Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies are my all-time favorite cookie.

There is just something so rewarding about taking the most basic of ingredients and making such a delicious and addictive cookie. I use vanilla bean paste for the flavoring in this cookie, but vanilla extract could certainly be used instead in the same amount. If you want to change-up the flavor a bit, add a little lemon zest to add extra interest. We were experimenting with this recipe and tried dipping it in chocolate. While it was delicious, in my opinion the cookie on it’s own is better. I do like to sprinkle the cookies with some coarse sugar before baking–it just adds that perfect little crunch.

The cookies on the right were rolled out to ½” thick and then cut with the plunger cutters. These cutters come in so many shapes – snowflakes, snowmen, ornts and more for the holidays and everyday shapes like animals, baby shapes and transportation shapes. The cutters are so easy to use. Cut your dough with the cutter, the cookie dough will stay in the cutter.

Set it on your parchment-lined baking sheet and press the plunger down from the top while lifting up on the cutter. It will impress the design on the cookie and the cookie will just stay on the sheet. If the dough is sticking, lightly flour the surface of the rolled-out dough. You can see that the design stays beautifully in the cookie even after it is baked. This recipe can be rolled out and cut and baked like these cookies or pressed into shortbread pans and baked or even just pressed into a cake pan, scored and the baked. The baking times will vary based on thickness and size. Bake until they are lightly golden brown and they will be delicious. These cookies stay fresh for a long time – 2 weeks – if they last that long in your house. Just store them in an airtight container and at room temperature.