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4-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies are the perfect sweet treat to make – especially when you don’t have a lot of time to bake!
And just like that…Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is just a few weeks away!
For us, the mad scramble has begun – with decorating the house, prepping for our family’s holiday feast, and baking cookies for parties and gift giving.
As much as I love beautifully-ornate holiday cookies, I’m leaving those to the baking professionals – and instead, I’ll be baking up some of these easy, 4-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies instead!
This extremely simple recipe is from the Rosie’s Bakery Cookbook – a local bakery that I used to visit during my college days in the Boston area. Back then, people would line up out the door of her shop in the Harvard Square neighborhood of Cambridge, MA – and for good reason. All of her baked goods and pastries were perfection!
These 4-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies are quintessential Rosie…easy to make, perfectly sweet, and tender, and buttery.
How do you make 4-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies?
You’ll actually start making this shortbread batter in a food processor – which is one of the ways this cookie recipe is so easy to make.
Pulse together flour, sugar, and salt – then add pieces of butter – quickly pulsing to combine, just long enough for the shortbread dough to come together. (Be careful not to overmix – otherwise your shortbread cookies will be tough.)
Pour the dough out onto a counter top, then use a small scoop to measure out about two dozen portions of the batter.
Quickly roll the dough into balls and place a dozen balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Then use a fork and press down on the shortbread dough to create cross hatch marks.
Bake until lightly golden brown – then cool on a rack.
This 4-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies recipe yields about two dozen of the most perfect, tender, and buttery shortbread cookies. They are a welcome addition to any dessert table this holiday season. (And better yet – you don’t have to spend all afternoon baking them!)
You may enjoy these other cookie recipes:
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4-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cut each stick of butter into eight pieces and set out on a plate while you measure the remaining ingredients. The butter should be cool (not cold) but not soft or melted.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F with two oven racks at about the upper third and lower third of the oven.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, sugar and salt and pulse a few times.
Add half the butter pieces and pulse a few times. Add the remaining butter and run food processor in five second bursts until the dough comes together, less than one minute. Scrape sides if needed.
Pour mixture onto your counter and with a small scoop*, scoop out 24 portions onto your counter. (*We used a number 40 scoop and each one weighed a little over a half ounce.)
Roll each piece with your hands and place 12 balls on each sheet, spaced evenly and press down to about ¼ inch thick.
Use a fork to press into each cookie then turn the fork 90 degrees and press the fork again making cross hatch marks.
Rotate pans and racks after 15 minutes of baking and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes or until the tops start to turn golden and the bottoms are lightly browned. Total 25-30 minutes. I pulled mine at 28 minutes.
Remove with a spatula to cooling racks and eat warm, or cooled.
Store in air tight containers.
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Delicious and so easy to make!
Thank you Barb!
I made today. They didn’t want to stay together. I measured flour exactly how you’re supposed to. I smashed them, and turned them into sand dollar cookies. I made them for my friend, I hope she likes them.
Thanks for your feedback Pam – I’m not sure why your cookie dough was so dry. I hope your friend likes them too!
I’m making these the second time in a week. These are a real hit, and taking them as a dessert for a Church dinner.
So glad the cookies are a hit Nancy!