Shortbread Cookies Recipe | Shortbread Recipe

Shortbread Cookie Recipe or shortie is a conventional Scottish biscuit often made out of white sugar, butter, and plain wheat flour. Unlike many other cookies and baked goods, shortbread doesn’t contain any leavening, akin to baking powder or baking soda. It is simple to bake and may be made into any flavour combination as you like. On this blog post I actually have shared a basic shortbread cookie recipe together with 5 variations of shortbread with step-by-step pictures and video. Make these easy biscuits for delicious edible presents for Christmas.

Shortbread Cookies

These cookies are such a straightforward recipe to make and revel in together with your family. I really like making shortbread cookies because they’re so versatile and so they hardly take jiffy to cook and bake. You’ll adore it. This may be baked into any shapes and decorated as per your kids wish. Because it is Christmas. I used Christmas sprinkles to embellish my cookies.

This particular recipe has just three ingredients. but i added vanilla for flavour.  You may skip vanilla if you desire to and even add some almond extract. I dipped my cookies in chocolate after it’s baked, but you may skip it too.

About Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies is delicious buttery and straightforward cookies which you may make to your little ones. It is extremely versatile and may be customised to your preference.

Shortbread or shortie is a conventional Scottish biscuit often made out of one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to 4 parts plain wheat flour. Unlike many other biscuits and baked goods, shortbread doesn’t contain any leavening, akin to baking powder or baking soda. Shortbread is widely related to Christmas and Hogmanay festivities in England and a few Scottish brands are exported all over the world.

I made a double batch of this dough and made a wide range of cookies just to point out you different versions. Meanwhile try my Thumbprint Cookies & Millionaire’s Shortbread.

Watch Shortbread Recipe Video

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Shortbread Ingredients

All Purpose Flour – You should utilize plain flour or wheat flour within the cookie. 

Sugar – Powder regular sugar in a blender or use icing sugar within the cookie dough.

Butter – use softened butter in your cookie dough. I used unsalted butter, should you are using salted butter, you’ve got to skip the salt within the cookie.

Vanilla Extract – use good quality vanilla in cookie dough. In case you prefer yu can use almond extract, coconut extract for various flavoured shortbread.

Salt – adding a pinch of salt will enhance the taste of the shortbread.

Shortbread Cookies in 3 Easy Steps

Shortbread pastry dough

Take butter, sugar in a bowl and cream till fluffy. Add in vanilla, salt and blend well. Add in flour and blend well to form a dough. Wrap this in cling wrap and chill in fridge for 1 hour.

Rolling & Shaping

Now roll this dough between two sheets of parchment paper or cling wrap. Use cookie cutter to chop out shapes. Pop this cut cookies in fridge for 15 mins.

Baking Cookies

Preheat oven to 180 degree C / 350 degree F. Now arrange it in a baking pan lined with parchment and bake for 12 to fifteen mins depending on the thickness of the rolled cookies. The cookies should get light golden around the perimeters. Now remove from oven and let it cool for five mins. Remove and funky it on a wire rack completely. Store in an airtight container.

How one can Make Shortbread (Stepwise Pictures)

Making shortbread pastry

1)Take softened butter in a bowl. Ensure that the butter is softened at room temperature. I’m using unsalted butter. In case you are using salted butter, you then might need to skip the additional salt on this recipe.

2)Add in powdered sugar. I just powdered normal sugar in a blender till effective and used it. You should utilize confectioners sugar (icing sugar).

3)Cream each butter and sugar till creamy.

4)Add in salt.

5)Add in vanilla extract.

6)Cream all this together till creamy.

7)Add in plain flour.

8)Mix well to shape it right into a soft dough. The dough needs to be soft. In case you find the dough dry, you may add a tsp of milk.

Chilling Cookie Dough

9)Take the dough and place it over a sheet of plastic wrap. You should utilize plastic wrap or use parchment paper.

10)cover it tight. Place it in fridge for few hours before using. You may keep the dough in fridge upto 4 to five days.

Rolling Out Dough

11)Place the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper.

12)Roll it thin using a rolling pin.

Cut-out Cookies Using Cookie Cutters

13)Peel the plastic off the highest layer. Now lets cut out small cookies using a cookie cutter.

14)In case you haven’t got cookie cutters, you may just cut into bar like shape.

Baking Cookies

15)Arrange the cookies in a baking tray. Place it inside a preheated oven and bake.

16)Shortbread cookies baked. Let it cool completely.

Icing Cookies & Decorating

17)I melted some chocolate in a sauce pan for icing. You may go for royal icing too.

18)Take the melted chocolate and drizzled over the cooled shortbread cookies.

19)Decorate with sprinkles and let the chocolate set completely.

20)Serve.

Shortbread Flavours

• Scottish Shortbread: Use 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour and ½ cup white rice flour.
• Vanilla Bean Shortbread: Split a vanilla bean in half lengthwise and use the back of a knife to scrape out the pulp. Pulse the pulp into the flour-sugar mixture before adding butter. Or add as much as 1 teaspoon vanilla extract with the butter.
• Citrus Shortbread: Add 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons finely grated lemon, lime or orange zest with the flour. Add as much as 1 teaspoon orange blossom water with the butter if desired. These are classic with poppy seeds.
• Nut Shortbread: Grind ½ cup toasted nuts within the food processor with the flour before combining with remaining ingredients.
• Toffee Pecan Shortbread – add ½ cup toffee bits and 1 cup chopped toasted pecan to the dough.

Shortbread Variations

1)Slice & Bake Orange Cranberry Cookies

Delicious buttery shortbread cookies with orange zest and cranberries. I added zest from two orange (around 1 tbsp) and 1 cup of dried cranberries within the cookie dough. Mixed it gently and shaped right into a log like. Wrapped the log with plastic wrap and chilled for few hours. Slice the log into pieces, arrange in baking tray. Place it inside a 180 degree C preheated oven and bake for 12 to quarter-hour.

2)Almond Shortbread Cookies

This nutty shortbread cookies with nuts which taste so delicious and filling with toasted nuts. I added nuts on this and made this in a muffin pan. So that you get perfectly shaped cookies. For making this, finely shop almonds and sprinkle into muffin pan. Place a small ball of shortbread cookie dough over the almonds and press firmly. Now bake in a 180 degree C preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

3)Cut-Out Shortbread Cookies

I used mini cookie cutters to chop out cookies. Since I used mini cookie cutters, these take just 5 minutes to bake in a 180 degree C oven.

4)Cinnamon Sugar Shortbread

This cinnamon sugar shortbread bars is a delicious buttery and melt in mouth cookie bar which taste so delicious. Preheat oven to 160 degree C / 320 degree F. Take the dough and flatten it in a square baking pan. Mix ¼ cup sugar and 1 tbsp ground cinnamon together, sprinkle this all around the dough. Bake for 30 to 40 mins. Now remove from oven and let it cool for five minutes and slice into bars.

Expert Suggestions

• As an alternative of plain flour, you should utilize ½ wheat flour and ½ plain flour. It’s also possible to use whole wheat flour entirely, the feel might vary just a little but still it is going to taste great.
• You should utilize icing sugar or powder regular sugar and use.
• Any flavoured extract may be utilized in the cookie dough like coconut or almond.
• Shortbread cookie dough may be made and stored in fridge for 4 to five days.

Steadily Asked Questions

How is shortbread different from cookies?

Shortbread is made out of butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, plain flour. Cookies often has raising agent like baking soda, baking powder.

Can I exploit salted butter as an alternative of unsalted butter?

In case you are using salted butter, you then might need to skip the additional salt on this recipe.

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If you’ve got any questions not covered on this post and should you need assistance, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.

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