These classic shortbread cookies are so easy to make with only 5 ingredients. They are irresistible with tender, butter melt-in-your-mouth texture!
Classic Shortbread Cookies
These shortbread cookies are the perfect recipe to make when you’re wanting to whip up last-minute Christmas cookies. They are so simple to prepare and made with only 5 ingredients!
The rich buttery flavor and will literally melt in your mouth like Mexican wedding cookies or butter cookies. They’re not overly sweet and you can keep them plain, dip them in chocolate or even make them into Twix cookies!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- These traditional shortbread cookies are a classic cookie recipe for a Christmas dessert board or cookie exchanges!
- Shortbread is simple and versatile! I always keep the easy 5 ingredient dough on hand for on demand treats. You can add chocolate chips, frosting, dip them and more.
Ingredient Notes
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Butter: Soften the butter to room temperature before beating it together.
- Sugar: You have to have a little sugar in cookie dough! This will add sweetness.
- Vanilla extract: Always a favorite ingredient in cookie recipes.
- Flour: Added for the texture and thickness of the shortbread cookie.
- Sea salt: A sweet and savory cookie! Just a sprinkle will balance out the flavors.
How to Make Shortbread Cookies
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Cream butter and sugar. Beat the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla until creamy and fluffy.
- Mix. Mix in the flour slowly and stir just until combined. Roll into a log and refrigerate.
- Slice and bake. Slice the cookie dough into rectangles or stamp lightly into flour. I like to add holes with a toothpick on top. Bake for 10 minutes or until the bottom is lightly golden.
Tips and Variations
- Make sure to use only real butter and vanilla in these shortbread cookies to get the best flavor.
- Chill the dough for about an hour, or until it’s firm to the touch. This helps the butter solidify so that the cookies don’t spread while baking.
- Bake them in the oven just until the bottoms are slightly golden.
- Easy shortbread cookies taste delicious plain, but you could add frosting, glaze, lemon, chocolate drizzle, nuts, chocolate chips, or rolled them in sprinkles.
- Turn them into black and white cookies by icing them half chocolate and half white!
- You could even add jam like in a thumbprint cookie or use almond extract for an almond cookie.
- I love to double the recipe and make one batch plain and the other batch into cranberry orange shortbread cookies. They are so delicious!
Storage
- Store: These cookies will stay fresh for up to 1 week in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Freeze: You can also freeze cookies for about 3 months in the freezer. Follow the tips in my post how to freeze cookie dough and bake from frozen.
- Make ahead: Prepare the dough up to 1 week in advance. Shape into a log and then wrap tightly with saran wrap. Then store in the fridge until ready to bake.
Are you looking for more buttery cookies?! Try these Italian Christmas cookies, cinnamon roll cookies, gooey butter cookies, or brown butter blondies.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
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Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter , 2 sticks at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar , or powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream 1 cup butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons vanilla on medium speed 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Slowly mix in 2 1/4 cups flour and stir just until combined and the dough is smooth.
- Shape the dough into a log and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour, or until firm.
- Slice the cookie log into 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick slices. Place on the baking sheet.
- Using a toothpick, prick holes on the top of each cookie to create the look of a traditional shortbread cookie. You could also use a cookie stamp or keep plain if dipping in melted chocolate.
- Bake 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are barely golden. You don’t want the tops or edges to brown. Let cool on the cookie sheet 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: 5 Ingredients Or Less, American, Christmas, Cookies, Desserts, Freezer-Friendly, Holiday Cookies, Nut-Free, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Can you make these with almond flour?
I haven’t tried, but let me know how it goes if you give it a shot!
Is powdered sugar the same as icing sugar?
Yes :)
What is the difference in texture etc using powdered sugar vs granulated? Do you have a preference?
The powdered sugar is a little lighter cookie, so it depends whether you’d prefer them lighter or a little more dense :)
Salted or unsalted butter?
I use unsalted butter :)
Love how simple shortbread cookies are! And this is a great recipe to use as a base and then decorate as desired. We love them chocolate dipped over here!
These are FANTASTIC cookies! Great recipe to have on hand for the holidays
I love these cookies. Making them later today!
i am very new to baking, so one part of the ingredients is a little confusing.
Are you saying 1 cup of butter plus 2 more sticks of butter? or are you clarifying how many sticks make a cup of butter?
Hi Karen! 1 cup of butter=2 sticks. :)
What is preferred, powdered sugar or granulated!
The powdered sugar is a little lighter cookie, so it depends whether you’d prefer them lighter or a little more dense :)
Great recipe! I used to make stamp cookies with my mom. She still has the stamps we used…old jelly jars! They used to put special prints like stars and flowers on the bottom of jelly jars so women would keep the jars to use as stampers on one end, cookie cutters on the other, a cup when not in use for cookies, and sometimes a rolling pin as well. You’ve got some cute stamps. :)
I LOVE these! .. too pretty!
Mine didn’t turn out quite as pretty as yours but they were so delicious! And talk about EASY!
Not sure what I did wrong. My dough turned out a little dry. I am not an experience baker. I didn’t want to waste anything so I took time and made balls and then flatten them. They turned out ok and taste delicious. I do have a cookie stamp that I bought from kitchen stuff plus. I dipped it in flour befor stamping, but the dough was cracking. So I decided to do without the cookie stamps. I am open to suggestions as I don’t really know much about baking. So please share so that I can make them better next time. Thanks.
Hi Kavita! Everyone measures flour a little differently so I would recommend adding the 2 cups of flour and then slowly adding in the last 1/4 cup until you get a goo texture for the cookie dough. :)
I want to stamp some cookies for May The Fourth, but my stamps are shapes too. Can this recipe be rolled out after being chilled? I don’t want to use up the last of my butter without asking first :)
I haven’t tried it, but rolling it out should work! May The Fourth be with you! :)
These turned out delicious! A bit more golden but that’s probably because of the butter. Thanks for the recipe!
These are so pretty, and I can’t believe there’s only 4 ingredients!
I don’t have the adorable stamps, so I made the cookies and flattened them with a glass instead. They aren’t as cute as your cookies, but they taste amazing. Plus they were so easy to make. Thanks for another great recipe!
These are amazing!
These cookies are so fun and so cute!