30 Minute Shortbread Cookie Recipe
This tender, golden Butter Shortbread Biscuit Recipe has a crumbly, melt in your mouth buttery inside with lightly crisp edges , and it’s ready in 30 minutes!
Ingredients
Shortbread
- 200 g unsalted butter softened (see notes)
- 110 g powdered sugar icing sugar
- 3 g fine salt
- 14 g vanilla extract
- 1 orange zested optional
- 300 g all-purpose flour plain flour
Chocolate Coating (optional)
- 300 g dark cooking chocolate see notes
- 20 g vegetable oil
Instructions
To Make The Shortbread 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 crumbly and tender texture.
To bake in a baking dish - ‘Scottish’ Style (Speedy 30-minute option!)
- Preheat at a fan-forced oven to 130C / 265F (150C / 300F for no fan).
- Preparing the baking tin - Spray the sides and bottom of a 22cm x 31cm / 9 x 13-inch baking tin with oil spray and line with baking paper, leaving some overhang for ease of lifting out later.
- Forming the biscuits - Pour the biscuit dough into the tin and use your hands to press as flat as you can. You can even use the bottom of a flat cup or measuring cup to get it perfectly flat for uniform looking biscuits. Be gentle and mindful not to press down too hard otherwise the cookies will be dense.
- Baking - Bake for 15 minutes, take out of the oven and use a large knife to cut into 8 x 3 bars. Then use a fork to dock each bar 3 times. Place back into the oven and bake another 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Cooling - Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely before gently run in the knife back over where you cut the bars. Take apart and serve.
To form your cookies into rectangles - my favorite (requires chill time)
- Prepare baking trays - Line two half-sheet baking trays with baking paper.
- Forming the dough log - Pour the biscuit dough onto your workbench and bunch together forming a rough log shape. Transfer to a large piece of baking paper and begin shaping it. I used a bench scraper to form my dough into a neater rectangle shape that is about 20cm in length, 6cm in height and about 3-4cm in width. Get the sides as evenly flat as you can. Lightly wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
- Preheat at a fan-forced oven to 130C / 265F (150C / 300F for no fan).
- Cutting the biscuits - Take the dough log out of the fridge and unwrap. Allow to sit for 5 minutes at room temperature to soften slightly. Use a sharp knife to slowly cut into 1cm wide biscuits. Place on the baking tray, spacing about 2cm apart to allow them to spread slightly. I used the flat end of a skewer to indent holes into my cookies which is purely for decoration.
- Baking - Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool completely.
Using cookie cutters - great for holiday cookies (requires chill time)
- Rolling out the dough - Form the dough into two flat oval shapes using your hands. Place one dough disc on top of a large piece of baking paper and place another large piece of baking paper on top. Roll out to about 1/2cm / 0.20-inch in thickness. Repeat with the other dough disc.
- Chill the dough - place the rolled dough onto a large baking tray and chill in the fridge for an hour.
- Preheat at a fan-forced oven to 130C / 265F (150C / 300F for no fan).
- Cutting out the biscuits - use any cookie cutter shapes you like to cut out your cookies.
- Baking - Place on the baking tray, spacing about 2cm apart to allow them to spread slightly. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly golden.
Chocolate Coating (optional)
- To prepare the chocolate coating - Add the chocolate and oil into a heat proof bowl and melt in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time until melted. Alternatively, you can bring a pot of water to a gentle simmer and place the bowl on top, making sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water and stir until melted. Allow to cool slightly before using.
- Coat in chocolate (optional) - I like to dip some of my shortbread into melted chocolate allowing excess chocolate to drip off. Place them on a baking tray to set before serving.
Notes
Softened Butter - you want your butter to be soft for this recipe so that it creams with the sugar properly. Softened butter should be firm enough that it holds its shape, but yields gentle pressure when pressed gently with your finger. Room temperature method: you can do this by taking your butter out of the fridge and cutting into cubes. Let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour before using. Microwave method (quicker): cut into cubes and place in a heatproof bowl or plate. Microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it’s soft but firm enough to hold its shape with some resistance.
Cooking chocolate - this is chocolate that is designed to be used for melting and cooking and can be found in the baking isle of your supermarket.
Storage - Shortbread can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.
Nutrition - is an approximate and is based on per cookie and includes the chocolate coating. This recipe makes anywhere from 24-32 cookies depending on how you choose to make them!
A note on measurements - this recipe is offered in weight measurements. This is in an effort to offer the most accurate way to get the best results. Cup measurements simply aren’t accurate enough for a recipe that needs precision and cup sizes differ depending on where you are in the world. To learn more about how to measure ingredients using digital kitchen scales, click here!
Nutrition
Calories:153kcal | Carbohydrates:16g | Protein:2g | Fat:10g | Saturated Fat:6g | Polyunsaturated Fat:0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat:3g | Trans Fat:0.2g | Cholesterol:14mg | Sodium:40mg | Potassium:14mg | Fiber:1g | Sugar:7g | Vitamin A:168IU | Vitamin C:1mg | Calcium:4mg | Iron:0.5mg
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