30 Minute Shortbread Cookie Recipe

Making tender and buttery shortbread cookies is so easy and it takes just 5 ingredients. Plus, my recipe is ready in 30 minutes from start to finish making it a quick and easy beginner cookie recipe that’s super easy to work with too!

Hey team! Coming in today with a shortbread biscuit (cookie) recipe that I’ve been wanting to post for such a long time. It’s my Simple Buttery Shortbread Biscuit recipe which is so easy to make and it uses simple ingredients. Once you rush off into the kitchen to make these, you’ll never buy store bought again because these are so much more tender and have a REAL butter flavor.

In this post I’m going to show you

• How to make the easy dough and then three ways to form your cookies.
• Bars – You can press the dough into a cake tin and slice it into bars for the quick 30-minute option (Scottish style),
• Rectangles – Cut it up from a cookie log for a classic look, or
• Shapes – Roll the dough out to use with your favorite cookie cutters.
• You can even coat them in chocolate to snazz them up!

These biscuits make the perfect edible holiday gift because you can roll them out and use your favorite holiday cookie cutters. I’ll be adding these to my battalion of holiday cookie hampers this year alongside my Raspberry Linzer Cookies which my friends are obsessed with and my Kourapiedes Greek Christmas Cookies which are an old family favorite.

The Secret To Amazing Shortbread starts with your ingredients!

The secret to amazing shortbread is using high quality ingredients! This recipe uses 5 simple staple ingredients you most likely have in your cupboard right now. Plus a bonus ingredient which is totally optional, but I highly recommend and I think makes them really special!

• Butter – I used unsalted butter. For this recipe you want to make sure you use high quality butter that has a fat percentage of at least 30%. It’s going to give you great tasting, almost creamy biscuits. You can use salted butter, just leave out the salt in the recipe.
• Powdered sugar – Also known as icing sugar, is used instead of granulated sugar to give these cookies a smooth and fine biscuit crumb. The type I use already has corn starch / corn flour in it which gives these biscuits a lighter texture.
• Salt – I used fine salt.
• Vanilla Extract – Always use good quality vanilla extract when baking, it makes a huge difference. I have a great recipe here for it if you’d like to try your own!
• All-purpose flour – also known as plain flour.
• [BONUS] Orange Zest – I added some orange zest in my shortbread because I love the flavor it gives the cookies. If you cover them in chocolate it pairs perfectly with the bright and citrusy flavor. No brainer.

How To Make A Simple Shortbread Dough

I love my shortbread cookie dough because it’s really easy to work with and it’s simple to make. There are two simple steps to make the dough:

• Whip butter and sugar – Add your softened butter, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and orange zest (optional) to a medium sized mixing bowl. Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to cream the ingredients together until pale and fluffy, about 60 seconds or until it’s all lightly creamed together. We’re not trying to whip air into the butter.
• Add flour to form dough– Add half the flour and use a spatula to mix until a dough forms and no dry ingredients are showing. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and repeat. You want to make sure the dough is mixed really well and that there are no dry ingredients showing. Try not to overmix though otherwise you’ll end up with tough cookies without a delicate and light texture.

From here, you can choose to make your cookies in one of three ways. All methods result in a light and buttery cookie, they just look different. Let’s start with the quickest 30-minute option!

For a full list of ingredients with measurements, go to the bottom of the post and grab them in the recipe card. You’ll be able to print the recipe from there too.

How To Make 30 Minute Shortbread – Scottish Style!

• Once you’ve made your dough press it into a 22cm /  9-inch square baking tin (lined with baking paper). I used a flat bottomed measuring cup to gently press it flat into the cake tin, but you can use a flat sided glass to roll it nice and flat. Bake it in the middle rack of a preheated oven for 15 minutes.
• Take out of the oven and pre-slice using a sharp knife. Doing this before the cookies are fully baked gives you much neater looking cookies than if they were fully baked. Docking with a fork is optional and is purely done for a classic shortbread look.

• Bake for a final 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool in the tin to room temperature before lifting the cookies out of the tin using the excess baking paper.

TIP: when pressing the dough into the baking tin, try not to press too firmly as it can result in dense cookies. Use a rolling pin or even a flat sided glass to roll it nice and flat.

How To Form Your Shortbread Into A Log And Cut It Into Rectangle Shapes

This is by far my favorite technique because I love the rounded edges of the cookies.

• Once you’ve made the dough, form it into a 20cm long log. Transfer it to a large piece of baking paper and then use a bench scraper or something flat and long to help you shape it into a long rectangle-like shape. My dough log was about 20cm in length, 6cm wide and 2-3cm in height. Wrap in baking paper and chill in the fridge for about 1-2 hours to firm up.
• Once its chilled, use a sharp knife to slice into 1cm thick cookies.

• Place on a baking tray and use the end of a fork or toothpick (for larger holes) to dock. This is purely done for aesthetics.
• Space the chilled cookies out across two baking trays with about 2cm of space in between to leave room for spreading. Bake for 30 minutes or until very lightly golden. Allow to cool completely to room temperature

TIP: Keep in mind that the cookies will spread out as they bake and become larger than the shape you’re forming. So forming a thinner looking log than you think you’d like them to look will result in a cookie that is a little wider once it bakes.

How To Use This To Cookie Cutters Shortbread For The Holidays!

This simple shortbread cookie dough makes an amazing cookie cutter recipe! You can roll the dough out and then use your favorite cookie cutters to make any biscuit shape you like. Similar to my Crisp Sugar Cookies, these hold their shape pretty well.

• Place a large piece of baking paper on your workbench and then add half the cookie dough on top. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand before placing another piece of baking paper on top. Roll out to about 1/2cm / 0.20-inch in thickness. I used rolling guides to help me do this. Place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes to firm up. Repeat with the other cookie dough half.
• Use cookie cutters to cut out your cookies then use a spatula to carefully transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly golden.

Coating in chocolate is so easy!

Coating your cookies in chocolate is super easy and takes two ingredients to prepare!

• Cooking chocolate – I used dark cooking chocolate. Specifically, the Nestle cooking buttons which are designed to be easily melted and used for baking and desserts making. They can be found in the baking isle of your supermarket.
• Natural oil – I used vegetable oil to thin the chocolate out so that it only gives it a thin coating and not a thick coating that’s messy to work with. You can also use canola oil or even coconut oil which adds a delicious flavor.

Microwave these two ingredients together in a heatproof bowl for 20 seconds at a time, mixing each time until completely melted. You can also do this over a double boiler. Dip your cookies in the chocolate, allow excess to drip off before placing on a baking tray lined with baking paper to set.

TIP: Speed up the setting process of your chocolate by placing in the fridge!

Tips and Tricks For Recipe Success!

• Measure out using kitchen scales – Measuring ingredients out by weight and not cups is the best way to get consistent results every time! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!
• When mixing the dough – You want to make sure the dough is mixed evenly and that there are no dry ingredients showing. Try not to overmix though otherwise you’ll end up with tough cookies without a delicate and light texture.
• When pressing the dough into the baking tin – Try not too press too firmly as it can result in a dense cookie. Use a small rolling pin or even a flat sided glass to do it. Get it as evenly flat as you can for evenly sized cookies.
• When baking cookies in tin – bake them for 15 minutes before taking out of the oven to slice them up into bars, then dock them (purely decoration). This will make separating the cookies much easier once they’ve finished baking for a final 10-15 minutes.
• When forming the dough into a log for rectangle shaped cookies – transfer the dough log onto a large piece of baking paper. Forming it on top of baking paper prevents it from sticking to your workbench.
• Make sure your butter is softened before making the dough!
• Jazz your shortbread up by adding things like toasted nuts or even chopped cooking chocolate.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to store your shortbread

Store your backed shortbread in an airtight container for up to a week. I wrap mine up tightly in plastic wrap if I’m gifting them to keep them nice and fresh.

Why is my cookie dough dry?

This can happen if you didn’t measure your cookie dough accurately or if you didn’t mix the dough properly and parts of the dough have unmixed dry ingredients.

Can I make these dairy free?

Yes! Use dairy free butter to make this recipe. This is different from margarine which is too soft to use for this recipe.

How do I know when my shortbread is baked?

These biscuits are baked at a much lower temperature than most other cookies and baked for a longer time. This helps make them nice and tender and slightly crisp on the outside. You’ll know these are baked when they’re lightly golden on the outside and still slightly soft in the center. They firm up as they cool down.

Can I freeze the baked cookies?

Yes! The baked cookies can be wrapped up tightly in plastic wrap and then frozen for up to 2 months.

Why is this recipe is in grams and not cups?

The short answer is accuracy! It is far easier, more accurate and you get more consistent results when you measure ingredients by weight, especially in dessert and bread baking! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!

Gave this a go? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok for more great recipes!