Butter Shortbread Cookies Recipe - Live Well Bake Often (2024)

These Classic Shortbread Cookies are rich, buttery, and made with just 5 simple ingredients. Perfect for the holidays or any time of year!

Do you love shortbread cookies? I feel like they sometimes get a bad reputation for being too crunchy and dry. But I’m here to tell you that if you make them right, they can actually be delicious, buttery, and melt in your mouth. Just like today’s easy shortbread cookie recipe!

The great thing about this cookie dough is that it only requires five ingredients and that’s including the vanilla extract and salt. It also takes less than 10 minutes to mix together and it doesn’t require any dough chilling.

All you have to do is mix up the cookie dough, scoop it out, roll it into balls, flatten them, and bake your cookies. You could even add a simple glaze on top to really add a little something extra to these cookies!

Ingredients in This Recipe

Butter shortbread cookies couldn’t be simpler to make! Here’s all you’ll need to make these classic cookies:

• Butter:As with all of my other cookie recipes, I suggest using unsalted butter since the amount of salt in salted butter can vary quite a bit between brands. By using unsalted butter, you can control the amount of salt in your recipe.
• Powdered sugar:I prefer to use powdered sugar in my shortbread cookies because it helps to prevent them from spreading too much in the oven.
• Vanilla extract:You can leave out the vanilla if you don’t have any on hand, but I really love the flavor it adds. You could even swap out the vanilla extract for another extract that you love, just be sure to adjust the amount if needed.
• All-purpose flour: Make sure to spoon and level it into your measuring cup. Scooping the flour from the container can cause the flour to become packed inside the cup, leaving you with far too much flour in your recipe and super crumbly cookie dough.
• Salt:Enhances the flavor of the dough and balances out the sweetness.

How to Make Shortbread Cookies

To make these cookies, you will start out with some butter and powdered sugar.There’s only 1/2 cup of powdered sugar in these cookies, so they’re not overly sweet.

You’ll cream together the butter and powdered sugar for 1 to 2 minutes or until they’re well combined like the picture above. Then, beat in some pure vanilla extract.

The final step is to mix in some all-purpose flour and salt. The cookie dough will be a little crumbly at first, but I promise as you keep mixing it will all come together.

Once you’ve mixed up the cookie dough, scoop it out and place the balls of cookie dough on a baking sheet. I prefer to use a one tablespoon measuring spoon or cookie scoop because it makes the perfect size cookies.

Then, just roll the cookie dough into balls and flatten them out. I usedthis cookie stamp to press mine down, but you can easily use the bottom of a cup or even the tines of a fork to flatten the cookies. I suggest flattening these cookies to the thickness you would like them to be before you bake them too.

The cookies will need to bake for about 12 to 15 minutes in the oven, you’ll know they are done when the tops are set and the bottoms are lightly golden brown.

Can I Make Cut Out Cookies With This Dough?

Yes, you should be fine to roll out the shortbread dough to make cut-out cookies. You can also follow my recipe for Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies, if desired.

Storage & Freezing Instructions

Butter shortbread cookies may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Baked cookies will also freeze well for up to 3 months, simply thaw to room temperature before serving. You may also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months and thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.

More Easy Cookie Recipes to Try!

• Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Cake Mix Cookies
• White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
• Thumbprint Cookies
• Snowball Cookies