While we’ll forever be in love with store-bought shortbread (especially those in those adorable holiday tins), making it at home will always be better. Why? Not only are buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread
cookies surprisingly easy to make, they’re also infinitely adaptable (check out some of our top swaps below), meaning they’re just as at home on a Christmas cookie spread as they are for baking and sharing all year long (they make incredible gifts). Read on for our top tips to making yours the best they can be.
What is shortbread?
Shortbread has been around since the Middle Ages, which we can understand—it’s THAT good. It’s called “short” because of its traditional ratio of one part sugar to two parts butter, which gives it a higher-than-average fat content and a crumbly, sandy texture with just a hint of snap.
How to change up shortbread:
We cut ours into squares and sprinkled them with just a bit of granulated sugar, but nearly any shape and decoration will work here. Roll them out and cut them into shapes, like we did in our snowflake cookies, dip them in chocolate like we did in our cat’s tongue cookies, or mix sprinkles into the dough, like we did in our cake mix cookies. The limit is your creativity, so have fun with it!
You can also switch up the flavors in your dough too. We’ve got some suggestions here, but again—get creative.
Citrus: Add about 1 tablespoon of lemon or orange (or both!) zest to the dough with your butter to make a slightly tart cookie.
Savory. Leave out the vanilla and trade the sugar for grated Parmesan and add some freshly cracked black pepper. These make for a delicious appetizer or snack.
Almond. Instead of vanilla extract use 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract. If you want some crunch, add 1/4 cup of finely chopped almonds or pecans for crunch too. Want to take it even further? Roll them in powdered sugar, and you’ve got snowball cookies!
Chocolate. Replace 1/2 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of cocoa powder for all the chocolate lovers in your life. Try drizzling a little white and milk chocolate over them for an extra pretty presentation too.
Made these? Let us know how it went in the comments below.
While we’ll forever be in love with store-bought shortbread (especially those in those adorable holiday tins), making it at home will always be better. Why? Not only are buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread
cookies surprisingly easy to make, they’re also infinitely adaptable (check out some of our top swaps below), meaning they’re just as at home on a Christmas cookie spread as they are for baking and sharing all year long (they make incredible gifts). Read on for our top tips to making yours the best they can be.
What is shortbread?
Shortbread has been around since the Middle Ages, which we can understand—it’s THAT good. It’s called “short” because of its traditional ratio of one part sugar to two parts butter, which gives it a higher-than-average fat content and a crumbly, sandy texture with just a hint of snap.
How to change up shortbread:
We cut ours into squares and sprinkled them with just a bit of granulated sugar, but nearly any shape and decoration will work here. Roll them out and cut them into shapes, like we did in our snowflake cookies, dip them in chocolate like we did in our cat’s tongue cookies, or mix sprinkles into the dough, like we did in our cake mix cookies. The limit is your creativity, so have fun with it!
You can also switch up the flavors in your dough too. We’ve got some suggestions here, but again—get creative.
Citrus: Add about 1 tablespoon of lemon or orange (or both!) zest to the dough with your butter to make a slightly tart cookie.
Savory. Leave out the vanilla and trade the sugar for grated Parmesan and add some freshly cracked black pepper. These make for a delicious appetizer or snack.
Almond. Instead of vanilla extract use 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract. If you want some crunch, add 1/4 cup of finely chopped almonds or pecans for crunch too. Want to take it even further? Roll them in powdered sugar, and you’ve got snowball cookies!
Chocolate. Replace 1/2 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of cocoa powder for all the chocolate lovers in your life. Try drizzling a little white and milk chocolate over them for an extra pretty presentation too.
Made these? Let us know how it went in the comments below.
- Yields:
-
16
- Prep Time:
-
5 mins
- Total Time:
- 1 hr 15 mins
Directions
-
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 325° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat together butter and powdered sugar then add vanilla. Add flour and salt and beat until combined. If dough is still crumbly, press together with your hands into a cohesive dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Step 2On a floured surface, roll dough out into an 8″-x-8″ square, about ½” thick. Use a bench knife to guide edges of dough into a neat square shape.
- Step 3Cut dough into 2” squares and place on prepared pan. Brush cookies with egg wash, then sprinkle cookies with coarse sugar and bake until lightly golden and set, 18 to 20 minutes.
- Step 1
PARKER FEIERBACH
