I’m a firm believer that shortbread cookies should be sinfully buttery and delectably tender. There are several ways to make shortbread – with or without rice flour, rubbing butter in, using a food processor or creaming the butter. I’ve provided my “go to” recipe, plus alternatives!
Butter, flour and sugar. That’s all you need to make Shortbread Cookies! Did you know that? Off you run to the kitchen! 🙂
If you use a food processor, you can have these in the oven in a flash. But – I don’t. Well, I do sometimes. And sometimes I like to rub the butter in with my fingers – the old school traditional way. But mostly, I make it by creaming butter with a beater or even a wooden spoon, then mix in the sugar and flour.
And this is why – because I like how nice and smooth the surface comes out when made using creamed butter. See the difference? (PS Food processor example is also what it looks like when you rub butter in with your fingers).
But actually, if you like your shortbread extremely crumbly (see video for how crumbly my shortbread is), then you may want to opt for the food processor/rubbing butter in with fingers version. It definitely more crumbly – as it looks.
I purchased a packet of Walker’s shortbread cookies to compare to these homemade ones. I was just curious – I’ve never tried it before. At least, not to my knowledge – but no doubt they were present on the obligatory plate of biscuits that made an appearance at meetings in my former life in corporate. And there is a good chance I took one unknowingly, nibbling on it as I sipped extra strong black coffee and desperately tried to appear alert and interested in whatever was being discussed in the uncomfortably warm meeting room (WHY oh WHY where meeting rooms always so warm??). Probably barefoot under the conference table because I did have a penchant for teetering around in painful-but-fabulous sky high heels that I kicked off at every opportunity.
Now look at me. Flour smeared jeans at best, cut off trackies at worst, ugg boots in winter and barefoot in summer. Cooking / creating / recipe testing / photographing / videoing. And oh-so-much dishwashing. 🙂
But I digress.
Shortbread cookies! I’m here for shortbread cookies!
So – the packet of Walker’s shortbread cookies. I purchased it to compare, and there is simply no contest at all. Homemade Shortbread Cookies are way more tender – no matter which method you use, with or without rice flour. The crumble is softer when you bite into it, they are more buttery.
I truly believe that Shortbread Cookies are one of the iconic cookies in this world. To think that all you need is butter, flour and sugar to make such a delectable treat is just amazing, isn’t it?
The weekend is here. I just know you’ve been good all week. You deserve a treat. Go on! 🙂 – Nagi xx
I’m a firm believer that shortbread cookies should be sinfully buttery and delectably tender. So my recipe uses less flour and more butter than many. There are various ways to make them so please refer to the notes for options. These are, as great shortbread cookies should be, not that sweet, quite delicate and when you bite into them, they crumble softly, as demonstrated in the VIDEO below. Use recipe scaler to reduce recipe if you wish (hover cursor over Servings and slide scaler).
- 250 g/ 8 oz salted butter, softened (2 x US sticks, 1 cup) (or unsalted + ¼ tsp salt)
- 3/4 cup / 90 g icing sugar, soft or pure (powdered sugar) (Note 2)
- 2 cups / 300g plain flour (all purpose flour)
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Preheat oven to 160C/325F (standard) or 150C/300F (fan forced / convection).
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Butter and line a 31.5 x 23.5 cm / 9 x 13" pan with baking paper with overhang.
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Beat butter until smooth (or use very soft butter and a wooden spoon). Add icing sugar and beat until combined.
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Add half the flour and beat until mostly combined – it will resemble wet sand. Then beat in the remainder. Use your hands to bring it together into a smooth ball of dough – knead lightly if required.
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Roughly press down into a rectangle shape, then transfer into the pan. Press into the pan. Optional: Roll over the top using a small rolling pin or glass (that’s what I used) for a smooth surface. Don’t press down too hard – it makes the cookies firmer
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Bake for 20 minutes until edges are very light golden and most of the surface is still pale gold.
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Remove from the oven. Working quickly, cut into desired shape (I do 8 x 3 bars, like Walker’s shortbread biscuits) and prick all over with a fork (optional).
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Return to the oven for 8 minutes or until the surface is light golden – not browned. Turn the oven off, crack it open ajar, then leave to cool for at least 1 hour in the oven.
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Remove from the oven, use paper overhang to remove the biscuits from the pan. Cool fully on rack. Serve with tea!!
1. RICE FLOUR: Some recipes use a combination of plain and rice flour. This makes the cookie slightly more tender. I find the base recipe tender enough as it is, so I typically do not use it. Also rice flour is not a pantry staple in my household. To do this swap out ¼ cup of the flour with rice flour. Just add it with the flour. Some recipes say you can use cornstarch/cornflour as well. I personally find this leaves a bit of a chalky taste.
2. SUGAR: I like to use icing sugar because the grains are finer so you get a smoother finish on the surface. Also icing sugar is about 1/2 the sweetness of sugar by volume.
There are 2 types of icing sugar in Australia - Soft and Pure. I use Soft because it's what I always have in stock for frostings. Pure also works (that's what is used for things like royal icing because it hardens) with no noticeable difference to me. (Soft icing sugar has cornflour mixed in, Pure is pure sugar).
The icing sugar can be substituted with 1/2 cup of white sugar, preferably caster/superfine sugar + 2 tbsp flour.
3. FOOD PROCESSOR / RUBBING BUTTER: Instead of creaming softened butter, the other method is to rub the butter in. This yields a more crumbly shortbread but the surface is rougher – see comparison photo in post. If you wish to use this method (which I believe is the original traditional method, think pre beater days!), this is how to do it:
* Cut COLD butter into 1cm / 2/5” cubes;
* Food processor: place all the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor. Pulse 20 times, then whizz on high for 25 seconds until it forms breadcrumbs. Turn out onto work surface and proceed with recipe;
* Rubbing: Place all the flour and sugar in a bowl, then add butter. Use fingertips to rub butter into flour until it forms breadcrumbs (see video for how it should look). Turn out onto work surface and proceed with recipe.
4. HOT WEATHER WARNING! If it is super hot where you are and/or you have very hot hands with the butter rubbing method, press the dough into the pan then refrigerate for 20 minutes or until chilled.
5. PRECUTTING: To cut out into shapes before baking, it is best to add ¼ cup of flour to make a dough that won’t spread as much when baking. Then roll out into 1 cm / 2/5” thickness and cut into desired shape, place on a baking paper lined tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 150C/300F (fan forced) or 170C/340F (standard) then bake for 15 minutes until the edges are just starting to the brown but the surface is still a pale gold.
6. METHOD NOTES: One thing I do a bit differently to most is to take the shortbread out towards the end of the bake time to cut into bars. This is because whenever I cut before baking, the cuts virtually disappear during baking (same with the holes pricked on top). If you cut the cooked biscuit, it has a tendency to make the surface crack slightly where you cut / poke. My solution is to do it partway through baking.
The other thing I do is leave the shortbread in the oven to cool. This is a tip I picked up from Cooks’ Illustrated – it allows the biscuit to finish cooking without the surface browning (shortbread cookies should be very pale).
7. MEASURING CUPS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES: Shortbread is actually quite forgiving. I've tested this using both US and Australian measures and I couldn't tell the difference.
8. Store in an airtight container for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Shortbread Cookie recipe video! Note the part at the end re: the cookie being crumbled. This is how it should be! And PS clearly these are not my hands in this video. I had assistance!
LIFE OF DOZER
We had a beautiful sunrise earlier this week. I didn’t get a single photo of it. But I got plenty of Dozer checking it out!!!
I never made shortbread before but these cookies were great. My son’s water polo team devoured them in a few minutes. I just made a a second recipe for my daughter’s. bible study. Easy recipe.
So glad you enjoyed this Brenda! N x ❤️
These shortbread cookies were the best I have have found yet. They cut beautifully. I think the powdered sugar made the difference as I have always used regular sugar. They were less sweet than previous recipes, ( my daughter pointed that out) but to fix that I just sprinkled regular sugar on to before baking. Such beautiful and decadent shortbreads. These are smooth and dense cookies, just as a true shortbread should be. Thanks for the recipe. I also just blended all with my hand mixer and it literally was ready to press in the pan in about 2 minutes.
So glad you enjoyed this Katie! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Can this be rolled in to a ball and pressed with a cookie stamp like a sugar cookie? I have a Brown Bag Scottie cookie press that I would like to make for dog show
Hi Tracy! You sure can – see note 5 🙂
Hi,
I wanted to make these cookies and was wondering if the dough could be refrigerated overnight?
Thanks!
I am sure that will be fine! Actually, will probably even make it even more short! N x
I have been trying for years to recreate my moms crumbly yummy short bread. Problem has always been, “cream butter but not over worked, a bit more butter until dough feels crumbly and no temp or time. She was not much in detail”. Your receipt looks like it might help. My question is that moms calls for rice flour as well as your 3 ingredients. What difference does it make. Many thanks.
Hi Karen! Please see the notes, I have explained about this! 🙂 N x
Hi! Just a question about the precutting note, it says to set the oven to 150 degrees fahrenheit and I wonder if that is supposed to say celsius? Since the normal recipe says to preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit.
Thanks for picking that up Tessa! Note fixed 🙂 And yes the temps for precutting are a tiny bit different because precept shapes, like stars, have sharper corners than cutting into shapes and I don’t want them to brown 🙂 N x
Have you ever tried to add the CARAMEL and CHOCOLATE from the CARAMEL SLICE recipe to this shortbread recipe? I want to make Millionaire Shortbread.
Hi Maureen! I haven’t but it should work just fine 🙂
Hi! I used your recipe as a base for mine. Thank you. To the basic recipe I added 1tsp. Browned Butter Flavoring (Wilton), and chopped pecans. They were awesome! Thanks again!
That’s so great to hear Romy! Thanks for letting me know – N x ❤️
Hi Nagi,
My wife, children and I have a Christmas Cookie Competition every year, and lets just say my choices (which I loved) haven’t scored well. I love short bread, and your recipe looks awesome. Can I add nuts to the recipe? What do you think about dipping them in white or dark chocolate? I’ve even been thinking about sandwiching them with caramel then dipping them. I’m pulling out all the stops to take home the trophy!
Hi Nagi
I would like to make theses now for Christmas as they sound and look delicious. Can you tell me how you defrost them ? Do I need to cook them again
Thank you
Karin
Hi Karin! I just defrost in an airtight container on the counter 🙂 Nope they do not need to be cooked again! N x
I loved these cookies! I was very nervous when making them, because the dough looked waaaay too runny. Adding more flour and even half an hour in the fridge didn’t help, so I was afraid I was doing something wrong. But, in the end, they turned out wonderful! Took me a bit longer to bake than expected, but once they cooled down, we couldn’t stop stuffing our faces with them! 😂
Do you have any idea why the dough could turn out so runny? Could the butter have been too soft? Or does it have anything to do with the sugar (I was short on powdered sugar, so had to substitute part of it with regular one)? Would truly appreciate your opinion!
Bottom line: love this recipe. It’s beautiful in its simplicity. Can’t wait to use it again!
I think regular sugar might be the problem. At least if you’re substituting for American powdered sugar, which also contains cornstarch, a thickener.
Hi Nagle
This is almost like my Aunts recipe except for using powdered sugar. She used regular and we made little pies and cut wedges with the fork marks. Yours is definitely easier and they taste delicious. Sure everyone loves shortbread.
Dozer is so cute, I had German Shepherd who was a cookie lover to.
I love hearing that Sandy! I like using powdered sugar because the cookies come out with a slightly smoother surface 🙂 But the flavour is basically the same! N xx