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.
If I used unsalted butter how much salt could I add to make it taste as good?
Hi, Sharon! I made a note about that in the “recipe notes” section, but I would generally estimate about 1/4 teaspoon of added salt. Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Love love love. Childhood returned.
I remember my dad lining the cookie sheets with brown paper bags instead of parchment. Done and Done. The bag’s seem to give the cookies a little more crunch.
Wonderful! I’m getting ready to bake a batch this afternoon! I agree — totally a childhood favorite! The paper bag tip is great!
Is the confectioners sugar the same as powdered sugar? If not can I use powdered sugar instead?
Hi, Alyssa! Yes, confectioners sugar is the same as powdered sugar. Enjoy the cookies! We just made a batch over the weekend. So good! 🙂
Hi Blair,
Does the type of butter matter? I was thinking of using a European butter with a higher fat content. Also, I want to use my Nordic Ware Holiday cookie presses, would I still need to prick holes into the dough? Lastly, I know the recipe calls for icing sugar, but have you ever tried using caster sugar? My Dad makes shortbread cookies with regular, granulated, sugar which made me wonder if using caster sugar since it’s more fine would be ok, too.
Hi, Landy! I’m not familiar with European butter, so I don’t know if it would change the texture/flavor of the cookie or not. I’ve only tested these with regular butter.
If you don’t prick holes in the dough, the dough will puff up a lot. If you don’t mind that when using your press, then you can skip the holes.
I’ve never baked with caster sugar, so I can’t speak to that change. 🙂
If you Google “caster sugar” there are several articles describing the differences amoung granulated, caster, and powdered sugar. Here is one of the best: https://food52.com/blog/21097-what-is-caster-sugar-does-it-really-make-a-difference-in-baking From reading this article, it seems like caster sugar should work fine – maybe even make the cookies a little more “English Isles like”.
We were recently in Scotland and our B&B host gave me her recipe for the delicious shortbread cookies she had for us daily. She recommended European butter (I used Kerry Gold) and caster sugar (I found Baking Sugar) on Amazon. She had lived in the US for a few years and could never get her shortbread right and when she returned to Scotland, realized it was the different fat content in the butter.
I love this recipe. So simple, so delicious! HOWEVER,
I think perhaps these may just have been shortbread cookies made by your Scottish friends…
I do not mean any disrespect but I believe the key difference between shortbread and scottish shortbread is in the ingredients and texture. Scottish shortbread often include leaveners or a lower gluten flour (like oat flour/ rice flour) resulting in a texture different to the typical shortbread.
*which is probably why one of your readers had asked about the oat flour substitution haha.
My family’s traditional recipe is as above with one exception. 1/2 cup of the flour is replaced by 1/2 cup of rice flour. This gives a softer crumb but the cookies still hold their shape.
Love the recipe and plan to use it later. Brings back memories of my great aunt’s shortbread long ago. Have you ever substituted corn starch for the flour? One of my aunts made that change, but darned if I can find her recipe for it. any thoughts?
Hi, Joanie! I hope you’ll give it a try!
I have never used cornstarch in this recipe (or in any other cookie recipe), so I’m afraid I can’t weigh in on that one. 🙂
Hi Blair, thanks for the recipe. I’m trying to find the right cookie to reproduce my 70-something neighbor’s memories of his grandmother’s Christmas. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but the dough (and every other shortbread dough I’ve tried) is frustratingly crumbly – won’t stay together when cut into cookies, and falls apart even more when trying to prick with a fork. Would it help to work it more (knead, or beat, or whatever) to activate the gluten? Or perhaps chill the dough after rolling? I chilled it before rolling, but that just seemed to make it harder to flatten. Help!
That’s so strange — I’ve never had that problem. This dough should be buttery and pretty easy to work with. Is your butter at room temperature before you mix the dough? If my dough is really sticky and warm, I will sometimes chill it before rolling. But you don’t want it too cold, or it will be too hard to roll. Chilling for about 30-60 minutes seems to work best. The only other thing that I can think is that you’re using too much flour? Maybe you’re packing the flour really tight in your measuring cup, which you don’t want to do. You want to kind of fluff up the flour before scooping it, and then gently scoop with your measuring cup. Hope that makes sense! 🙂
Sounds to me like she’s not using REAL BUTTER! But perhaps you’re right, too much flour?
So I ran into this issue using an electric hand beater – it just means you have to keep going! After a few more minutes, it will all start to incorporate into dough. If you stop while it’s all still powdery, it won’t stick/cut out right. Trust me – keep beating!
i wish you could write metric conversion
thanks in advance????
Do you have to poke a hole in the cookies?
I don’t want to decorate them but I don’t want holes in them. Will anything happen if I don’t poke a hole?
Hi! Pricking the shortbread with a fork releases air from the dough so that it bakes flat. If you don’t prick the dough then it will puff up in the middle. 🙂
Is it possible to use combo bread flour and cake flour? Thanks
Hey, David! I honestly have no idea! I’ve never tested the recipe with those flours, so I can’t say how they would turn out. Sorry that I’m not more helpful in that regard. 🙂
I just found out that I’m 48% Scottish. I was looking foe a recipe to celebrate my newfound heritage. I found it. Simple, elegant, delicious, and inexpensive enough to make plenty to share. Thank you. 🙂
That warms my heart, James! I’m so glad that you’re able to enjoy a little taste of your heritage! 🙂
Hi Blair,
I’m not much of a biscuit person but these are really addictive:). I had to make a small adjustment which I believe is necessary for those trying this recipe out in a warmer climate. I live in the tropics (abt 29 deg C) & because of this, the butter simply wouldn’t hold in the dough- in fact, it was impossible to roll it out. It began coming together only after I increased the flour to 3 cups. The biscuits turned out really good but am going to try again with 2.5 cups this time. I realise this is a Scottish biscuit created in Scottish climate. Will have to adapt accordingly 🙂
Great tip, Shanta! Thank you!
Just made these yesterday none of them needed to be poked. None puffed at all.
My dough ball never formed. What did I do wrong?
Hey, Sherry! I’m sorry, but since I wasn’t in the kitchen with you, it’s impossible for me to know what you did wrong. Did you accidentally mis-measure one of the ingredients? Was your butter not at the right temperature? I haven’t had that problem myself, and I don’t know how you prepared the dough, so I’m not sure what went wrong.
Now I’m embarrassed. I just re read your shortbread cookie recipe and I did put in too much sugar. In fact u is almost identical to my usual one that I’ve used forever! I apologize!!! I usually read a recipe at least twice, this time I didn’t. Big mistake.
No worries, Bobbie! I’m glad that you figured out the problem. 🙂
I baked these for my husband’s birthday and it’s pretty horrifying how delicious these are. I mixed this by hand and used a cookie cutter for the shapes. This is 100% my favorite cookie of all cookies right now. Thank you so much for this recipe! It truly melts in your mouth.
Thanks so much, Michele! I’m so glad to hear that you love them as much as I do! 🙂
Hi Blair. This shortbread recipe is exactly the same as our family one. My maternal side were from Scotland. Simple recipe: 2 parts fine white flour+1 part butter + 1/2 part fine sugar or confectioners sugar. Options include adding a small amount of almond paste, vanilla, or sweet brandy (very small measure just for taste). I often add just a wee bit of finely ground pecan meat and nothing else. Very good with white (with cream) Earl Grey tea.
That’s awesome, Larry! I’m glad to know that it’s “authentic” as far as you’re concerned, too! 🙂 Simple, yet delicious!
Can you do this dough in a food processor?
Hi! I have never tried, so I’m honestly not sure.
Hello and greetings from the United States!!! Most of my heritage comes from the Celtic regions so to make these cookies were amazing!!! I made them for an upcoming multi-cultural event and they were a hit!!! And I’m not a at all a baker by any means. So this was really easy!!! Thank you!!!
That’s wonderful, Stephanie! I’m so glad that you enjoyed them and that the cookies were a hit! 🙂
I made these and my husband says that he tastes the flour. I followed you recipe to the “t”, any clue why the flour is so pronounced. I use all purpose flour.
Hi, Rose! No, I haven’t had that issue and I haven’t heard that complaint from other readers, so I’m not sure what the problem might be. All-purpose flour is what I always use, too. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!