A festive twist on a classic cookie
I have never tried to make shortbread before trying this recipe. I think I affiliated “shortbread” with “pie crust” which can be a scary word in the kitchen! However, I did master my grandma’s pie crust recipe, so when I stumbled upon her shortbread recipe I thought I’d try it! To my utter surprise – it was a deliciously easy recipe – taking little to no time to whip up and using only three ingredients! I also couldn’t stop eating these cookies. Shortbread is originally a recipe from Scotland, where it is made year-round, and specifically at Christmas time! It was traditionally made in a round cake pan with notches to represent the sun. Now you can find all sorts of special shortbread pans, but a simple cake pan will also do the trick! It can also be made plain, or sprinkled with sugar on top. I used some festive colored sugar sprinkles to make them extra festive! Keep reading for my grandma’s deliciously easy Christmas shortbread recipe!
Ingerdients you will need
Recipe tips & Tricks
Shortbread is most easily made in a food processor, but it can also be made in an electric mixer. If you are going to use an electric mixer – take your butter out of the fridge 30 minutes before to soften it a little. And then cream the butter in the mixer FIRST before adding the flour and sugar.
As I mentioned earlier, you can use a standard round 9 in cake pan, a 9×9 square pan or a special pan made for shortbread! None of the pans you use will change how the recipe is made.
Shortbread can be decorated with a plethora of different things, lemon zest, caraway seeds, nuts, or colored sugar. I used green and red colored sugar sprinkles to make these festive Christmas Shortbread cookies.
BAKING TOOLS I USED
How to make easy christmas shortbread recipe
Christmas Shortbread
Ingredients
- 2 cups Flour
- ½ cup Sugar
- 1 cup Butter (cold)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°
- In a food processor, blend the flour and sugar with a metal blade.
- Cut the butter into chunks and add to the food processor gradually, mixing between additions. When all the butter is added, process until the mixture turns into crumbly bits – it resembles wet sand.
- Add the mixture into a plastic bag, and mash together into a ball and knead the dough in the bag just until the mixture holds together. Try and handle the dough as little as possible.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Press each portion into a 9 in square pan and press down with your fingers.
- Sprinkle colored sugar sprinkles over the dough.
- Bake for 1 hour, when finished baking, the shortbread should be a pale color with a light golden tint on the edges.
- Remove from the oven and let the shortbread sit for 10-15 minutes
- Remove from the pans when still slightly warm, cut the shortbread into desired pieces when still warm.
Notes
If you liked Grandma’s Deliciously Easy Christmas Shortbread Recipe, check out other Inherited Recipes.
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