These 3-ingredient Scottish Shortbread Cookies come from an old family recipe that has been passed down for generations, and they’re perfect for holiday baking! Best of all, there are no eggs, no leavening agents, and no chilling necessary — so they’re ready to enjoy in less than one hour. Rich and buttery, but not too sweet, the simple treats are delicious alongside a mug of hot cocoa or a cup of coffee. Decorate Christmas shortbread cookies with icing and sprinkles for a festive touch!
Shortbread Cookie Recipe
While my own family isn’t exactly Scottish, the recipe for these perfect shortbread cookies comes from our Scottish friends — the Stewarts! That means that even though I’m not an authentic Scot, the shortbread cookie recipe is definitely the real deal.
Bill Stewart’s Aunt Violet shared the recipe with his family (and with us), and she received the recipe from her mother. It’s one of those gems that gets passed from generation to generation because it’s so darn good. It’s a classic!
How to Make Scottish Shortbread Cookies | 1-Minute Video
What do shortbread cookies taste like?
While the taste of shortbread cookies sends me straight back to my childhood, I love them just as much as an adult. They’re not too sweet, they’re perfectly buttery, and they’re ideal for a snack or dessert with a cup of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa.
If you’re not familiar with a traditional shortbread recipe, butter is definitely the prominent flavor. In other words…they’re amazing!
Shortbread Cookies versus Sugar Cookies
Shortbread cookies are not the same as sugar cookies. Sugar cookies require many more ingredients than shortbread cookies, and sugar cookies are typically sweeter, with a lighter texture. Shortbread cookies are dense and buttery, making them perfect for dipping! The shortbread dough is also very smooth and easy to work with. It’s not sticky, and it doesn’t even need to be chilled before cutting and baking.
Ingredients for an Easy Shortbread Cookie Recipe
This is a quick overview of the simple ingredients that you’ll need for a batch of Scottish shortbread cookies. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe at the bottom of the post.
- All-purpose flour: the base of the cookie dough.
- Butter: I prefer salted butter. Make sure that it’s softened at room temperature so that it blends easily with the other ingredients.
- Powdered sugar (also called confectioners’ sugar): for just the right amount of sweetness.
That’s right — you don’t need eggs, baking soda, baking powder, or any other ingredients to make the best shortbread cookies!
How to Make Shortbread Cookies
With such a simple ingredient list, you can have hot-from-the-oven shortbread cookies in less than 1 hour! There’s no need to chill the dough, and you can get creative with the cookie cutters to create any shape that you desire.
- Use the paddle attachment on an electric stand mixer to combine the softened butter, flour, and powdered sugar until a ball of soft dough forms. The flour mixture will look dry and crumbly at first, but just let the mixer keep running and eventually everything will come together in the most perfect dough. It’s like magic!
- Roll dough to about ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut into desired shapes, and then transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Pierce the dough with the tines of a fork.
- Bake in a 325°F oven for about 20 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just lightly browned.
- Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
How to Cut Shortbread Cookies
Cut Christmas shortbread cookies into holiday shapes with your favorite Christmas cookie cutters. Classic Scottish shortbread, however, is often cut into rectangles or rounds. I typically use a round 2 ½-inch biscuit cutter to make large cookies. I also use a pizza cutter, sharp knife, or pastry cutter to slice the dough into rectangular strips.
How to Decorate
While a classic Scottish shortbread doesn’t typically have icing, the buttery cookie does provide a great base for frosted Christmas cookies! If you (or your kids) prefer shortbread cookies with icing, then I suggest preparing a batch of royal icing and getting creative! There’s no wrong way to do it, so throw on some red and green sprinkles and have fun.
Buttery Shortbread Cookies are Perfect for Gifting
A sweet little package of this Scottish shortbread, along with some gourmet hot chocolate mix or a nice new mug and some coffee beans, is the perfect holiday gift for your favorite teacher, neighbor, or co-worker! But you better wrap them up quickly, because the cookies disappear fast!
Storage
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
How to Freeze
Allow the cookies to cool completely. Wrap cooled cookies (a few at a time) tightly with plastic wrap. Then wrap again in foil for an added layer of airtight protection. Stash the foil-wrapped cookies in large plastic freezer bags or storage containers. They will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Recipe Variations
- Add finely chopped pecans, almonds, walnuts, or pistachios to the dough.
- Flavor the dough with vanilla extract, almond extract, or other extracts of your choice.
- Try lemon shortbread by adding lemon zest or lemon extract to the dough.
- Turn the dough into chocolate chip shortbread cookies by adding miniature chocolate chips.
- Dip the shortbread in chocolate after baking, then let the chocolate firm up as it cools.
Tips for the Best Shortbread Cookie Recipe
- Remember to soften the butter at room temperature. Cold butter will not blend easily into the other ingredients, so I like to leave the butter on my counter overnight before I plan to make the dough the next day.
- Use salted butter for the best flavor. If you only have unsalted butter in your kitchen, you’ll want to add a pinch of salt to the dough to balance the sweetness and give the cookies a more complex flavor.
- Keep mixing! The dough will look dry and crumbly at first, but let the mixer continue to run and the dough should come together in a nice, soft ball. It will have the texture of Play-Doh, so it’s easy to work with and not too sticky.
- Pierce the dough with a fork before baking. Poking holes in the top of the shortbread dough allows the heat to evenly penetrate the treats, which helps the cookies bake evenly.
So what makes this the best shortbread cookie recipe? It’s love, my friends! The cookies have been loved for generations, and they carry the special memories and the amazing taste with them in every batch!
More Christmas Cookies to Try
- Old-Fashioned Williamsburg Gingerbread Cookies
- Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies {with cake mix!}
- Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- Italian Ricotta Cookies
- Soft Gingerbread Man Cookies
- Magic Cookie Bars
- Russian Tea Cakes {Snowball Cookies}
- Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Snickerdoodles
- Old-Fashioned Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Fruitcake Cookies
- Pecan Pie Bars
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Watch How to Make It
Scottish Shortbread
Equipment
- stand mixer (I own and love the KitchenAid)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, not sifted
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened at room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar (also called confectioners' sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats; set aside. In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, softened butter, and powdered sugar. Mix on medium speed until completely combined and a soft dough forms. The mixture will look dry and crumbly at first, but let the mixer keep running for a few minutes and the dough will eventually form into a soft ball.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly-floured surface (to about ¼-inch thickness, or slightly thicker).
- Use cookie cutters, biscuit cutters, or a sharp knife to cut out desired shapes. Place the shapes on the prepared baking sheets.
- Pierce each cookie a couple of times with the tines of a fork.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until just lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in December, 2017. The photos were updated in November, 2021.
Thank you Blair. Your Shortbread cookies look delicious. I can’t wait to try them.
Sincerely,
Kevan
Thank you, Kevan! We hope you enjoy them.
Thank you so much for this recipe.
These came out delicious! This is a simple, fool-proof recipe. I mixed mine by hand with gloves on since I didn’t even have a whisk.
I split my dough into two and for one of them added matcha powder mixed with coconut oil. Then I rolled it into a log and layered it. Refrigerated the dough for 15 min and cut into 20 pieces.
I had some vanilla frosting left a cake that I made so I added some frosting to decorate the cookies. They were a hit!
Thank you for the feedback! We’re so glad the recipe turned out well for you.
how many cookies does this recipe make?
Hi, Johanna! You’ll get about 20 cookies using a round cutter. Hope you enjoy them!
I’m so glad I discovered your beautiful and fun blog. All of your recipes look delicious. I’m looking forward to making this Scottish Shortbread recipe for Christmas once I gather all the ingredients, I know they will turn out great!
Wonderful! I’m so happy to have you here, Margaret. Thanks for your note, and enjoy the shortbread!
The amount changer isn’t working on your site.
I changed the 20 cookies to 40 cookies to double the recipe but it did not adjust properly and I just went with it as printed out. So yeah, just noticed now the 2 sticks stayed in parentheses although it says 2 cups butter – I went with 2 sticks/ 1 cup…
I’m sorry to hear that, but thank you for letting me know! I’ll see if we can get it fixed!
Thank you soooo much for sharing this recipe with us! I have loved making these cookies for several years now, and I will be giving them as gifts to my friends and church family this year! Also, I was thinking of adding peanut butter to the dough to create peanut butter shortbread cookies. Have you ever tried this, or had success with making peanut butter shortbread? I hope the peanut butter doesn’t cause the cookies to fall apart, but I was thinking this may not happen, if only using a half cup. 🙂 I am your blind FL fan, and I made your bourbon glazed beef tenderloin a few years back for Christmas! Soooo amazing!!! Thanks again, and an early merry Christmas and happy new year!!! 🙂
Hi, Andrea! Thank you for your note and for following along with my site for so many years! That beef tenderloin is on our Christmas menu this year as well. It’s always a favorite with my boys!
I haven’t ever tried making peanut butter shortbread, and I think it will likely require a little bit of testing. Since peanut butter is a fat, you’ll likely need to reduce the butter. It will also change the consistency of the shortbread — I’m just not sure how much. I bet it will be rich and delicious, though! Please let us know if you give it a try!
This is the same as my Grandma Webb’s short bread cookies. I have made these for 40 yrs! I add 1/4 more icing sugar and 1/4 flour. I flour my board and rolling pin with a mix of flour and icing sugar. Guess I have a sweet tooth
We will have to try your version, Julie! Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you have some fond memories with these cookies!
These cookies are delicious. However, I found them to be a bit too sweet for my taste, especially after frosting them. Would it be possible, I wonder, to decrease the amount of sugar called for in the cookie recipe? Thank you.
Hi Margaret! It might work, but reducing the sugar is likely to cause the cookies to become crumbly and dry. We’d love to know how it goes if you try it out!
I think the cookies may have been too sweet because I used gluten-free flour, which is less substantial than all-purpose wheat. The texture, however, was very nice using gluten-free flour, and my family liked the sweetness, too.
The cookies tasted good but really spread out a lot more than expected. I would try to make them again but without rolling them out. I would use the more traditional pan method and cut them into bars.
Thank you for the feedback, Valerie! We’d love to know how they turn out if you try them again.
Very good
Thank you, Francine!