Crumbly yet soft shortbread cookies finished with a beautiful glaze. These Glazed Shortbread Cookies are as pretty as they are delicious!
12 DAYS OF HOLIDAY TREATS: DAY 7
Welcome to Day 7 of SugarSpicesLife 12 Days of Holiday Treats, a 12 day recipe series! Today’s Recipe: Glazed Shortbread Cookies.
Glazed Shortbread Cookies
Shortbread
Several years ago I went to Scotland for my friend Nicole’s wedding. Before that, I had always liked shortbread – I mean I’ve always said give me all the Panera and Girl Scout shortbread cookies – but that trip opened my eyes even more to the wonders of shortbread.
I bought a few boxes of shortbread cookies to bring back for my family. Somehow they got lost between Scotland and Maryland (i.e. I ate them). But that was okay. The following year my mom went to Scotland and brought me a couple of shortbread cookbooks.
Christmas Goodie Fail
Last year I decided to add shortbread cookies to my Christmas treat gift boxes. The cookies were good, but as I was packing up my house to move while making cookies, a lot of them got burned.
I then tried to decorate the cookies while packing up my kitchen. So, I tried to cut corners and quickly make the icing look interesting. I swirled red and green food coloring into some glaze and then dipped the cookies in.
It was a fail. The cookies turned into an ugly brown mess. I just looked for a photo of them to show you, but it appears I just skipped that step altogether.
My husband, who has little appreciation for food aesthetics, admitted that they did not look appetizing.
Redemption
I needed to redeem myself this year because after all, the cookies were really delicious. So, I took more time, experimented, watched and timed them, and finally got them to a point where I’m excited to share the recipe!
Ingredients
The ingredients for these cookies are:
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Ratios
There are SO many different shortbread cookie recipes, and the ratios of sugar to butter to flour vary greatly.
I landed on the above ingredient combination because it makes for a crumbly cookie that is a bit on the soft side, and not overly sweet. My version of shortbread perfection!
Butter
If you don’t have unsalted butter, it’s okay to use salted butter – but you’ll need to cut back the amount of added salt. As various brands have differing amounts of salt in their butter, I mostly use unsalted butter in my recipes so that I know we’re all on the same salt page.
Decoration
The top of the cookes are dipped in glaze. But this year, instead of making a brown mess, I used white glaze. It works out well because it gives you a clean slate to decorate however you want.
You could certainly put sprinkles on the glaze, but I chose to draw designs using a royal icing. My royal icing recipe is in my Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing post.
These Glazed Shortbread Cookies are crumbly, buttery and lightly sweetened. Topped with a sweet glaze, they’re both delicious and beautiful!
Glazed Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
Royal Icing
- 1 tablespoon meringue powder
- 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tbsp warm water
- Gel food coloring
Instructions
Cookies
- Use electric mixer to beat butter and sugar until just combined (do not overmix).
- Mix in vanilla extract until incorporated.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Slowly mix in flour mixture until combined. Form dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Place dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Lightly flour a working surface. Roll dough out until it’s about 1/4″ thick. Use 2 1/2 inch round cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out dough. Place rounds 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, or cookie sheet lined with silicone baking mats.
- Bake for 13-16 minutes, or until cookies just turn a light golden brown. Let cool completely before decorating.
Glaze
- In bowl with shallow sides, whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Slowly whisk in milk until desired consistency is reached.
- Dip tops of the cooled cookies into glaze. Shake off excess glaze. Set on cooling rack and let set for several hours before storing or before adding royal icing.
Royal Icing
- Stir together powdered sugar and meringue powder. Gradually still in water. Stir in vanilla until smooth.
- Divide icing into number of bowls corresponding to number of colors you want to use.
- Add gel food coloring and mix until desired color is reached.
- Icing can be applied using a pastry bag or bottles. I prefer Wilton 6oz squeeze bottles.
- Let royal icing sit for at least 3 hours before storing (overnight is okay as well).
Disclaimer: All nutritional information provided on this website is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.
If you enjoyed these Glazed Shortbread Cookies, you might also enjoy these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies with Nutella Filling
Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
Easy Cutout Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Homemade Funfetti Cake
Santa love these!
haha agreed, he definitely does! 🙂