Master Shortbread Recipe

By Mark Bittman

Updated Nov. 15, 2024

Master Shortbread Recipe
Yunhee Kim for The New York Times. Food stylist: Brett Kurzweil. Prop stylist: Leslie Siegel.
Total Time
40 minutes, plus 1½ hours' cooling
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(537)
Comments
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If you use half a pound of butter in a batch of cookies, it becomes “short” — because “short” means, historically, pastry with a high percentage of fat. Thus shortbread cookies are — when correctly made — rich, crumbly and impossible to resist. In their simplest form, they taste mostly of sweet and sweetened butter, so the best butter you can lay your hands on will make a difference here. I like that side-of-the-tongue tingling presence of saltiness, and so I tend to use a little more salt than is strictly necessary, hence the range in the recipe.

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Ingredients

Yield:About 2 dozen cookies
  • ½pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ¾cup sugar
  • 1egg yolk
  • 1½cups all-purpose flour
  • ½cup cornstarch
  • ½ to ¼teaspoon salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

265 calories; 16 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 13 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 101 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Use an electric mixer on low speed to combine the butter and sugar, about 30 seconds. Keeping the speed on low, beat in the egg yolk, then the flour, cornstarch and salt, until the mixture barely holds together. Don’t overbeat.

  2. Step 2

    To make shapes, form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and freeze or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until firm. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is ¼ inch thick. Cut into any shapes you like, then put the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet. Chill for at least 1 hour. Alternatively, shape the dough into a round, triangular or rectangular log and refrigerate or freeze until firm, at least 30 minutes. Slice ¼-inch cookies and put on the baking sheet.

  3. Step 3

    Heat the oven to 275. Bake the cookies until just firm but still quite tender and not at all brown, about 30 minutes. Cool for a minute on the sheet before using a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling.

Ratings

4 out of 5
537 user ratings
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Comments

Taylor

How many cookies does this recipe make?

A. Fuller

I think this recipe is perfection. The cookies come out a perfect consistency every time. They freeze well, too. I skipped the refrigeration/freezer step and they still are perfect. I use good quality butter, which of course makes them better.

Tracey A.

How many cookies does this recipe make?

Deborah Rudy

I prefer shortbread with caster sugar and no egg, but, that said, perhaps that is the difference between shortbread and cookies.

deedub-sf

This was my first failure in a long time. The bottom have was uncooked. I used a silicon pan lining (or whatever you call that thing) on top of a baking sheet. Next time I'll use a pie pan so it gets heat from below. Other recipes suggest longer cooking times and higher temperatures, so I'l try those next time.

chickrandi

Of all the shortbread cookie recipes I looked at while searching for the one I would try, this is the only one that includes an egg (yolk). What is the purpose of the egg in this recipe? Despite this after the fact question, I did choose this recipe to try over all of the others. I pressed the dough into a cast iron skillet. The end result was delicious. I enjoy the texture and flavor, but maybe should have cooked them for a few more minutes.

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