Shortbread Cookies

These soft, sweet, and buttery shortbread cookies only require 4 ingredients! BONUS: the cookie dough is easy to make days or even weeks ahead of time until you're ready to bake!

Prep Time20

Cook Time18

Chill Time30

Total Time1 8

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 208kcal

Author: Stephanie

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour

If adding sprinkles:

2 Tablespoons milk
1/4 cup sprinkles

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Stir in the vanilla and flour and mix until well-combined.
Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thick and use a cookie cutter to create the shapes (I used a round, 3-inch wide cutter).
Place the cookies on parchment paper-lined baking sheets and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. (It's much easier to chill them after you've cut them, vs. rolling out chilled dough.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake the cookies for 12-18 minutes, (set the timer for 10 minutes and check them every 2 minutes after that)- they're done when they just begin to get golden brown on the side.
If adding sprinkles, brush just enough milk on each cookie to get it slightly wet on the top, then scatter the sprinkles over it. The milk helps them to stick. Let them cool slightly to prevent the sprinkles from bleeding onto the cookie.
Serve with Cookie Dip or by themselves!

Notes

Here is the cookie cutter that I used!

Nutrition

Recipe Source: TheCozyCook.com - For pro tips, step-by-step photos, storage information, and to save it to your account, visit https://framework-keystone.live/shortbread-cookies/%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-23891":{"type":"food","name":"Shortbread Cookies","slug":"wprm-shortbread-cookies","image_url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Shortbread-Cookies-Recipe.jpg","rating":{"count":8,"total":40,"average":5,"type":{"comment":8,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"1","unit":"cup","name":"butter","notes":"softened","converted":{"2":{"amount":"227","unit":"g"}},"id":3648,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","timestamp":1778512417000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"227","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","name":"granulated sugar","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"100","unit":"g"}},"id":3824,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","timestamp":1778512417000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"100","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","name":"vanilla extract","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon"}},"id":4133,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1778512417000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":6,"amount":"2","unit":"cups","name":"all-purpose flour","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"250","unit":"g"}},"id":3821,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"cups","timestamp":1778512417000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"250","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":9,"amount":"2","unit":"Tablespoons","name":"milk","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"2","unit":"Tablespoons"}},"id":3650,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"Tablespoons","timestamp":1778512417000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"Tablespoons","unitParsed":"Tablespoons"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"2","unit":"Tablespoons","unitParsed":"Tablespoons"}}},{"uid":11,"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","name":"sprinkles","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"40","unit":"g"}},"id":6513,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","timestamp":1778512417000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"40","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}}],"originalServings":"15","originalServingsParsed":15,"currentServings":"15","currentServingsParsed":15,"currentServingsFormatted":"15","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"favorite":false,"unitSystems":[1,2],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"collection":{"servingsUnit":"cookies","servingsUnitRaw":"cookies","originalServings":"15","originalServingsParsed":15,"type":"recipe","recipeId":23891,"name":"Shortbread Cookies","image":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Shortbread-Cookies-Recipe-500x500.jpg","servings":15,"parent_id":"21915","parent_url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/shortbread-cookies\/","cachedAt":1778512417,"modifiedAt":1723202765}}}