Perfect for dipping and dunking, this recipe for Easy Shortbread Cookies will be on the dessert rotation all year long!
These homemade shortbread cookies are so buttery and soft, they’re guaranteed to melt in your mouth! And using only 3 ingredients, they are incredibly easy to make! So if you’re creating the ultimate cookie recipe collection, this is the best shortbread recipe around!
Easy Shortbread Cookies
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Best Shortbread Recipe
Three ingredients? Yes, please! Four steps? Even better! This is a perfect cookie recipe for cookie cutters, too! Make some Christmas cookies, Valentine cookies, or make them dipped in chocolate. Top them with sprinkles, nuts, or little candies! All you need is butter, flour, and sugar, and you’ll have the best shortbread cookies ever!
3 Ingredient Shortbread Cookies
With so few ingredients, choose the best quality you can!
BUTTER We like real, salted butter, for a creamy flavor that’s not to sweet!
FLOUR Use white flour, preferably a good quality pastry flour or cake flour, but any all purpose flour works well.
SUGAR Powdered sugar blends in easily and creates a fluffy whipped texture.
These three ingredients are all you need for light, flaky, buttery-rich, tasting cookies. Serve with a mug of hot cocoa for dipping, a cold glass of milk, or a refreshing 3 ingredient sparkling berry lemonade.
Variations
No need to mess with a perfect recipe, but it’s easy to make different flavors, even from just one batch!
- Add chopped, toasted almonds or pecans.
- For a festive cookie, chopped dried maraschino cherries, dates, raisins, or cranberries.
- For a fun, colorful cookie (Halloween, maybe?) orange, green, or purple food coloring can be added to the dough, or pink can be added for Valentine’s Day. So many fun ideas!
How To Make Shortbread Cookies
These classic cookies are as easy as 1, 2, 3!
- Use a pastry cutter to blend the ingredients until the dough sticks together.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into circles or desired shapes.
- Bake according to recipe instructions.
Recipe Tips
- Shortbread cookies will last about a week as long as they are kept in an airtight container.
- Whisk the flour and powdered sugar together before adding the butter. This aerates the mixture which makes the cookies lighter and crispier. If no pastry cutter is available, use two butter knives to “criss-cross” across the dough until it’s ready for rolling and cutting.
- PRO TIP: To add nuts, sauté them in a small pan until they are barely fragrant. Let them cook and then finely chop them before adding to the dough. Toasting nuts releases the oils, expanding their flavor, and making them extra crunchy!
To freeze cookie dough: Shape the dough into a log and wrap with plastic wrap. Place the log into a zippered bag and write the date on the outside. The dough can be frozen up to 3 months. To bake, simply slice cookies off the thawed dough and bake.
Other Homemade Cookies To Try!
- Spritz Cookies – another family favorite.
- Caramel Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies – so easy!
- Coconut Pecan Cookies – no bake cookie recipe
- Snowball Cookies – a wintery cookie, yummy all year long.
- Buttery Almond Cookies – ready in 20 minutes!
Easy Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 lb butter salted and softened
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F
- Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Incorporate butter with a pastry blender until dough can be squeezed together.
- Roll dough out till desired thickness and cut.
- Bake on an unlined cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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