If you need the perfect, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie recipe, you can stop here. Whipped Shortbread is easy to make and fun to decorate. Add some colorful holiday sprinkles or mix it up for the New Year!
A good shortbread cookie is hard to find.
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The best shortbread cookies have a crisp bite that yields to a delicate buttery crumb.
There’s nothing more disappointing than taking a bite of a shortbread Christmas cookie only to find it’s hard, dense and bland.
These Whipped Shortbread Cookies never disappoint!
SAVE THIS EASY WHIPPED COOKIE RECIPE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
These Shortbread Cookies are Day 5 of our 12 Days of Cookies
Be sure to check out all of the other days for more goodies!
Day 1 – Fluffernutter Cookies
Day 2 – Toffee Coconut Oatmeal Bars
Day 3 – Double Chocolate M&M Christmas Cookies
Day 4 – Lace Cookies
Day 5 – You’re on it!
Day 6 – Chocolate Spritz Cookies
Day 7 – 3 Ingredient Sugar Free PB Cookies
Day 8 – Wasabi Chocolate Crinkles
Day 9 – Christmas Sprinkle Cookies
Day 10 – Stained Glass Cookies
Day 11 – Cream Cheese Meltaways
Day 12 – Peppermint Sugar Cookie Cups
These shortbread Christmas cookies are made with whipped butter and cornstarch. The result is melt-in-your-mouth cookies that are light as air! The buttery flavor is enhanced with a hint of aromatic vanilla making your kitchen smell extra cozy as they bake.
Best of all? These cookies are easy enough for anyone to make! The kids will love helping decorate them with different colorful sprinkles.
What do I need?
We use these ingredients to make the best Whipped Shortbread cookies:
- all-purpose flour
- cornstarch
- sea salt
- unsalted butter
- icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- vanilla extract
You will need the following supplies to make these cookies too:
- Parchment paper
- Cookie sheet
- Medium mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Stand mixer
- Spatula
- Cookie scoop
- Fork
- Cooling rack
How to Make Whipped Shortbread
Start by whisking together the dry ingredients. Then beat softened butter with powdered sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until it’s fluffy and smooth. This is essential for achieving the best shortbread texture.
Now add the dry ingredient mixture in gradually. Mix until fully incorporated.
Scoop the dough by the spoonful onto a baking sheet. Dip a fork in flour then use the tines of the fork to gently flatten each cookie. Cover with sprinkles, bake until golden brown and let cool. Easy!
Why do you use cornstarch in shortbread cookies?
Adding cornstarch to Shortbread Cookies ensures that the crumb stays soft and delicate. I’ve made shortbread both with and without cornstarch and the difference is obvious: without the cornstarch, the cookies easily become crunchy and hard. In this recipe, the cornstarch gives the cookies their crumbly and tender texture.
I’ll be adding corn starch to all my shortbread cookies from now on!
What is the benefit of using butter instead of margarine?
There is a taste difference between the two. Butter gives the shortbread most of its flavor so using margarine changes the taste dramatically. Margarine is also thicker and stickier than butter which makes the dough a lot harder to work with.
Last but not least, butter has a higher fat content than margarine. The fat is essential to give Whipped Shortbread Cookies their structure.
What kind of sprinkles are best?
I like to use sugar sprinkles on my shortbread cookies. You can also use nonpareils or jimmies sprinkles with delicious and festive results.
Christmas Cookies
Get caught up on all the tasty holiday treats we’re baking this year!
If you have chocolate lovers in your life, show them some love with a batch of Chocolate M&M Christmas Cookies this holiday season. For toffee fans we have Toffee Coconut Oatmeal Bars and these toffee-like French Lace Cookies. Fluffernutter Cookies bring marshmallows and peanut butter together in one easy sandwich cookie.
Check out even more of our readers’ favorite Christmas Cookie recipes next.
- Cream-Filled Molasses Cookies
- Peppermint Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Double Chocolate Toffee Cookies
- Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies
- Spritz Cookies
Sprinkle-dusted Whipped Shortbread Cookies are airy, light and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. This easy shortbread recipe is bound to become a new favorite part of your holiday traditions!
Whipped Shortbread
Equipment
- parchment paper
- cookie sheet
- medium mixing bowl
- Stand mixer
- spatula
- Cookie scoop
- Fork
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for tamping
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- red and green sprinkles if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F, and line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cornstarch and salt and put aside.
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Gradually add in the flour mixture, about ½ cup at a time, mixing until fully incorporated.
- Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, place dough about 1 inch apart on a baking sheet.
- Lightly dip a fork in flour and tap any excess off. Flatten the cookies about 1/3 of the way down. Add sprinkles and bake for 12-13 minutes.
- Allow them to cool for at least 15 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
They also taste great with maraschino cherries pressed into the middle. You could also add dried cranberries into the batter, I’m thinking pressed in after measuring and pressing them down?
Great ideas, Susan, thank you!
Why can’t regular salt be used? Is there any difference?
You can definitely use regular table salt. I like to use Kosher salt in all my recipes because there is a taste difference between them and the crystals are a different shape.
Can you use salted butter?
You can, however it’s better to use unsalted in baking especially if the recipe calls for salt in the ingredients.
How many cookies does this recipe yield?
Fran, the recipe says it makes 48 cookies. It’s a little difficult to see but the serving count is located to the right of the description in the recipe card.
woow what an awesome site
Too dry to make cookies! Threw out most of the recipe after making
Needs more liquid to hold any shape
I made this recipe. It made 30 cookies. However, at 300 degrees F, they took about 25 minutes to bake. They are very light brown on the bottom. They taste delicious!!!!!! I can’t figure out how to upload a photo!
Terry, thanks so much for the feedback. When I’m baking a cookie recipe and they take much longer to bake than stated, I’ve found that the temperature in my oven is off (SOOO aggravating!). Could this have been the issue? I’ve purchased an oven thermometer and always use that now to tell me when my oven has reached the temp I’ve set it to instead of the stove itself telling me it’s been preheated. I’m so glad they turned out well regardless!
Unfortunately, I don’t have a way to upload photos with comments here on the blog, but I’d love to see them if you have an Instagram account and want to tag me with @365DaysofBaking!