Shortbread Cookies Recipe

Buttery, crispy, crumbly at the same time soft and melt-in-mouth Shortbread Cookies!!!

If you are looking for healthy cookies without butter, then do check out our Millet Cookies - Eggless and Butterless!! But, if you are in a mood for all the buttery flavour and goodness then you are in the right page :)
These Shortbread cookies are not only perfect for munching but fun to do as well. The very first time I tried these cookies I made them with my daughter Neha. She was thoroughly excited when it was time to cut the cookies ( me too :) ) That day we had lots of fun doing and eating these cookies.

These cookies are not overly sweet and the little salt makes them taste even better  ( so, don't skip the salt please! )

They are very easy to make and make an excellent snack for kids' birthday parties! They are perfect travel food too. 

 

Shortbread Cookies

Buttery, Crispy , Crumbly at the same time soft melt-in-mouth Cookies!!
Prep time: 10 min + for chilling| Cook time: 17 min| Total time: 27 min|
Yield: 14 Cookies

Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour: 1 cup + for dusting 
Salt: 1/8 tsp 
Softened Butter: 1/2 cup 
Powdered sugar: 1/4 cup 
Vanilla Essence: 1/2 tsp

Recipe Reference: Joy Of Baking

METHOD:
1) Take Flour in a bowl. Add salt to it. Mix well and keep aside.
2) Take softened butter in a bowl and using an electric beater whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Add powdered sugar and whisk again for 1 minute until smooth.
3) Add the vanilla essence and mix once more.
4) Finally add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Then with a spatula scrape the sides. The dough will be sticky.
5) Wrap it up in a cling film and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. The dough will be quite firm now. Let it rest in the counter for 5 minutes. Dust the work surface and rolling pin with flour. Gently beat the dough with rolling pin and then start rolling ( This prevents the dough from cracking )
6) Flour the surface as necessary and make sure to turn the dough frequently to prevent it from sticking to the surface. Roll it a little less than 1/4 inch thickness. Now comes the fun part ( my favorite part!!! ) With your favorite cookie cutter cut out the cookies.
7) Transfer them to a cookie tray lined with parchment paper. You can re roll the scraps and cut out them as cookies ( chill the dough if it becomes difficult to handle ) Preheat the oven at 180 C for 10 minutes. While the oven is preheating place the cookies in the refrigerator. Bake the cookies for 15 to 17 minutes or until it starts to turn brown lightly on the sides. Let it cool in the tray for 5 minutes. Then transfer to the cooling rack to cool completely

That's it your favorite cookies is ready to munch :)

NOTES:
1) Softened butter means your butter should be soft to beat but not way too soft. If you leave your butter in room temperature ( here in Tamil Nadu, I don't know about other places ) too long it can become way too soft and greasy. It should still be colder than our room temperature. this way it won't need too much flour and the cookies will turn out perfect :)
2) Don't overwork the dough as it will yield tougher cookies.
3) We don't need to beat the butter until fluffy as we don't want the cookies to rise in oven. Here I have used an electric beater. If you don't have that, you can just use a whisk.
4) Here I used round cookie cutter, you can use any shape you like.
5) The cooking time may vary depending on the thickness you roll and the size of your cookie. Thinner cookies will bake faster. So, adjust accordingly.
6) Chilling the cookies before baking ensures that they do not spread in the oven.

Cheers,
Sindhiya.S