Whipped Shortbread Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These traditional shortbread cookies are the Christmas cookies my mom makes every holiday season. They’re whipped shortbread cookies that are so soft they literally melt in your mouth. You will LOVE them!
This has long been my favorite shortbread recipe. The cookies are so soft that they literally melt in your mouth. They are different from Scottish shortbread cookies, which are firmer. Eating this shortbread is like eating buttery, soft, crumbly clouds. This recipe is for you if you want soft, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread. (And really, who doesn’t want that?)
This is the shortbread cookie recipe my 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 I say they melt in your mouth, I mean it. No chewing is 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 recipe has only five ingredients, is made in one bowl, and is the best shortbread recipe ever. Are you sold? You should be!
This easy recipe is made with only five ingredients!
- Butter – I 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 – I add this for a subtle flavor.
Making whipped shortbread is incredibly easy. But it helps to look at the pictures above to see what the dough looks like at the four stages as you beat 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 begins to look like sand, increase the beaters to medium speed. You’ll likely think it will never come together at this point, but have patience and trust that it will.
- Keep beating the sandy dough for 3-4 minutes. Suddenly, you will feel your beaters start to strain, and the dough will come together.
- Turn your beaters up to high and 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. It’s so easy!
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.
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.
- Several readers have commented that they’ve had success using this dough with a cookie press.
Store and freeze
This shortbread cookie recipe is great to make ahead of time. Not only do they keep well for many days on your counter, but you can also store them in your freezer for months. So go ahead and make a big batch and have some on hand next time a cookie craving strikes!
Store: This is a great recipe to make ahead of time, as they keep well for many days on your counter. I usually keep some on a plate (for easy access) and put the rest in a bag. They will keep for a week on your counter or up to two weeks in the fridge.
Freeze: When I was a kid, my mom would make these a month or more before Christmas and store them in a container in the freezer. Once thawed, you’ll never know they were frozen. Tip ⇢ stack them between layers of parchment paper to protect them.
Best Shortbread Cookie Recipe
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 Fahrenheit. 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. Note: Make sure the cookie dough is cold before you put it in the oven. If your house is quite warm, chill the cookies in the fridge before you bake them. Bake for 15 minutes. It is best to bake one sheet of cookies at a 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Popular Christmas Baking Recipes
For more inspiration, check out all of my cookie recipes!
What an easy and delicious cookie! I love a cookie with simple flavors and the texture is perfect!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Worst whipped shortbread cookie I’ve ever made and I bake a lot! What a waste of a pound of butter!
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t love the cookies!
This melt in your mouth recipe is truly the best I’ve ever made! I’ve made it two years in a row, several batches each year. I tried to shorten the beating time ONCE. Not worth it. Follow this recipe exactly and you will having amazing, delicious, melt in your mouth cookies every time.
I make mine about half the size of these ones and bake for 10-11 minutes.
This truly is a melt in your mouth cookie, best I’ve ever made
I have made this for three years. They are deliscious and melt in your mouth. Smiles, Melinda
Very confusing recipe. At first you say don’t skimp on 10 min mixing process and then once completed at the very end you say If using a stand mixer don’t mix too much… like what .
The recipe directions say to use a hand mixer – electric beaters that you hold onto. If you use a stand mixer (like a Kitchen Aid) then you’ll want to reduce the time as it’s a more powerful machine.
Hi there. Is there a Tested and True speed # and minutes a Kitchenaid Stand mixer 500hP could do this? That’s what I have and I’d hate to waste this amount of ingredients. Thanks.
Planning to test this recipe this year with my stand mixer. Will update the post when I do!
Can you pipe these?
I’ve never tried it before, but I’ve had a few people in the comments say that they have piped these cookies successfully. 🙂
Excellent and I am not a baker…
These are amazing. I made them bite sized (used just over a level teaspoon for each cookie) and dusted them with icing sugar, then stored them in an airtight container with a few Earl Grey tea bags to add a little flavour and they are incredible! So light and melt in your mouth delicious!
What a great trick with the tea bags! I’ve never heard of that before but I’m definitely going to try it!
This is the perfect recipe. I made these today and they feel like silk!
That’s such a great way to describe them! They totally feel like silk!
How much salt should I add in if I do not have salted butter?
The general rule of thumb is to use ¼ teaspoon per ½ cup of butter. So for this recipe, adding 1 teaspoon of salt should do the trick. 🙂
This recipe is as easy as it sounds to make. The cookies taste as wonderful as you would expect them to taste, based on the write up. I wasn’t sure how to measure 3 tablespoons of cookie dough without causing breaks in the dough while baking, so I used an ice cream scoop which measures almost perfectly to 3 tablespoon sized cookies. Also, I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND a very very deep mixing bowl. During the 10 minute mix, the dough will fly everywhere due to the consistency, so take my word for it on the extra deep bowl. The 15 minute bake time worked out to be perfect with my oven..cookies weren’t too dark, or too light. The final test will be based on the family’s reaction to the finished product.
The best shortbread ever! Perfection!
AmaZing and they do totally melt in your mouth. Follow directions exactly and yes use the hand mixer with beaters ! Not sure why but that must make the difference?! I placed red and green chocolate covered candies on top instead of cranberries.
is powdered sugar the same as icing sugar in this recipe? thanks
Yes! Exactly the same thing. 🙂
Great cookies and your right they melt in your mouth can’t wait to show my sister-in-law TKS.MERRY CHRISTMAS
Second try. Outstanding.