-Notch Cookie Recipes 

  • The Handiest Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
  • Chocolate Macarons
  • Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Kitchen Sink Cookies 

The salt quantity written is for Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If the utilization of Morton Kosher Salt or table salt, reduce the volume to 1/4 teaspoon.

  • 1 cup (227g) unsalted butter (preferably European-vogue), softened

  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

  • 2 cups (240g) all-reason flour

  1. Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt:

    Within the bowl of a stand mixer with the jog attachment or in a colossal mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat collectively the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt on medium-high whisk till light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

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  2. Add the flour:

    Add the flour and mix on low whisk till it kinds a stiff dough. The dough may most likely well perhaps appear too dry on the initiating nonetheless put beating, stopping half approach via to pickle down the perimeters of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Close mixing as soon as it comes collectively.

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  3. Kick again the dough:

    For reduce-out cookies: Space a colossal part of plastic wrap on the counter. Scrape the dough out of the integration bowl onto the plastic wrap. Form the dough into a disk about 1-trot thick. You may most likely well perhaps use the plastic to reduction form the dough without it sticking to your palms. Seal the dough within the plastic and blueprint it within the refrigerator to relax till firm, not not up to 30 minutes.

    For gash-and-bake cookies: Space a colossal part of plastic wrap on the counter. Scrape the dough out of the integration bowl onto the plastic wrap. Form the dough into a log about 2 1/2-trot in diameter. You may most likely well perhaps use the plastic to reduction form the dough without it sticking to your palms. Seal the dough within the plastic and blueprint it within the refrigerator to relax till firm, not not up to 1 hour.

    Merely Recipes / Designate Beahm


    Merely Recipes / Designate Beahm


    Straightforward Tip!

    To bake shortbread wedges, you may most likely well be in a quandary to even skip chilling the dough. Divide the dough between two parchment-lined 8-trot spherical cake pans, compressing the dough into a inspiring layer. Bake for about 30 minutes at 325°F. Let the shortbread cool within the pan for 10 minutes, then use the parchment to gather it out. Carve the shortbread while soundless warm.

  4. Location up oven racks, preheat the oven, and put collectively baking sheets:

    Location up racks within the decrease and better thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

  5. Decrease out the cookies:

    For reduce-out cookies: Mud your work flooring generously with flour. If the dough feels too stiff to roll without pain, gently press the rolling pin firmly into the dough persistently tapping over your entire flooring of the dough to affect it extra pliable. Roll the dough to 1/4 to 1/2-trot thick, rolling from the center outward in all instructions. Rob and rotate fairly after every few strokes and dirt with flour as wished to discourage sticking.

    Decrease out cookies the utilization of a 2 1/2-trot spherical cookie cutter. Location the cookies about 1-trot apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. The scraps may most likely well also simply additionally be gathered a couple extra instances to roll and reduce out extra cookies.

    For gash-and-bake-cookies: Use a entertaining knife to gash cookies about 1/4 to 1/2-trot thick. Location the cookies about 1-trot apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.

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    Merely Recipes / Designate Beahm


    Merely Recipes / Designate Beahm


    Merely Recipes / Designate Beahm


  6. Bake:

    Bake cookies till they commence to expose lightly golden on the bottom and edges, about 20 minutes, rotating the pans midway via. The heart of the cookies may most likely well also simply soundless see matte and truly feel dry to the touch. The baking time will depend upon how thick the cookies are. For better cookies you may most likely well also own extra time, commence with an further 5 minutes.

    Merely Recipes / Designate Beahm


    Merely Recipes / Designate Beahm


  7. Cool and revel in:

    Enable the cookies to cool on the pans for 10 minutes earlier than transferring them to a wire rack to cool fully.

    Shortbread cookies may most likely well also simply additionally be kept in an hermetic container on the counter for up to 1 week. It’s arduous to imagine they get even better, nonetheless the buttery style truly improves over time.

    Did you admire this recipe? Give us some stars beneath!

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Vitamin Info (per serving)
121 Calories
8g Beefy
12g Carbs
1g Protein

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Vitamin Info
Servings: 24
Amount per serving
Calories 121
% On each day foundation Payment*
8g 10%
Saturated Beefy 5g 24%
20mg 7%
28mg 1%
12g 4%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 4g
1g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 4mg 0%
Iron 0mg 3%
Potassium 13mg 0%
*The % On each day foundation Payment (DV) tells you the draw mighty a nutrient in a meals serving contributes to a day-to-day eating regimen. 2,000 calories a day is outmoded for general vitamin recommendation.

Vitamin records is calculated the utilization of an ingredient database and wishes to be thought to be an estimate. In cases where lots of ingredient choices are given, the foremost listed is calculated for vitamin. Garnishes and non-obligatory ingredients are not incorporated.

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