Whipped shortbread cookies are light as air with a delicious buttery flavor. They melt in your mouth because they’re so soft, and only require a few simple ingredients. Learn all the tricks for making this classic holiday cookie recipe.
Shortbread is such a classic holiday recipe. Buttery, delicious, and not too sweet – it’s the kind of classic that reminds you of your grandmother. What I especially love about whipped shortbread cookies is that they’re extra soft and melt in your mouth. So I figured it was time to share my recipe for whipped shortbread.
What’s the difference between whipped shortbread & regular shortbread??? Good question.
Regular shortbread & whipped shortbread both use the same basic ingredients. However, when making whipped shortbread you beat the ingredients together for much longer – aka whipping. This adds more air to the batter, which creates a shortbread that’s lighter and more delicate in texture.
So unlike regular shortbread cookies that can sometimes be a little dense – whipped shortbread is lighter, fluffier, and has more of that melt-in-your-mouth quality.
Tips for Making Whipped Shortbread
Making these whipped shortbread cookies isn’t overly difficult – but the batter is definitely delicate. Which means that you have to be careful otherwise the cookies can get tough or just end up falling apart. So with keeping that in mind, here’s my tips:
- Use real butter. The main flavor in shortbread is butter – so margarine doesn’t really cut it.
- The butter should be softened, but not melted. If the butter has melted, the cookies can spread and burn on the edges.
- Make sure to really whip the ingredients – beat for at least 5 minutes. If you don’t beat for long enough, the cookies won’t be light as air.
- Making shortbread with cornstarch is necessary for the perfect light, delicate texture.
- After multiple experiments & recipe tests, I found baking shortbread at 300F gave the best results. If the oven is too high, the edges are likely to over brown/burn and the cookies can get dry. The lower temperature also helps to give that extra soft texture.
- Lightly dust your hands with cornstarch before forming the cookies into balls.
- You can use a cookie press if you like, but I find this adds an extra level of complexity, and potential for your cookies to fall apart.
- After forming the dough into balls, I like to gently press the tops down with the tines of a fork and then sprinkle on a few sprinkles.
- How long does shortbread bake for???? Longer than most cookies. If you form your cookies into balls about 1 tablespoon in size, they’ll take about 15 minutes to bake.
- If the cookies spread too thin, that likely means there wasn’t enough flour or the butter started to melt. To fix this, pop the dough balls into the fridge for 15-30 minutes before baking.
- For best results, only bake 1 cookie sheet at a time on the middle rack of your oven. If you bake 2 at a time with one on a lower rack and the other on a higher rack, the one at the bottom can get burnt on the bottom.
These whipped shortbread cookies make for such a delicious, classic holiday favorite. They turn out light as air with such a delicious buttery, vanilla flavor. Adding a few sprinkles makes them extra pretty – and they’re the perfect addition to your holiday baking.
Make Ahead Tips:
To freeze the dough, form the cookies into balls first then place on a baking sheet and freeze. Once the dough is firm, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, and add 2-4 minutes onto the baking time.
To freeze baked cookies, after baking cool the cookies completely. Freeze in an airtight container. When ready thaw, place the cookies on a cookie sheet or plate lined with paper towel and thaw in the fridge.
Looking for more holiday cookie recipes? Try these Holiday Sprinkle Cookies, Toffee Icebox Cookies, or Extra Soft Sugar Cookies
Whipped Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300F degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
- In a large bowl beat the butter and powdered sugar until very fluffy and aerated (at least 5 minutes.
- Mix in the flour, cornstarch, salt and vanilla extract.
- Dust your hands with cornstarch, then form the dough into balls about 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon in size.
- Place on the lined cookie sheets and press down the top of each cookie with the tines of a fork dipped in cornstarch (this prevents sticking). Add a few sprinkles to the top of each cookie.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the tops look set.
Sue
Since they are whipped do you use “whip” or paddle attachment?
Fiona
If you have the whip attachment I’d use it. If not, the paddle will work too 🙂
Jennifer
Can you use real salted butter?
Fiona
As long as it’s high quality butter – that would be fine. I’d remove the salt from the recipe though 🙂 Happy Baking!
Judy
Can you double recipe
Fiona
Definitely!
Krystal
I don’t know what I did wrong but mine took like 23 mins to cook and it made 28. So I don’t think they were too big 🤔
Fiona
Hmmmm…. oven times and temperatures can definitely vary, but that’s a pretty big discrepancy. I’m wondering if they were maybe pretty tall which could have made the bake time longer. I will time it again the next time I make them. Thanks for the tip!
Melanie
Can you make the dough ahead of time?
Fiona
I’ve included some make ahead tips right above the recipe card. You can either freeze the dough by forming it into balls first, then baking from frozen (they’ll take a few extra minutes to bake), or bake the cookies all the way through and then freeze the cooled cookies. There’s some more details in the post 🙂
Jenn
I made these today and they are delicious. I doubled the recipe, used salted butter and just removed the salt from the recipe.
Donna
I have a hand mixer, what speed should I use?
Fiona
If it’s a 5 speed mixer, I’d probably start around 3 and move up to 4 when you whip the butter. When you add in the flour I’d turn it down a little at first so that the flour doesn’t fly all over 🙂
Sharon
Is it alright to use a stand mixer for these cookies? My last recipe (which somehow disappeared over the last two moves) called for mixing for 10 minutes with a hand mixer. Also, could I use a scoop to make the dough balls? Thanks in advance!
Fiona
That would be fine! Your arm might just get a little tired as you hold the mixer. I’d whip the butter for a few extra minutes if using a stand mixer. And yes, you can definitely use a cookie scoop.
Mirsnda
Do I need to spray the pan or parchment paper with cooking spray
Fiona
Nope – just line with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat 🙂
Sara
Im not sure what I did wrong, but I followed the recipe and instructions to a T and the dough never formed, it just looked like flour the whole time… any tips?
I used a stand mixer with the whip attachment as well
Fiona
Hi Sara,
I’m really sorry these didn’t turn out for you. It sounds to me like there was too much flour or not enough butter. Flour can get really packed down when it’s in the bag or container, and when it’s packed down you can end up with up to 1/3 more that what you measured – which means baked goods will end up dry or won’t hold together because there’s too much flour. It’s really important when measuring flour that you don’t scoop it out of the bag or pour it into the bag – otherwise it can be packed down and you’ll end up with too much. Before measure, whisk the flour to lighten it up/stop it from being packed down. Then spoon it into your dry measuring cup and level off the top. Or you can weigh it with a kitchen scale – 1 cup of all-purpose flour weighs 130g. I hope this helps!