Easy 3-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies Recipe
These easy 3-ingredient shortbread cookies prove that you don't need a lot of ingredients and complicated steps to produce an incredible recipe. In fact, three ingredients, one bowl, and a bit of attention to detail are all that's separating you from one of the world's most famous vintage desserts.
As a recipe developer and blogger with over 12 years of professional experience, I truly believe there's nothing that sets a baking recipe apart more than quality ingredients. In fact, I constantly whip out this recipe to show friends that you don't have to spend hours in the kitchen, go to far-flung grocery stores, or look for exotic ingredients to bake well. But in a recipe as deceptively easy as this one, you have to pay attention to the quality of every single thing. Without anything to fall back on, these kinds of recipes rely on amazing ingredients to deliver the flavor, texture, and simplicity they promise.
There are also some simple tips and tricks to help you make your shortbread as amazing as possible, and we'll cover them after we break down the recipe itself. But to start, just remember that investing money in your building blocks is what can make or break your baking project.
Gather the ingredients for these easy 3-ingredient shortbread cookies
With only three ingredients, everything you put in these cookies counts. You'll need butter, and as our ethos is about great ingredients, we recommend procuring good-quality French salted butter. French butter has a higher butterfat content than American butter, typically around 82-84% versus 80%, which means less water in the dough, better flavor, and a crisper, more tender final cookie. Then, you'll need powdered sugar for sweetness and all-purpose flour for body. The best flour to use is unbleached all-purpose flour, which means it hasn't been treated with chemical agents to whiten it and speed up ageing. Beyond the unnecessary additives, this process can also weaken the gluten and give your baked goods a more flat, one-note flavor. Unbleached flour, on the other hand, has a bit more protein and a cleaner taste.
Step 1: Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Step 2: Line the baking sheets
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 3: Beat the butter and sugar
Beat the butter and powdered sugar together with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Step 4: Add the flour
Add the flour all at once and mix on low until the dough just comes together. Do not overmix.
Step 5: Shape the dough into a disc
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a flat disc.
Step 6: Chill the dough
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 7: Roll the dough
Roll the dough to ½-inch thickness.
Step 8: Cut the cookies
Using a round or scalloped-edged cookie cutter, cut the into circles approximately 2½ inches in diameter. Place on prepared baking sheets.
Step 9: Add holes
Using a skewer or chopstick, press 4 holes into the center of each cookie. Re-roll scraps and repeat as needed.
Step 10: Bake and cool the cookies
Bake for 18–20 minutes, until the edges are just barely golden. The centers should look set but not browned. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Step 11: Serve the shortbread cookies
Serve the 3-ingredient shortbread cookies at room temperature.
What pairs well with shortbread?
Easy 3-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies Recipe
Our easy 3-ingredient buttery, crispy, crumbly shortbread cookie recipe is proof that sometimes the simplest recipes yield the most satisfying results.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) good-quality French salted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter and powdered sugar together with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the flour all at once and mix on low until the dough just comes together. Do not overmix.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a flat disc.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough to ½-inch thickness.
- Using a round or scalloped-edged cookie cutter, cut them into circles approximately 2½ inches in diameter. Place on prepared baking sheets.
- Using a skewer or chopstick, press 4 holes into the center of each cookie. Re-roll scraps and repeat as needed.
- Bake for 18–20 minutes, until the edges are just barely golden. The centers should look set but not browned. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
- Serve the 3-ingredient shortbread cookies at room temperature.
Nutrition
| Calories per Serving | 114 |
| Total Fat | 7.8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4.9 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.3 g |
| Cholesterol | 20.3 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 10.0 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0.3 g |
| Total Sugars | 2.1 g |
| Sodium | 61.1 mg |
| Protein | 1.2 g |
What are the best tips for making perfect shortbread cookies?
Making the best possible shortbread cookies starts with the best possible ingredients, but ends with a bit of know-how. We've amassed a few tips and tricks for baking the perfect cookies and avoiding the most common cookie mistakes, all to ensure your shortbread always comes out crunchy, buttery, and crumbly. First, always start baking with room-temperature butter. It should be soft enough to hold the impression of your finger, but not look greasy or shiny. If it's too cold, it won't cream properly. Too warm, and the cookies will spread in the oven. It's a Goldilocks-zone question, and usually 30 minutes outside the fridge will give you the right consistency.
Second, beat the butter and powdered sugar together for a full three minutes, without rushing. This builds the light, tender crumb that makes shortbread so beloved. Afterward, don't skip the chill in the fridge, which is a crucial step with all butter-based flaky pastries. Refrigerating the dough for 30 minutes firms up the fat so the cookies hold their shape, and the dough is easier to roll without sticking.
And finally, avoid the temptation to roll your cookies too thin. Thinner cookies can warp and wave at the edges, especially toward the end of baking. And in any case, watch your cookies closely during the last few minutes of baking, to catch them in the moment when the edges are just barely golden, and the centers are set and a pale yellow. The best shortbread cookies look slightly underdone and will firm up as they cool.
What adaptations can you make to this shortbread recipe?
The base recipe of these 3-ingredient shortbread cookies is simple, which leaves plenty of room for experimentation. The easiest addition is to dip these cookies in chocolate. Once fully cooled, dip one half of each cookie into melted white or dark chocolate, and let it set on parchment until firm. Additionally, you can spread a layer of ganache, buttercream, jam, or lemon curd between every two cookies, turning them into sandwich cookies. Both of these changes will dress up the cookies and turn them into a fancy but easy dessert.
If you are ready to play with our structure a bit, then you can adapt the flour to shift the texture. Replace ¼ cup of the all-purpose flour with cornstarch for a finer, more crumbly crumb that melts on the tongue. A quarter cup of rice flour gives the cookies a slightly sandy texture that is very close to traditional Scottish shortbread. Switching up part of the flour for cake flour will make your cookies softer. Just take care not to switch up more than ¼ cup total, as it can make your dough too fragile to work with.
Finally, you can also play with the shapes and presentation of the cookies. They can be cut into thicker rectangles, each dotted with an even number of dots, similar to Walker's all butter shortbread cookies. For a traditional Scottish appearance, skip the cookie cutters entirely. Instead, press the dough into a round pie plate or specialty shortbread mold, score it into wedges before baking, and crack it apart at the lines once it's been baked. This turns the cookies into one large, patterned disc instead of the fussier individual cookies.