Melt in Your Mouth Shortbread Cookies
These shortbread cookies are the Christmas cookies mom has made every holiday season. They're whipped shortbread cookies that are so soft they literally melt in your mouth. You will LOVE them!
If you love shortbread cookies as much as we do, also try our gluten-free shortbread cookies and these almond flour shortbread cookies.
This recipe was originally published in 2011. We've updated the post with some new photos, and more information but the delicious recipe remains the same.
Best Shortbread Cookie Recipe
This is the shortbread cookie recipe our family has been making for decades. They were part of the Christmas cookie spread that always included mom's nanaimo bars, turtles, and butter tarts. Christmas wouldn't be the same without them.
These shortbread cookies are crazy soft. When we say they melt in your mouth, we mean it. No chewing required. They’re the most tender shortbread cookies you will ever eat. In the words of one of our taste-testers, “I don't know what just happened in my mouth, but I want more of it.”
This shortbread cookie recipe has only 5 ingredients, is made in one bowl, and is the best shortbread you will ever eat. Are you sold? You should be!
How to make the softest whipped shortbread cookies
Making whipped shortbread is incredibly easy. But it does help to have a look at the pictures above so that you can see what the dough looks like in the 4 different stages that it goes through while you're beating it.
- You'll start by slowly mixing the salted butter, flour, icing sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla using electric beaters at their lowest setting – this is to prevent a cloud of flour dust from flying out of the bowl. After a minute, the dough will no longer be dusty but will have larger chunks of butter coated in flour.
- A few minutes later, when the dough starts to look like sand, turn the beaters up to medium speed. At this point, you'll likely think that it will never come together, but have patience and trust that it will.
- Keep beating the sandy dough for 3-4 minutes and all of a sudden you will feel your beaters start to strain and the dough will come together.
- Turn your beaters up to high and continue to beat the dough for another 1-2 minutes, or until it resembles thick whipped cream.
Now all that's left to do is drop mounds of the dough onto baking sheets and bake them for 15 minutes. So easy!
Full shortbread cookie recipe in the recipe card below.
Tips for making whipped shortbread cookies in a stand mixer
Using a stand mixer to make shortbread cookies is a little trickier as you have to stop often to scrape the bowl AND it's easy to overwhip them.
- Always use the whisk attachment. The paddle attachment is not able to whip the shortbread properly.
- Stop frequently to scrape the side of the bowl. Otherwise, some of the dough will be whipped and some won't. You'll see the difference the first time you stop to scrape the bowl.
- Keep a close eye on the dough at the end. As soon as it resembles thick whipped cream, stop beating it. Overbeating the dough can cause the cookies to flatten when they bake.
- The total time you'll need to whip the cookie dough in a stand mixer is about 5 minutes.
Shortbread cookie ingredients
Butter – We prefer to use salted butter. If you only have unsalted butter, simply add salt to the recipe. Make sure the butter is at room temperature before making these cookies.
Flour – Unbleached, all-purpose flour works best in this recipe.
Icing sugar – Also known as powdered sugar.
Cornstarch – This is added to make the shortbread cookies even softer.
Vanilla – We add this for a subtle flavor.
Variations to try
- Top with red and green sprinkles for Christmas shortbread cookies. You can also try blending the sprinkles right into the batter.
- Add lemon or orange zest to the batter.
- Drizzle the tops with chocolate.
- Swap the vanilla for your favorite flavor extract.
- Make whipped shortbread cookies with Toblerone by stirring 1 cup of chopped Toblerone into the batter.
Tips for making the softest shortbread cookies
- This recipe works best if you beat the dough with electric beaters. While you can use a stand-mixer, you'll need to watch the dough carefully to make sure that you don't overwhip it.
- Make sure the cookie dough is cold before you put it in the oven. If your house is quite warm, put the cookie dough in the fridge to chill it before you bake the cookies.
- Watch the dough. We used to set a timer and beat the dough for 10 minutes. This worked great with older beaters, but more powerful ones are able to whip the dough in a shorter amount of time. It's best to watch the dough and stop beating it once it looks like thick whipped cream.
- Use salted butter. This has nothing to do with making the softest shortbread cookies, but it will make the tastiest ones.
What do these Christmas shortbread cookies taste like?
Eating this shortbread is like eating buttery soft crumbly clouds.
If you're after a firm, biscuit-like shortbread (like Scottish shortbread), then this is not your recipe.
This recipe is for you if you want soft, melt in your mouth shortbread. (And really, who doesn't want that?)
FAQs about this shortbread cookie recipe
This recipe has been tested using unbleached, all-purpose flour.
This recipe works best with salted butter. Remember to let it soften to room temperature before you use it. If you only have unsalted butter, make sure to add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt or ½ teaspoon of table salt to the batter.
No, this shortbread is not overly sweet. If you'd like them a little sweeter, a sprinkle of icing sugar after they come out of the oven does the trick!
How to store shortbread cookies
One of the many wonderful things about shortbread cookies is that they last for a LONG time. They will keep well stored in a container on your counter for at least a week.
Or you can put them in your fridge for up to two weeks.
Can I freeze these shortbread cookies?
Yes! These cookies freeze very well.
Once they're completely cool, freeze them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Once they're frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe container and layer them between sheets of parchment paper.
Popular Christmas Baking Recipes
- Holiday Spiced Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Cranberry and White Chocolate Butter Cookies
- Mom's Nanaimo Bar Recipe
- Cranberry and White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes
Melt In Your Mouth Shortbread Cookies
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups salted butter, at room temperature – see notes
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Colored candied cherries or dried cranberries, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Position your oven rack in the middle of your oven.
- Add the flour, butter, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla to a deep mixing bowl.3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups salted butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, ½ cup cornstarch, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Begin mixing the ingredients using electric beaters at their lowest speed. Once the dry ingredients begin mixing with the butter and are not dusty anymore, increase the speed to medium.
- A few minutes later, the dough will start to look like sand. Keep beating the dough for another 3-4 minutes and it will start to come together.
- Once the dough comes together and your beaters start straining, increase the speed to high and beat the dough for another 1-2 minutes, or until it resembles thick whipped cream.
- Drop the dough into small mounds (about 2-3 tablespoons) on a baking sheet. If using, gently press a dried cranberry into the tops of the cookies then bake for 15 minutes. It is best to bake one sheet of cookies at the same time. Use a new sheet pan for the next batch. The cookie dough must be added to a cool baking sheet.Colored candied cherries or dried cranberries
- Let the cookies cool for at least 10 minutes then use an offset spatula or slotted fish spatula to remove the cookies from the sheet pan and transfer them to a cooling rack.
Wondering: if I browned butter and let it cook to room temperature (solidify again), would butter measurements be the same?
If you’re skimming the butter (to clarify it) then you’ll end up with less. But I don’t think skimming the butter is necessary in this case. I would brown it, let it cool slightly, then pour it into a 2 cup measuring up. If you need to make a little more, you can top it up.
Also, brilliant idea about using brown butter! I’m going to try that myself!
Love these sooo much! I’ve been making them for a few years each Christmas now.
Now I’m wondering if there’s a way I can add peanut butter to this? If so, any recommendations on how much?
I’m curious about that now, too! If you’re open to experimenting, you could try substituting some of the butter for peanut butter. If I try it myself and it’s successful, I’ll share the recipe!
Hi, would love to make this but no idea how to measure butter in cups and how much flour etc to use. Would you be able to say how many grams for all the ingredients please? Many thanks!
According to Google, 1 cup of butter is 227 grams and 1 cup of flour is 120 grams. I hope that helps!
My new favourite shortbread recipe.
Just made these shortbread cookies, best I ever made!!! Thankyou for this awesome recipe.
I made these without a mixer. Used my husband’s muscle & was worried we mixed it too much but it all worked out & they were still melt in your melt perfect. Even putting the dough overnight in the fridge they were delicious. Thank you for this recipe it’s a keeper.
Excellent recipe! Not too sweet and definitely ‘melt in your mouth’. Thank you
I was really excited about these but very disappointed. While they are super soft they are horrendously dry and absolutely no flavor at all. I actually tasted the dough first and could tell there was no flavor. I added an extra tsp of vanilla and an extra 1/8 cup powder sugar and there still is no flavor. It just tastes like melt in your mouth flour and butter. I intended on another recipe before finding this but from the reviews I read and the description I switched to this recipe and wish I hadn’t. Adding chocolate on top of the ones I have made but I would suggest tasting the dough before hand. On the remaining dough which was about 1/4 of the entire batch, I added the zest of 1 lemon and juice. Then sprinkled powder sugar on top. Those were a little better, not sweet at all. I’m not a person who likes a lot of sweets or overly sweet, I rarely eat sweets but this tastes more like a biscuit.
These are not sweet cookies! It’s also really important to use salted butter as they do taste plain with unsalted butter.
This was an excellent whipped shortbread recipe. You need a full 10 minutes to whip and I found that the hand mixer worked way better than my kitchen aid. I felt I had more control. I added glace cherries before I baked and they came out SO GOOD!!! I never leave comments on recipes online, but this one was well worth it. Thanks for sharing!!
Well I tried the tablespoon amount and I think it’s too much for a cookie so I went with tsp instead. And I did use the paddle attachment and it worked great, the whisk attachment didn’t work for me as it just filled up and stayed filled. So just some info that it does work.
can you use becel salted margarine sticks instead of butter?
No margarine is quite different than butter.
These are the best shortbread cookies i have ever made. They are light not too sweet and oh so worth standing with the mixer for ten minutes. I also enjoy them with a little powdered sugar on top instead of the berry. Thanks for sharing
I’m sure the recipe is good because so many others have said so. I just made these, following directions to the letter, and they came out flat as pancakes, melted into each other on the cookie sheet.
Hi Joan. That happens when they are over-beaten. You need to stop mixing them the moment that the batter starts to look like whipped cream. 🙂
These are, by far, the best shortbread cookies. I will no longer be baking my usual 30+ year old
recipe. I have to hide them from my husband or there won’t be any left for Christmas.
Can you pipe these?
Several commenters have mentioned that they’ve piped them successfully!
We always love soft short bread cookies over Christmas but I’ve never really found a recipe that works. I followed these instructions precisely but the dough never forms, it doesn’t whip like cream, it just turns to sand and continues to mix like sand so its very difficult to form. Then I have to press and roll it and the cookies works fine but they are not as soft as advertised. What am I doing wrong??
It sounds like they need to be whipped longer. The dough looks like sand for quite a while before suddenly changing.
These look amazing. Can I use a cookie stamp on there? Or roll out the dough and make round cookies?
This isn’t a good dough to roll. But others have said that they’ve successfully used a cookie press!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and tips and instructions. I’ve never had success with whipped shortbread before. I love this recipe and will certainly make it again. 🙏🥰
I followed this exactly and they turned out exactly as advertised! These cookies are super light and melt in your mouth. I’ll be making these for many Christmases to come!
Made these cookies and they were sooooo good. They didn’t make the week and we had eaten so many I had to make more. They will now be a part of our Christmas bake every year
I would love your melt in your mouth shortbread cookies
Can this dough be rolled out (1/4inch thick) and cut with cookie cutters? Thanks
No this isn’t that type of shortbread.
Hello Kristen
I was wondering if you could use Christmas cookie cutters because I wanted to cut them into shapes for the holidays.
I haven’t tried rolling the dough, but I think it is likely too soft for that. But a few people have said that they’ve successfully used a cookie press.
This recipe use to be on the box of cornstarch in the 80’s the only difference is the 1tsp of vanilla, the family recipe I always though was a secret to find out later is was printed on every box of cornstarch when I was a kid.. thank you for this they are definitely a touch of the past coming back
I’ve been using this recipe for a few years, most recently, 3 weeks ago. Today, when I opened it, the directions have completely changed. I remember the author was adamant about using a hand mixer for 10 minutes for best results and now it’s just casually mentioned that you can use a stand mixer for 5. Also, the original directions required the butter and powdered sugar to be mixed well before adding the dry ingredients. Do the new directions change the outcome of the cookie? I’m a little concerned because my family loves this recipe.
Hi Vicky! We’ve done A LOT of recipe testing on this recipe this year. We’ve tested it using a stand mixer, with electric beaters, salted butter, unsalted butter, adding all the ingredients at once, adding them separately, and all combinations of those. What we found is that it is possible to use a stand mixer, but it must be used for less time. And we didn’t find any difference in adding the ingredients separately or all at once, so we updated the recipe to make it simpler to make. We’ve added a lot more detail to the post so people can see exactly what the batter should look like when it’s ready – you’ll likely remember from the last time you made them that the batter will look like thick whipped cream when it’s ready. I hope that helps!
O no I used 1 cup butter and 1 cup margarine cause I didn’t have any more butter and my cookies are melting 🤣🥲
I’m sorry to hear that! Yes, margarine is very different than butter. 🙁
These Shortbread is Super Delish and melts in your mouth. Sweetness is perfect. Will make and Bske ahead and freeze them for the Holidays. Perfect giveaways too.
Could i use this recipe to make lady witch fingers for Halloween or would it be too soft to hold the finger shape from the mold?
No I think these cookies are too soft for that. Sorry!
I am wondering if I could add Chocolate chunks to this recipe? thank you.
The cookies are very soft so I’m not confident that adding chocolate to them will work. But you could gently place a chocolate chunk in the top prior to baking them. Or drizzle some chocolate on after they come out of the oven!
I’m not sure what happened but these cookies were so fragile they would just crumble in your fingers when I picked them up. The taste was good but it was more like cookie dust than a cookie to bite into. I must’ve missed something.
You didnt let them sit long enough when you pulled them out of the oven. They must sit for at least 10 to15 min
Hi. This recipe looks so delicious and I want to try it but I’m making it for my brother who has no teeth. Can I just leave out the cherry? Or, can I just put a little raspberry jam in there?
You can leave it out – we often do. But jam sounds delicious!
I made these cookies and they really are melt in your mouth! I made 40 and between my mom and I they were gone in 24 hours! They were absolutely delicious and I plan to make them again tonight!
Omg. One of the best shortbread cookies i have ever made!! I skipped dinner so i could have a couple more. Love Love Love this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
I made these cookies exactly as recipe says using hand mixer. Of course as I went to turn them over at 7 1/2 min. They fell apart. Intried to push back together but I am disappoint. What a mess!
These cookies (or any cookies that I know of) shouldn’t be turned over halfway through baking. Bake them for the full 15 minutes then let them cool for at least 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
As far as turning the cookie sheets, if you are using 2 cookie sheets, switch them around halfway through baking (put the cookie sheet on the top rack onto the bottom rack) to help the cookies cook evenly. If you have a convection oven, you can skip this step.
Linda your so funny. You just rotate the cookie sheet about half way through and dont touch them until after you take them out of the oven and wait 10 minutes. Try again. Worth the ten minute beating time.
Absolutely the best shortbread cookies I’ve ever made. I followed the recipe to a t and they were perfect. My family loved them.
Hi Kristen
Once baked how long do these stay fresh?
Thanks
They will keep for about a week in a sealed container. But they freeze excellent so don’t hesitate to put some into your freezer!
Made these exactly as directed. Perfect cookie. I love the melt in your mouth texture. Put a little buttercream on them and couldn’t stop eating them. Thanks for the recipe.
They look wonderful. I’m a lover of the less crumbly shortbread. I was thinking of making thumbprint cookies with it too. Have you done that with this recipe
They are very soft so I think they might crumble if you try to indent them. You can always try a could as a test!
I made this recipe using a cookie scoop and they turned out great. As stated, it is not a sweet shortbread so definitely add the icing if you like a sweet cookie. Was tempted to pipe it but didn’t, but I may try it next time. I did mix for 10 minutes but I think it was ready prior to that because I did whip the butter and sugar very well. My oven has a surround bake mode for cookies and delicate cakes so I chose to use that. It reduced my baking time by 5 minutes. I baked all my cookies for 10 minutes and left them on the sheets for 10 minutes as directed. I debated if I should chill the dough and realize now that the printed recipe did not state that, but the on-line comments suggest chilling the dough. That said, the cookies looked just like the picture and tasted great.
These look amazing. Do you think these can be made using a cookie press?
Some commenters have said that a cookie press worked for them!
Love these cookies, melt in your mouth is the best shortbread I think!
Your recipe is the best I’ve had!
I decided to get creative with half my dough tonight tho, I used orange extract instead of vanilla, a tsp or so of real oj, and crystallized ginger.
When I pulled them out of oven I popped another piece of crystallized ginger on top instead of a cherry. If your a ginger fan like me this was really quite delightful!
Thanks for the recipe!
Love your idea to use ginger!!
I love the ginger idea too! But how much crystallized ginger did you add to the recipe? I’m a novice baker and don’t have any idea. Thank you!
Can you bake as bars?
I haven’t tried it but I don’t think it would work well. This shortbread is very soft. Usually, shortbread that is baked into bars is quite hard and crunchy.
Ahhhhh-mazing! I had never made shortbread before and these are spectacular. My husband is a shortbread fanatic and he couldn’t get over how delicious these are. I am heading to the store to get more butter right now! Thank you!
Also, I used crushed Cadbury Mini Eggs as garnish…in case you didn’t think these could get better!
What a great idea!!
I made these over Christmas and they were a huge hit. Super yummy! I just made them again. This time I used a regular cookie scoop and got double the amount. Around 60 cookies this time. I also added chocolate chips just for fun and they were excellent!!!!
Made half this recipe and regretted it immediately. They are soooo delicious!
Absolutely melt in your mouth – the title doesn’t lie. Also very simple to make. I would make them a little smaller than the recipe states but that’s just personal preference.
Have bookmarked this recipe and shared with friends. It’s a keeper
I used the plain old whisk by hand (great exercise), but it turned out well except that it’s too sweet. I’ll try it again with less sugar next time…
Wow that must have been quite the arm workout! Good for you!!
Got your heaping tablespoon amount INCORRECT!
A heaping tablespoon is 3 TEASPOONS not 3 tablespoons.
3 teaspoons do equal 1 tablespoon. However, when I take a big, heaping tablespoon, it equals 3 level tablespoons. I’ve measured, just to be sure. 🙂
Excellent shortbread cookies. Melt in your mouth is right. A keeper, will be making them again for sure. The taste is very good.
Mine melted into one large cookie sheet while baking ?. Not sure what I did wrong…I halved the recipe and used gluten free 1 to 1 flour… maybe i needed to fridge or before baking.
Gluten-free flours do act quite differently, even 1-1 a mix. So it could have been that, or they may have been too warm before going into the oven. I would put them into the fridge for an hour before you bake them next time as you suggested. 🙂
Flavour was perfect, not too sweet at all! Only issue I had is the recipe is so thick to start with, my poor old mixer finally died about half way through the 10 minutes. Cookies were still delicious just not melt in your mouth
Rest in piece to my old hand mixer as well (2001 – 2021)
O….M….G!!!!! The best shortbread cookie I have ever tasted! Sorry Nana 😉 Absolutely delectable! I followed the recipe exactly as you wrote it and holy guacamole, melt in your mouth deliciousness! Thank you for sharing Kristen, this is now my forever shortbread recipe that I will pass on to my daughter and or granddaughters. Today is Christmas Eve, I consider this recipe and instruction as my best gift of the season. Merry Christmas to you and yours, Kristen. Be well and blessed be <3
Kristen,
I should mention that I changed the recipe from cups to grams. I saw a few folks asking for metric conversion. So I will share, I hope that is ok.
3 cups all purpose flour=450 gms
1 cup icing sugar=120 gms
1/2 cup cornstarch=60 gms
As mentioned, this recipe and your instruction are “a bite of heaven in my
mouth!” Those words are what came out of my partners mouth after his first bite!
Cheers and kind regards
Brenda
Thank you so much for sharing these conversions!!
Thank you, Brenda! Merry Christmas to you, too!