This buttery shortbread cookie may not be the most classic Scottish or Irish sort, but it may be the most tender. Shortbread’s texture can be crackly or melt in your mouth, depending on how much butter you use, which sugar you choose (powdered sugar gives tenderness; granulated sugar, crunch), and whether or not you add eggs. This crumbly shortbread recipe came about when I made a mistake in a recipe that a Parisian pastry chef gave me decades ago. The chef had used an egg yolk in the cookie dough and another to brush the logs of dough.
I inadvertently added both yolks to the dough and have been making the cookies that way ever since. They don’t hold their shape as prettily as most other shortbreads, but they’re so tasty.
The shortbreads made with whole wheat flour are a great morning cookie; the rye and chocolate cookies are an unexpected mix of earthy and indulgent; and the ones made with spelt are especially good with fruit or ice cream. Any of them would be a welcome addition to a Christmas cookie platter—or any holiday cookie platter, for that matter.
Plan ahead: The dough needs to be refrigerated for a minimum of 3 hours (overnight is better) or frozen for at least 2 hours.
Editor’s Note: This recipe was originally published in ‘Baking With Dorie’ as Tenderest Shortbread, Four Ways and first appeared on this website October 13, 2021.
You can turn these slice-and-bake cookies into roll-and-cut cookies: Roll the chilled dough on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin to a ½-inch thickness. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut cookies to your desired shape then transfer to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Chill 30 minutes before baking as directed above. Decorate the cooled cookies with melted chocolate, or royal icing and sprinkles, or eat them plain.
Having a cookie party? Pile these tender, flavorful shortbread cookies onto a platter with pecan thumbprints, food-processor spritz cookies, classic sugar cookies, chewy brown-sugar molasses cookies, powdered sugar–covered almond butter cookies, and more options from our list of best cookie recipes. For almond-flavored shortbread, substitute our favorite almond extract for half the amount of vanilla extract used in these cookies.
Recipe information
Total Time
40 minutes plus chilling
Yield
Makes about 24 cookies
Ingredients
For the Original Shortbread
For the Whole Wheat Shortbread
For the Rye-Chocolate Shortbread
For the Spelt-Flax Shortbread
Preparation
Step 1
All of the shortbreads are made in the same manner using an electric mixer. If you’re making a shortbread with two kinds of flour, whisk the flours together.
Step 2
Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and zest, if using, together on medium speed until soft, creamy and homogenous, scraping the bowl as needed. One by one, beat in the yolks, followed by the vanilla.
Step 3
Turn off the mixer, add the flour(s) all at once and mix on low speed only until incorporated. If you’ve got wheat germ, chocolate or flax seeds or nuts, mix in now.
Step 4
Scrape the dough out onto the work surface and divide it in two; the dough will be soft and sticky. Put each piece on a sheet of parchment and cajole it into a log that’s 6 to 6 1⁄2 inches long, tightening the log with the paper and twisting the ends. Refrigerate the logs for at least 3 hours (overnight is better) or freeze them for 2 hours. (The logs can be frozen for up 2 months; slice when they're still frozen. You might need to add a minute to the oven time.)
Step 5
When you're ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
Step 6
Using a chef’s knife, cut each log into 1⁄2-inch-thick rounds. Lay them out on the baking sheet, leaving about an inch between them.
Step 7
Bake, rotating the cookie sheet after 10 minutes, for 21 to 23 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and set. The cookies will still be soft, so leave them on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack and allowing them to cool to room temperature.
DO AHEAD: The cookies can be packed in an airtight container and kept at room temperature for at least 5 days.
Recipe notes
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