Old Fashioned Shortbread Cookies
Old Fashioned Shortbread Cookies. A life-long love of shortbread cookies has meant many variations in my kitchen over the years but at Christmas time I always return to the simple recipe I loved as a child.
I have indeed had a lifelong love of shortbread cookies as the number of variations of this all time favourite on Rock Recipes can pay witness. I've often said that sometimes simple is best and that is particularly true in the case of shortbread cookies.
With their tender, crisp, crumbly texture and buttery sweet flavour, they need nothing more to make them totally satisfying, except maybe a cup of hot tea. I was quite partial to a tall glass of cold milk with these as a child and still am on occasion.
During the Holidays, all the women in our extended family and friends made shortbread cookies as part of their Christmas baking routine. Some kids gravitated to other more decadent cookies in the Christmas offerings.
However, I always enjoyed eating around the bright red cherry or sometimes gumdrop at the centre of a shortbread cookie and saving the sweet morsel in the middle as the final bite.
This recipe is a slight variation in method on Nanny Mildred Ralph's recipe, who was my Uncle Bill's Mom, and a great baker like so many Newfoundland women of her generation.
I've added a little real vanilla to the dough for additional flavour and glacé cherries to the centre instead of maraschinos as she did.
You can use whichever you like or substitute baking gums as I just mentioned. It just wouldn't be Christmas without some Holiday Shortbread Cookies.
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5 common ingredients make one perfect cookie.
Ingredients
- 2 cups butter at room temperature, 1 pound
- 1 cup icing sugar, powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup corn starch
- 3 cups flour
- Maraschino cherries or baking gums for the centers ., optional
Instructions
- Cream together the butter and icing sugar very well until very smooth and creamy. No lumps of butter should be visible.
- Blend in the vanilla extract.
- Sift together the flour and corn starch.
- Blend slowly into the creamed mixture until a soft dough forms.
- Split dough into 2 equal round portions.
- Wrap the dough rounds in plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours at least.
- You can freeze one of the cookie dough portions for later if you like.
- This dough will also last in the fridge for 3-4 days so that you can bake a few up at a time and enjoy them fresh from the oven if you like.
- To bake the cookies preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll the dough out to a little less than ¼ of an inch on a lightly floured surface. Use a 2 inch cookie cutter (or holiday shaped cookie cutters) to cut out the cookies.
- Place the cookies on the parchment paper a half inch apart. Add a half maraschino or glacé cherry to the center, or a baking gumdrop if you like.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they just start to turn brown at the edges.
- Let cool for 10 minutes on the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
- These cookies will freeze quite well for several weeks.
Notes
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Nutrition Information
Yield
48Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 121Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 20mgSodium 61mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 0gSugar 5gProtein 1g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Hi Barry, would this dough work in a press?
Depends on the kind of press. Probably for mold presses but maybe not for spritz type cookie presses.
Thank you Barry for the lovely cookie recipe.
This is a wonderful recipe! They look like such a nice bite! I'd love it if you shared this at Holiday Best with Tumbleweed Contessa.
Linda
http://www.tumbleweedcontessa.com/blog/holidaybest/
Shared a few Christmas treats there this morning!
when do you put the cherry in ,,while baking or after baked
Before baking.
do you use salted butter in this recipe? thanks
I do but it is a matter of preference.
As a half-Scot, corn starch and powdered sugar in shortbread just makes me cringe.
Shortbread should be "As Easy As 1-2-3": 1c sugar, 2c butter, 3c flour. Cream butter and sugar, add flour (and some vanilla, if that is your preference), and mix by hand. Press mixture into high-sided cookie sheet, and add columns of fork pokes. Cook 325F for 30m.
You can then add fruit, chocolate, whatever toppings as you like. But the basic cookie is so much better; you'll never want to go back to the corn starch or the powdered sugar.
I do several different kinds of shortbread including the Scottish type you reference. I love them all.
Thank you was looking for the Scottish shortbread recipe that my mom in law use to make sounds right on to hers
Nana so this recipe it will be one sheet of cookie and then I will have to cut in squares?i like the easiness bit would like to know if I could cut them with a cookie cutter and bake
thanks Joan
I love Barry recipe been raised by a newfie mother
You can roll them out and use cookie cutters for sure but the baking time will be less.
This's how the realy Short bread cookies are this is how I do my Short bread cookies 👍😇
Thank you as a scotchvirish lass your recipe soundsbest!
Your rudeness makes me cringe.
To whom are you referring?
When do you add the cherry? Before baking?
Before baking.
Do you use salted or unsalted butter? Thank you! 🙂
It's a matter of preference but I often use salted butter.
Is this temperature for fan forced or conventional oven, please?
I did these in a conventional oven because that's how I made them for years before convection ovens. I judge them as done by the color around the edges which is mostly why I still use the regular oven setting.
Awesome recipe, this recipe was so good that I told the kids that the next time I make these cookies. im gonna put broccoli in them.
Just so they don't eat them all the same day.
Thanks for the recipe.
Chris
HA! Sneak it in where you can but I wouldn't put big money on that working! 😉 Glad you enjoyed them.
Do you add baking powder to the flour before baking?
I've never seen a shortbread recipe to ever use baking powder. I don't think that would actually be shortbread.
Hey! I've been following a couple recipes on this website and all have turned out great. However I just tried the shortbread and they flattened out and crumbled to pieces when I held them, have you ever had this happen? Help!
Never had that happen. Sounds like you may have over measured your flour. Make sure it isn't compacted into the cup. Spoon in the flour and level it is my rule. I'm going to assume that you are using real dairy butter. There is no substitute.
I left my dough in the fridge and now its very hard! Do I let it warm up or what?
Yes let it come back up to temp.
Have you ever made homemade candy ? Do you know the recipe fir it beside milk sugar and coco
Are you talking about fudge?
Barry, I've come to your website a few times now. I'm originally from Corner Brook and grew up I Deer Lake.. now I'm in Ontario and the recipes that you share remind me of my childhood back home. I'm about to take on this Shortbread one however I'm going to omit the cherry on top. Thanks for sharing
Thanks. So glad you are liking what we do around here.