How To Make Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies are a rather dignified affair, often paired with tea and leaning towards savory with their light sweetness and flavors like lemon and rosemary. These cookies are quite humble, however, in both their ingredient list and their preparation. This rich cookie — which sometimes takes on the crispy, snappy quality of a cracker — doesn’t require a stand mixer, rolling pin, or cookie cutter, and can be stashed in the freezer for an impromptu holiday cookie plate or an equally important tea party with your favorite toddler.

Here’s how you know you’re eating a good shortbread cookie: it’s not too sweet, it’s not too soft, and it has a sandy, snappy texture almost more like a cracker than a cookie. And then there’s the butter — the primary flavor in this straightforward-yet-elegant treat.

Shortbread cookies offer up a different method for making a cookie — especially when you compare it to most butter-based recipes. Normally you have to use soft butter to mix cookies, but then you have chill the dough to harden the butter again before baking. For some cookies, these steps cannot be avoided, but for shortbread cookies, mixing cold butter into the dry ingredients using a food processor instead of a stand mixer makes for a more tender cookie and a shorter wait time from craving to cookie. In fact, the process is similar to pie crust — the cold butter mixed in with the sharp blade gives these cookies the sandy texture we adore.

This simple cookie seems to challenge even the best home bakers, as the cookies often spread too much or bake up too brown. Here are few steps to avoid that.

• Start with cold butter.
• Chill the dough again before baking.
• Cool the baking sheets between batches.

On using parchment paper: Use unlined, not nonstick, baking sheets is preferred for baking shortbread cookies as it helps them maintain their shape while baking. However if you’re baking a ton of cookies and need to keep your baking sheets clean between batches, please note that lining your baking sheets won’t ruin the cookies.

The beauty of shortbread cookie dough is that you can add almost anything to it for flavoring or upgrading. Fresh citrus zest and herbs are nice, as are nuts, cocoa nibs, toffee bits, and extracts. When I’m feeling very festive, adding vanilla bean seeds to the dough makes these cookies feel even more elegant.

Try our herby version: Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

The easiest way to preserve shortbread cookies is to freeze the dough logs before baking. Tightly wrapped, they will keep in the freezer for up to a month. Thaw for about an hour before slicing and baking. Frozen cookie dough, with directions attached, is also a lovely hostess gift to give for the holidays.