If you are searching for an easy Shortbread, look no further! My buttery and melt in your mouth soft whipped Shortbread Cookies got you covered. With Just 10 minutes of prep time, you can enjoy these easy Holiday Cookies not just over holidays but also for wedding celebrations, baby showers or afternoon tea parties.
If you are a cookie lover, try my Chocolate Cookies with Cream Cheese next. Find all my other Cookie Recipes at one place.
These classic Christmas Cookies will literally melt in your mouth. Not too sweet, made with 4 simple ingredients and that light as air texture will keep you reaching for more!
Jump to:
- What you will need:
- How to make shortbread cookies:
- What are common mistakes when making shortbread?
- How is shortbread different from other cookies?
- Should you chill shortbread cookie dough?
- What does cornstarch do in cookie dough?
- Why did my shortbread spread?
- Taste and texture of these Cookies:
- More Holiday Recipes for you to try!
- Recipe
I love to bake these cookies on Holidays every year with Christmas toppings. But I bake these cookies all year around switching the toppings and flavors for a change or simply with rainbow sprinkles.
What readers are saying!!
Tyler says- "I've been making these for years and there's no need to slow things down for the flour addition. I throw the butter and vanilla in the stand mixer and whip with paddle till light and fluffy. I then add everything else(flour and cornstarch both sifted) and let my mixer go full speed for 5 to 10 mins. The resulting cookies is a buttery cloud. I love them."
Jan Says- "Perfection! When I tasted the cookie, I stopped, closed my eyes and savored it. It was THAT good. What a gift!"
Another reader Darlene says- "Delicate and delicious whipped shortbread cookies!! Easy to make and even easier to eat, this is in my Christmas baking book now."
Lets get straight away into how to bring these Holiday Cookies together.
What you will need:
- Butter: We are using room temperature softened butter. Butter should be soft but not overly soft. We don't want it over greasy or we are risking the cookies to spread more than we'd like!
- Confectioners' Sugar: Powdered sugar helps in creating light textured shortbread. Confectioners' sugar is so much lighter and finer than regular granulated sugar. It also contains some cornstarch in it
- Flour: Always measure flour using a kitchen scale or fluff the flour first. Now measure it out in measuring cup and sweep excess with a knife to level it off. Using this little trick will assure you never end up adding too much flour in your dough.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch makes the softest and the lightest cookies that you will ever know!
How to make shortbread cookies:
These are just the easiest cookies to make! Just take care not to over measure your flour and cornstarch. And your cookies will bake all puffy and light! To make Shortbread:
- Beat Butter and confectioners' sugar together for 4-5 minutes: Beat butter and sugar using a stand mixer as it is very convenient for making cookie doughs. Less spillage and very less time required than using hand mixers. Still if you need to make use of a hand mixer, use it on high speed. You might need a few extra minutes to get this butter-sugar mixture to the desired texture.
- Beat in sifted flour and cornstarch next: You can directly sift flour and cornstarch over the bowl of your stand mixer. Or keep it pre-sifted and then add it slowly to the cookie dough. Take care not to overmix the dough after adding flours.
- Make and Chill the dough Balls: Once the dough is formed, divide and make dough balls using a cookie scoop. If you find the dough to be too soft to handle at this stage, you can place it in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to firm it up a bit so you can form balls out of it without sticking.
- Top with Sprinkles/Toppings: Draw the design on cookie balls using a fork and top with sprinkles of choice. You can also create indentations at this point and fill them up with a teaspoon of jam.
- Quickly chill in the freezer while you preheat oven: Now you can either chill the dough balls in the freezer till they are very firm to touch as the oven preheats. Or you can place them in refrigerator to chill if you are not in a rush to bake them straightaway. Both these tricks work well and create perfect cookies.
- Bake in a preheated oven till done: We are slow baking these cookies. They will appear white on top after baking and their bottoms will be slightly golden when they are done.
Since the list is so short for these cookies, take care to use quality ingredients. Using good quality butter as opposed to margarine, good quality sugar and flour result in best tasting cookies.
You can also add flavorings like vanilla, almond, mint, orange or lemon to this dough. Or top it with Hershey's kisses, jam filling or even candy cane kisses after these come out of oven.
What are common mistakes when making shortbread?
- Do not use butter that appears melted: You need to begin making your dough with room temperature softened butter. Butter that has melted can make your dough greasy and eventually it can cause your cookies to bake greasy.
- Beat Butter and sugar for good 4-5 minutes: I cannot stress this fact enough. With no leaveners involved in this recipe, you really want to beat sugar and butter till they get very fluffy and light. This process will also allow some air to get trapped in the dough which we will need when the cookies are baking. This step provides a nice fluffy texture and structure to the cookies
- Don't overwork the dough: After mixing flour and cornstarch in the cookie dough, do not mix it too much. Doing so can cause gluten formation in the dough leading to dense and hard cookies.
- Always top with sprinkles before chilling the cookie dough balls: Over the years I have been asked this question hundreds of times that when to place sprinkles on these cookies. Sprinkles stick so much better when they are placed before the cookie dough balls chill. Non-pareils slip away super quickly so they will be very hard to stick once these cookie balls have chilled.
How is shortbread different from other cookies?
Shortbread only uses a few simple ingredients and is light and buttery to taste and are not chewy. There are no leaveners used in the dough as opposed to other cookies.
Should you chill shortbread cookie dough?
Yes, and I can't stress this enough. Chilled cookie dough bakes so much better cookies. Shortbread is high in fat content, chilling the dough will help firming the butter up. This results in thick and puffy cookies!
What does cornstarch do in cookie dough?
- Helps the cookies to bake thick and it reduces the risk of cookie spreading!
- Cornstarch in the cookie dough yields lighter textured cookies.
- Also cookies with cornstarch bake the softest.
Why did my shortbread spread?
There can be a number of reasons for shortbread to spread. If the cookie dough had too much butter and/or less flour than recipe suggest. Or if you did not chill the dough enough. Or if the oven temperature was too high.
Just follow the recipe as written and your cookies will bake just perfect!
Taste and texture of these Cookies:
- Not too sweet
- Buttery and melt in your mouth soft
- Slightly crumbly in a good way (not chewy at all!)
- Light, tender and puffy
More Holiday Recipes for you to try!
If you liked these Cookies give it a star review. Do tell me in the comments below, how did this turn out for you! And don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram at #greedyeatsblog Let's connect on Pinterest and Facebook too!
Recipe
Whipped Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- Hand/stand Mixer
- Parchment paper lined Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ Cups Butter at Room Temperature , salted
- ¾ Cup Confectioners' Sugar
- 2 and ¼ Cups All Purpose Flour
- ¾ Cup Cornstarch
Flavorings and Toppings: (optional but delish)
- 2 teaspoons Pure vanilla extract (or Lemon extract or Orange extract)
- ¼ Cup Sprinkles (of choice) (I used non-pareils)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, using a stand mixer beat butter and confectioners' sugar for 4-5 minutes on med-high speed. Don't skimp on the beating time for light textured cookies. Add flavorings at this point (if adding) and give it a whirl too.If using a hand held mixer, beat butter and sugar on high speed.
- Next turn the mixer to low and gradually add in sifted flour and cornstarch in the bowl. Beat only till combined and no streaks of flour are visible.
- Scoop and roll into 36 equal sized cookie balls. If you find the dough to be too soft to handle at this stage, cover it and place it in refrigerator to firm up for about 10-15 minutes. This will make it easier to roll the balls and they will not stick in your hands,
- Place cookie dough balls on a pre-lined baking tray or on a large plate coated with little flour, to avoid the dough balls from sticking to the plate. Press their tops with a cornstarch/flour dipped fork and top with sprinkles.
- Now chill the dough balls for about 2 hours in fridge or till they are very firm to touch. Pro Tip: To speed up this process, you may chill the dough balls in freezer until firm.
- Let dough balls chill in the fridge/freezer till you preheat the oven. I usually bake 12 cookies on a tray at a time.
- When ready to bake preheat oven at 300 deg F and bake cookies for 19-20 minutes. Or till their tops look set.
- Allow to cool on the baking tray.
Video
Notes
- Both baked and unbaked cookies can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- To freeze unbaked cookie balls, keep the balls on a tray in freezer till they firm up. Store them in ziploc bag then. No need to thaw before baking. Just add a minute more to the baking time.
- Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight freezer friendly container for up to 2 months. Thaw the cookies on counter top before serving.
- Top the cookies off with melted chocolate or a Hershey's Kiss on every cookie or even Candy cane Kisses taste so good with these. To top cookies with kiss candy, freeze the candies first. This will prevent kisses from melting when they are placed on those warm cookies. Place a candy kiss on the top of a slightly warm cookie and press the candy just so it sticks to the shortbread.
- Place cherry halves in their center. Add about ½ teaspoon of almond extract to the dough if taking this route.
- Make a dent in the center of cookies and fill it with jams and preserves of your choice before baking.
Jody A Ingram
These taste amazing, it's a very easy recipe, but when baking I baked it at 300 for only 10 minutes because I have a gas oven not electric maybe an electric you need a longer time.
Osha Bradshaw
Should crushed candy cane be added before or after baking? I'm afraid it will melt too much. And all I have is a sprinkle mix that has some snowflake shapes will they melt too?
GreedyEats
Hi! Non-pareil sprinkles bleed in the dough usually, not the other ones. If you wish you can also bake these thumbprint style. Fill them with a filling like chocolate and then top with decorations.
Dawn
I’ve made these cookies before and they’ve turned out great with no issues but today they are very crumbly. When you try to take a bite the whole cookie just falls apart. Any suggestions on why this happened? Thanks!!
GreedyEats
Looks like you ended up adding too much flour Dawn. Make sure to weigh your flour before adding to the cookie dough for perfect results every time.
Amber Barker
Would you alter for elevation over 5,000 feet?
Lynda
What would 11/2 cups of butter be in grams please?
GreedyEats
It's 340 gms Lynda! Happy Baking!
Jan
This is going to be my new christmas shortbread recipe. It is very close to my Moms recipe that i can never make right! My oven is propane so i had to cook them three minutes longer. Thank yoy for such a great recipe. Merry Christmas!
Ramona Chavez
Oh my, these came out super tasty. I didn’t have any sprinkles, so I added chopped cranberries, cracked smashed candy cane, raspberry licorice and chopped candied pineapples. I did rub off the excess sugar on pineapples. They are not overly sweet. And I made about 40 cookies out of this recipe. Also, added crushed walnuts to the top of one batch. Loving these. ❤️😋🥰😍🍪
GreedyEats
Your version sounds fantastic Ramona! Thanks for reporting back, Happy December!
Anonymous
Thank you for the reply. I made do with what I have on hand.Oh, and I forgot to add that I didn't have any powder sugar so I ground up my azucar morena in my coffee grinder. It came out perfect. Cookies came out soft and delicious.
Anonymous
Hi,
Do you sift flour before or after measuring?
Thanks
GreedyEats
Yes we use sifted flour here. It is mentioned in the recipe instructions. Enjoy!
Kat
This was my first time making these and they came out perfect. Thank you
Tammy
Could you share with me the best flour, butter, Confectioners' Sugar and cornstarch brands you use? I have not baked in years due to illness. But it’s Christmas time, and my husband said he would help me, so I am very excited to give this a try. I want them to be perfect like yours.
Thank you
Tammy
GreedyEats
Hi Tammy! I use King Arthur flour, Land O Lakes butter, C&H Sugar and 365 Cornstarch. Hope you get to bake these cookies, enjoy!
Carole Barber
I've always wanted to make Shortbread cookies, but everyone I talked to seemed to feel they were too much work.
As an author of the Middle Grade readers and Women's non-fiction, my time is very limiting. But much to my delight, this recipe is simple to follow and the end results, amazing. The Whipped Shortbread Cookies turned out fantastic! I even crumbled a bit of red and green peppermint candy on the top of each cookie.
What a simple way to celebrate any season, and especially Christmas.
Merry Christmas,
Carole
Sheri
Perfection
Hannah
Can these be made using cookie cutters shapes?
GreedyEats
Sorry I haven't tried cutting this shortbread dough into shapes Hannah. You can use this sugar cookie recipe of mine instead, to create soft cookies that hold shape-https://greedyeats.com/valentine-sugar-cookies/
Cheryl Bidgood
This recipe is delicious. I made it the first time including real vanilla extract. Next batch, and there will definitely be a next batch, I will omit the vanilla. The vanilla just isn't quite the cookie I was trying to replicate. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Barbara Hurford
Can you use royal icing on them?
GreedyEats
I don't see why not Barbara. if you want an icing that sets, go for it!
Heather
Do you think almond extract would be a better option?
Kelly
Could these be rolled out and cut into shapes?
WILFRED
Thank you for this
Anonymous
Could I keep the dough balls in the fridge for a day or so before baking?
GreedyEats
Yes Of course! Just keep them covered and you can bake them directly from the refrigerator. No need to bring them to room temp. Enjoy!
Debbie C
Too much corn starch, you can taste it in the cookies. I decreased it to 1/3 cup added 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup powdered sugar, much better flavor.
Anonymous
Perfection
Cinda Whitaker
If I add almond or vanilla extract- how much should I add?
GreedyEats
2 tsps of vanilla extract, it is mentioned under flavorings in the recipe card. If you wish to add just almond extract, I'd go with 1 tsp since it is quite potent. You can always add 1 tsp of vanilla + 1 tsp of almond extract if you choose to add both.
Chrystal Moore
Can I make these chocolate with some cocoa powder?
GreedyEats
Hi Crystal! I am yet to experiment these in chocolate flavor. I'd begin by subbing 1/3 cup of cornstarch with cocoa and see if they are chocolatey enough. If you find the dough to be a little crumbly you can add a little milk to compensate for the dryness. Just add one tablespoon at a time. I'd also add about 1 to 1 1/2 tsps of instant coffee powder to enhance cocoa flavor and add 1 tsp vanilla too. Dip them in melted chocolate after baking for a more pronounced chocolate flavor. Let me know if you try making these cookies chocolatey!
Cici
I made these yesterday and they were delicious! They’re very crumbly and melt in your mouth. I topped them with colored sugar instead of sprinkles. They would be good drizzled with chocolate and a sprinkle of toasted nuts!
janet rohrberg
If they came out dry what did I do wrong?? Lol. Its always me!
GreedyEats
Sounds like you ended up using too much flour Janet. Measure it correctly and these cookies will turn out better next time!
Peggy Sperling
Almost identical to a recipe called Melting Moments my family started making in 1970. Same ingredients with slightly differing amounts. Will stick to our version but interesting that it's come back...
Kristel
If we only have unsalted butter on hand, how much salt should be added? Or, is it okay to just use unsalted butter with the recipe as is? Thank you!
GreedyEats
Hi Kristel! I would add 1/4 tsp salt for a batch of these cookies! Happy Baking!
Marec kerns
Wow my family use to make melting moments too I never heard of any on else making those we put thumb print with butter cream icing for topping
Anonymous
Lol, as if your family invented anything. You must be lacking attention.