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.
Lisa
Not happy with this recipe. Followed the directions exactly and also weighed my ingredients. I chilled the dough after I did the cutouts and the dough spread out and lost its shape. I’ll have to start all over again.
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this happened, Lisa! Sounds like you did everything right, but sometimes things just don’t turn out right. 🙁 I hope they go better next time. 🙂
Kelly
These are the best shortbread cookies! My friend and I baked these anticipating to share them with others, but we are the whole batch ourselves. They lasted several days without losing their quality. Love love love these!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy they were such a hit, Kelly! 🥰
Emmie
These biscuits are so delicious!
I think I didn’t chill them enough as the first batch did spread out a bit in the oven, but I don’t mind if they look a bit wobbly as long as they taste good!
Such a great recipe and really great directions.
Mike
These crumbled as soon as I tried to remove them from the parchment paper. The flavor was lacking as well.
Sam
Oh no! Sounds like too much flour was accidentally used or they were a bit overbaked 🙁
I would recommend using a kitchen scale if you aren’t already and making sure to watch them carefully in the oven. I do have a video tutorial in the recipe card, if that helps with a visual!
Linda Carlisle
I’ve made this recipe several times now. It’s perfect every time. I’ve won a local shortbread contest 2 years in a row with it. Delicious!
Kristi
I’ve been baking for 32 plus years and decided for fun to branch our and try a different dough. I’m so sorry to say that this was the most disappointing shortbread dough with which I have ever worked. Also the flavor is a bit flat. It could use more vanilla. And many fell apart while I was trying to get them off of a nonstick baking rack. I usually use parchment, but decided to stick to the directions on this recipe.
Sam
Hi Kristi, did you bake them on the baking rack? Something definitely went wrong, I’d be happy to help you troubleshoot but take a peek at the video and you can see you shouldn’t have had the results you experienced 🙁
Allison
Perfect flavor and texture! I had to sub rice flour for the cornstarch because I ran out, but the dough still stayed great in the oven. Thanks for the recipe!
Miriam Rose Blanar
These are so yummy! I tried one right out of the oven and it was so delicious. I can’t wait to try it with chocolate!
Sarah
Excellent recipe! Easy to make and an incredibly satisfying cookie. Thank you for sharing!
Toni
Why powdered sugar? I want to make a shortbread cookie using maple sugar, and although I have found one I can order that says ‘powdered’ the reviews indicate that it is ‘very fine’ and dissolves well, but that it may not be the same as white powdered sugar. How would using a non-powdered sugar affect this recipe? Thank you!
Sam
Hi Toni! Powdered sugar is ideal for the proper true shortbread texture. If you’re trying to use a granulated sugar, I would click the link for the original recipe at the very bottom of the recipe card, which was made with granulated sugar and works well. I do want to say I’m not sure how this recipe works with maple sugar, though.
Sarah
Hi Sam, these cookies look great. I will certainly try them. I have a question. Can I decorate these cookies with royal icing? Thanks
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We don’t see why not! Enjoy, Sarah 🙂
Abbie
These turned out pretty well! However, my cookies bubbled in the oven- not sure how that happened. I want to frost them with royal icing but feel like it’ll look weird now because the cookie isn’t flat? Any insight would be great!
Sam
Hi Abbie! That’s really odd. Did you make any additions to the recipe. Is it not well combined? If there are pockets of flour this could potentially happen. Was it the scrap portion?
Kelly
Hi Sam! These cookies are perfection! Would chilling the dough for more than an hour affect anything? I need to make the dough in the morning and then make the cookies in the evening when I get home from work. Thanks so much!
Sam
Hi Kelly! You can refrigerate the dough longer, it may just be a bit more difficult to roll out so may need to sit at room temperature to soften a little bit. 🙂