Christmas Shortbread Cookies Recipe

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Hello Daring Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: With my unimaginable Christmas Shortbread Cookies Recipe, you’ll be able to whip up delectable home made cookies even when it’s final–minute!  This 10-minute dough is the simplest and quickest technique for creating mouthwatering vacation treats that appear to be they got here from a bakery!

• 3 ingredient simplicity:  A mixer isn’t required for this easy one-bowl recipe. Mixing by hand works simply nice.
• Finances-friendly: There are no expensive components like nuts or chocolate right here.
• Superb for gifting and delivery: All people loves shortbread! And since these cookies keep contemporary for just a few days and aren’t fragile, they’re nice to mail to far-off household and buddies.
• Good for reducing and adorning: This dough is super-easy to work with! Even the children could have no drawback rolling and reducing out these cookies.
• Irresistible! Buttery, tender, and completely sweetened, these timeless cookies are each homey and chic.

For these 3-ingredient shortbread cookies, the standard of the butter means every thing. And as knowledgeable chef, I do know that higher butter all the time issues when baking. I select Plugrà^® Premium European Fashion Butter as a result of it’s formulated with 82% butterfat and slow-churned for constant outcomes, superior texture, and richer taste. To create the right cookie with pliable dough that rolls out fantastically, a melt-in-your-mouth texture, and excellent taste, you have to use the most effective butter. That’s why I’m so excited to companion with Plugrà to share how the proper butter can really elevate your baking.

Take it from me (I’ve been making shortbread since I used to be a younger youngster!), I’ve made this 3-ingredient shortbread at the least 30 occasions, and the outcomes by no means stop to amaze me. There are infinite methods to make use of 3-ingredient shortbread—it’s genuinely a vacation season celebrity. From cut-outs, plain or embellished, to sandwich cookies and bars, my Christmas Shortbread Recipe will likely be a lifesaver this season and all 12 months spherical. For extra shortbread recipes, take a look at my Buter Pecan Shortbread Cookies, Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies, and Cheddar Pecan Savory Shortbread Cookies!

Desk of Contents

What are Christmas Shortbread Cookies?

• Christmas Shortbread Cookies are a basic vacation deal with constituted of butter, powdered sugar, and flour. After the dough is chilled, it’s rolled, lower into festive shapes, and embellished if desired.
  • Taste: Buttery, flippantly candy, a pleasing contact of saltiness
  • Texture: Tender, however sturdy sufficient to not be too crumbly
  • Foremost components: Plugrà^® Premium European Fashion Butter, all-purpose flour, powdered sugar
  • Nice for: Vacation events, snacks with tea or espresso, cookie swaps, gifting and mailing, Christmas dinner, New Yr’s Eve gatherings
• Christmas Shortbread Cookies are preferrred for rolling and reducing. The custom of reducing cookies into festive shapes and adorning them has its roots in historical practices, when folks fashioned small truffles into particular shapes, resembling stars and flowers, to convey good luck at harvest time or as a protecting image on the solstice.

Key Substances and Substitutes

For the Christmas Shortbread Cookies

82% Salted Plugrà^® Premium European Fashion Butter

• Plugrà^® Premium European Fashion Butter incorporates roughly 82% butterfat, giving it wealthy taste and low moisture.
• Plugrà’s high-fat proportion helps to coat the flour, which inhibits gluten formation, and creates that pretty shortbread crumbliness.
• Since Plugrà Premium European Fashion Butter has extra butterfat and fewer water than commonplace American butter, it whips up smoother and lighter, contributing to a delicate crumb.
• Use room temperature butter right here. You realize your butter is on the proper temperature whenever you push the butter and it makes an indent, however your finger doesn’t simply squish proper by means of. Listed here are my tricks to get your butter to room temperature.

Powdered sugar

• Powdered sugar sweetens the Christmas shortbread.
• As a result of powdered sugar dissolves simply, it’s key to giving my 3-ingredient cookies their iconic melt-in-your-mouth texture.
• Since powdered sugar is made with cornstarch, which helps take up moisture, these cookies have a fragile crumb.
• You possibly can simply make your personal powdered sugar with my easy recipe.

All-purpose flour

• All-purpose flour makes dough that’s agency sufficient to chop with cookie cutters, however will bake up into tender cookies.
• The protein content material in all-purpose flour additionally retains the cookies from spreading.
• Substitute: If you need a gluten free cookie, use the identical quantity of a gluten-free baking combine, like my Simple Almond Flour Baking Combine or one other gluten free flour.

Icing (optionally available)

• My vacation shortbread cookies are scrumptious on their very own, however if you need a clean, shiny, arduous icing, attempt my Royal Icing recipe.

For the Royal Icing

Egg whites

• Egg whites give the icing construction and stability. They’re whipped to create a shiny, thick texture.
• Substitutes: In case you choose, you need to use 1/2 cup (4 oz/120 g) of store-bought pasteurized liquid egg whites as an alternative.
  • For a vegan possibility, use aquafaba (chickpea water). Use 2 tablespoons of aquafaba for every egg white (8 tablespoons complete).
  • Notice that you could be want to make use of barely extra powdered sugar to achieve the proper consistency.

Powdered sugar

• Powdered sugar, also called confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar, sweetens the icing.
• Moreover, powdered sugar provides the icing construction and a smoothness.
• Be sure you sift the powdered sugar first to take away any lumps.
• Substitute: It’s straightforward to make home made powdered sugar with my easy recipe..

Lemon juice

• Lemon juice stabilizes the egg whites, serving to the royal icing maintain its form.
• As well as, lemon juice provides a delicate, nice taste, and the contact of acidity balances the sweetness.
• Substitute: You should use cream of tartar (¼ teaspoon / 1.25ml) rather than lemon juice to stabilize the egg whites.

Make Christmas Shortbread Cookies Recipe

To Make the Shortbread Cookie Dough

1. Cream the butter and sugar: In a big bowl cream collectively the comfortable Salted Plugrà^® Premium European Fashion Butter and sugar with an electrical mixer on excessive velocity till gentle and fluffy, about 3 minutes. (You can too do that step utilizing a hand whisk)

2. End the dough: Add within the flour and blend till the dough simply comes collectively.

3. Chill the dough: Wrap the cookie dough in cling wrap and place within the fridge for at the least 1 hour, or as much as 3 days. It may also be frozen at this level for as much as 8 weeks.

To Roll and Form the Shortbread Christmas Cookies

4. Put together to bake: Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C) and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
5. Roll dough and lower out cookies: On a floured floor, roll the dough to ¼ inch thick. Utilizing festive cutters, lower out your shapes and use vacation sprinkles to provide them further sparkle.

6. Bake cookies: Place every on the ready baking tray and bake for 20 – 24 minutes, or till very flippantly golden. Rotate the pans for even baking if wanted.

7. Cool: Enable to chill barely earlier than transferring to a cooling rack. As soon as cool the cookies may be saved in an air-tight container for as much as 3 days.
8. Embellish your approach: Get inventive with the baked cookies and sandwich some along with some cookies with jam, chocolate unfold, or dulce de leche and mud with sugar. You can too dip them in melted chocolate.

To Make the Royal Icing (optionally available)

9. Warmth egg whites: In a bain marie over low warmth, add your egg whites and warmth, whisking continuously, for 2-3 minutes or till the egg whites are heat however not cooking. This course of kills any micro organism within the eggs, making them secure to make use of when uncooked.
10. Whisk the egg whites: Within the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (totally cleaned and grease free), whisk the egg whites on excessive velocity till foamy, round 2 minutes. (You can too do that utilizing a handheld electrical mixer).
11. Add sugar: With the mixer on medium-low velocity, step by step add the sifted powdered sugar one spoonful at a time.
12. Add lemon juice: As soon as your entire sugar is integrated, add the lemon juice and whip on excessive velocity till thickened, about 3 minutes.
13. Examine texture: The icing at this stage will likely be at consistency for flooding cookies. If you need it stiffer for frosting a cake or writing on cookies, add extra powdered sugar till you get the consistency you want.
14. Cowl: Place the icing right into a bowl and canopy with cling wrap. Make sure that the cling wrap is in direct contact with the icing, as it will stop it from hardening if you are ready to make use of it.
15. Use or retailer: Use the icing immediately, or retailer in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as two weeks or within the fridge for as much as 4 weeks.

FULL (PRINTABLE) RECIPE BELOW! 

Gemma’s Professional Chef Ideas

• Go for salted: Since this recipe doesn’t include added salt, I take advantage of Salted Plugrà^® Premium European Fashion Butter for further taste.
• Mushy butter is essential: Please make sure that your butter is at room temperature. Listed here are the most effective methods to melt chilly butter.
• Sit back: Refrigerate your cookie dough first for straightforward rolling.
• Examine off your checklist: To get forward on vacation prep, you may make this dough and maintain it within the freezer for as much as eight weeks. Defrost within the fridge in a single day.
• Go huge: This christmas shortbread cookies recipe will double or triple simply. For such an enormous batch, use a stand mixer to make it simpler.
• Shortbread choices: Along with rolling it out and utilizing cookie cutters, this dough may also be pressed into an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pan and lower into bars, or rolled into logs and sliced, then baked.
• My cookie cutters: The cookie cutters I used for this Christmas shortbread recipe may be discovered right here.
• Double it: You possibly can sandwich these cookies along with jam, home made Nutella, almond butter or peanut butter, or dulce de leche.
• Cautious rolling: Take care to not roll the dough too skinny. It must be 1/4 inch thick.
• Reducing suggestions: For the most effective outcomes, flippantly flour your cookie cutter earlier than use, and press down firmly. For the most effective form, keep away from twisting the cutter.
• Good topping: My vacation shortbread cookies are scrumptious on their very own, however if you need a clean, shiny, arduous icing, use the Royal Icing recipe under.

Make Forward and Storage Directions

Make-ahead suggestions:

• You may make the dough and retailer it within the fridge as much as three days prematurely.
• For extra prolonged storage, you may make this shortbread cookies Christmas dough forward of time, place it in a freezer-safe container, and freeze for as much as eight weeks.
  • I even go so far as to make the dough, roll it out, lower, and freeze the cut-out cookies so that every one I’ve to do is bake them off.
  • Defrost within the fridge in a single day earlier than utilizing.

retailer leftovers

• Retailer the cookies in an hermetic container for as much as 3 days.

What Are Some Variations and Add-Ins For This Recipe?

• Bump up the flavour with extracts:  add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
  • Add nutty taste by mixing in 1/8 teaspoon almond extract (measure rigorously, as slightly goes a good distance).
• Stir finely chopped, toasted almonds, walnuts, or pecans into these shortbread Christmas cookies.
• Mud the cookies with powdered sugar blended with cinnamon or cardamom.
• Deliver some vacation sparkle by embellishing these shortbread cutout cookies with icing and sprinkles.
• Sandwich shortbread cookies with jam, lemon curd, dulce de leche, royal icing, or frosting.

FAQs

Can I make these shortbread Christmas cookies gluten-free?

• Sure, you may make these shortbread Christmas cookies gluten-free.
• Rather than the all-purpose flour, use the identical quantity of a gluten-free baking combine, resembling my Simple Almond Flour Baking Combine or one other gluten-free flour.
• Notice that the feel will likely be extra delicate than cookies made with all-purpose flour.

How can I be sure that my shortbread has the right texture?

• To ensure your shortbread has the right texture, you have to bear in mind just a few easy guidelines:
  • Cream the butter and sugar till gentle and fluffy, however don’t over-mix. That would make the dough greasy or too comfortable and sticky to roll out simply.
  • Chilling the dough is essential for attaining dough that’s straightforward to roll out and lower, in addition to for cookies that don’t unfold. Chill it for at the least one hour, and as much as three days.
    • Moreover, you’ll be able to chill the cookies after reducing them out. Pop them within the fridge for an additional 15 to twenty minutes earlier than baking. This may maintain the cookies from spreading.

What are some methods to serve these Christmas Shortbread Cookies?

Extra Christmas Cookie Recipes