Soft and Buttery Traditional Shortbread Cookies

Updated December 20, 2024

By Rebecca St. Clair

Traditional Shortbread cookies are one of my favourites. They don’t look particularly fancy but the taste and texture is perfection. They are so soft and just melt in your mouth! Shortbread cookies are easy to make with just a few kitchen staples.

How to store traditional shortbread cookies

Freezing shortbread cookies

Shortbread cookies store very well in the freezer. To freeze shortbread cookies for perfect freshness,

• Cool them to room temperature
• Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour
• Transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months
• When you are ready to use them, let them come back up to room temperature before serving.

Freezing shortbread dough

Shortbread dough freezes very well.

• Press the dough out into the pan, or mold, before freezing
• When you are ready to make your cookies, you can bake them from frozen

Shortbread in the refrigerator

These cookies store very well in an airtight container in the refrigerator. For optimal freshness, store up to 10 days.

Shortbread dough, should be stored in the refrigerator. Before baking shortbread cookies the dough needs to chill for a few hours in the refrigerator. This will help the cookies hold their shape.

You can store shortbread dough in the refrigerator for a week, if needed. When you are ready to bake the cookies, you can use the dough straight from the refrigerator.

Storing Traditional Shortbread Cookies at Room Temperature

Shortbread cookies, can be stored in an airtight container right on your counter top. They will keep fresh for up to 7 days.

When are shortbread cookies served?

Many people consider shortbread a classic Christmas cookie. Really, shortbread can be served any time of year!

The perfect snack to have on the side of coffee or tea. It is not an overly fancy cookie with layers of icing. Which makes it a perfect simple, and delicious, treat.

Sugar

What sugar to use for shortbread cookies. Icing sugar, white sugar, or brown sugar. Well, this is really dependant on the recipe. The sugar does change the texture and the flavour of the cookies.

Sanding sugar– Although not necessary, I always dust the top of my shortbread cookies with 1-2 Tablespoons of white sugar. I love the added crunchy texture I lends to the soft, buttery, cookies!

To ensure the sugar sticks to the top of your cookies, dust them with sugar as soon as the cookies come out of the oven.

Trouble shooting

Why did my shortbread cookies spread?

This is a common problem when baking shortbread cookies. There are two ways, I have found, to fix this.

• Cook the dough before cutting it into cookies. This may seem strange, but it works perfectly, for me, every time! Press your dough out into a pan or mould. During baking, it has nowhere to spread! As soon as you remove it from the oven, precut into cookies, but only about 1/3 of the way through. Once the cookies are fully cool, remove them from the pan, they will break apart exactly where you made the cuts. Perfectly shaped cookies every time!

• If you choose to form them into cookies before baking, you will need to chill the dough first before baking. Either by placing them in the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking or in the freezer for 15 minutes.

My shortbread cookies are crumbling

This is typically a problem with your dough being too dry, or not leaving the cookies to cool on the tray before moving them.

• When making shortbread, the dough should not be so dry that you can not easily clump it together. To fix this, you will need to add more butter, a little at a time, until the dough holds together.

• Shortbread cookies harden as they cool. At the beginning, the cookies are quite delicate. They will break and crumble if you try to move them from the tray. Leave the cookies on the tray, to fully cool, before moving them. This typically takes about 30 minutes. If your cookies are larger, it may take longer.

Should I add cornstarch or rice flour to my shortbread cookie dough?

Cornstarch or rice flour are often added to shortbread cookies to makes a softer melt-in-your-mouth texture.

You can add either of these to shortbread cookie dough, however it is not necessary. This traditional shortbread cookie recipe is simple and only requires a handful of simple ingredients.

If you want to try some flavoured shortbread cookies give one of these a try! Mint slice and bake Christmas Cookies Orange and Cardamom Christmas Shortbread

Ingredient for Traditional Shortbread Cookies

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour  337 g

1 teaspoon salt  5 ml

¼ cup icing sugar  32 g

¼ cup brown sugar  50 g

1 cup softened butter 225 g

1-2 Tablespoons white sugar (For dusting) 15-30 ml

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C).
2. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients
3. Cut the butter into small chunks and add it to the dry mixture.
4. Rub the butter into the dry mixture with your fingertips, until you have a crumbly mixture.
5. As the dough starts to form, start to squish it into clumps with your hands, until the dough just comes together. Handle the dough as little as possible for a more tender cookie.
6. Press the dough into an lined rectangular cake pan, a cookie mold, or free from into a disk shape on a lined baking sheet.
7. Poke holes, with a fork, over the top of the dough. This will ensure even baking.
8. Chill the dough 15 minutes in the freezer.
9. Bake bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cookies just starts to colour around the edges.

10. As soon as you remove from the oven, dust with 1-2 Tablespoons of white sugar.

11. While the dough is still hot, partially cut into cookies about 1/3 of the way through.

12. Allow the cookies to cool completely.

13. The cookies should easily come apart into the precut rectangles!

14. If you are using a mold, make sure the cookies are completely cooled, before gently removing them.

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