This is my all-time favourite easy fruit shortbread cookies recipe. They're buttery with a delicious bite and it's a great recipe when baking with children. I'll show you how to turn them into chocolate chip shortbread cookies, etc.
I don't think there's anything better than these classic shortbread cookies. So much so, I love to make this simple recipe for special occasions or enjoy them with a nice cup of tea.
With a high butterfat content mixed with sugar, and plain purpose flour, its buttery cookie texture is divine with a firm bite you can snap in half. It's the best recipe in my opinion!
And you won't even need to learn the exacts of this easy shortbread cookie recipe once I show you one simple rule! Then simply add any spices, dried fruit, chocolate or nuts and away you go!
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✔️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
- They have a long shelf life
- Mainly made with only three basic ingredients
- Easy as 1-2-3, making it perfect for batch baking
- Has a delicious buttery, crumbly texture that melts in your mouth
- Perfect for any occasion, whether it's with a cup of tea, or as a gift
- The best part is that it's easy to customize with your favorite additions, or leftover Christmas cake fruit, nuts, chocolate, etc
🍪3 Ingredient Shortbread Biscuits Ratio
There's an easy rule for this shortbread pastry and it goes 1 - 2 - 3. And once you've learnt it, you'll never need to look at another butter shortbread recipe again. Let me show you.
This recipe uses 1 amount of sugar, 2x the amount of fat, 3x the amount of flour. And it is always weight, never volume for accuracy. So if you look at my recipe closely, it goes:
- 1 x amount sugar
- 2 x the amount of fat for shortening (double the amount of sugar)
- 3 x the amounts of plain flour (triple the amount of sugar)
🛒 Ingredient Notes
Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities and preparation instructions at the bottom of this post.
- Plain flour (all purpose flour) - this is white flour with no leavening agents because we don't our homemade shortbread cookies to rise
- Salted butter - I use softened butter at room temperature, or add a pinch of sea salt if using unsalted butter)
- Caster sugar - AKA, superfine sugar, or mill cane sugar in a blender if you don't have any
- Dried mixed fruit - or you could use a mix of currants, dried mixed, sultanas, raisins, nuts, seeds of chocolate chips
- Vanilla extract - this is optional, but helps bring the mix together and enhances the flavour
📋 Instructions
1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, butter, and sugar together until well combined with a wooden spoon.
Or you can use a food processor or electric mixer for ease.
2. Next, add the dried fruit and vanilla extract if using. Then squish it together with your hands.
If you find you have really coarse breadcrumbs that won't form, add only a little bit of extra vanilla extract or water and squish again.
3. On a clean work surface, lay out a sheet of clingfilm and press dough on top to roughly form a sausage shape.
Then wrap as tightly as possible (see the video in recipe card), then spin in the air while holding both sides.
4. Evenly shape the sausage by rolling it on the worktop back and forth while wrapped until it is around 5cm (2 inches) thick in diameter.
Then flatten both ends with your hands by pressing them in and place it in the fridge on a plate or baking sheet until solid for at least two hours.
5. Preheat your fan oven to 150 c c fan, 170c conventional, gas mark 3 or 325F.
Meanwhile, remove the shortbread from the fridge and slice it into 1cm or ⅖" slices.
6. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Place your shortbread cookies on and bake shortbread for 15-20 minutes, until the edges have firmed and are slightly golden brown.
Leave to cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack to harden.
Tip: don't be tempted to add any wet fruit and from experience, if using a dehydrator, make sure fruit has no moisture whatsoever as they won't result in crumbly cookies.
👩🍳 Substitutions
Depending on your dietary needs, here are a few simple swaps you can make these butter shortbread cookies:
- Flour - I've made them with oatmeal flour in the past for Gluten Free shortbread and they worked really well with a delicious mealy taste
- Butter - you can turn this recipe into vegan shortbread cookies by simply swapping butter for a vegan butter like Vitalite!
- Sugar - try light brown soft sugar for a more golden colour. Also, make sure you are using vegan sugar if needed as some may still have bone char in them. For example, companies such as Tate and Lyle and Billingtons contain no animal by-products.
- Dried fruit - for a good shortbread cookie, my family would say swap for chocolate chips, but they're usually a bit more expensive when making as gifts
⚖️ Variations
Another reason why I think these are the best shortbread cookies is that they can be made in many different ways and different shapes. Let's explore!
- Zesty - a good idea you can do is to stir some lemon or orange zest into your sugar cookies mix
- Chocolate - dip each one after baking into melted chocolate, or mix in white chocolate chips or milk. Or try swapping a tablespoon of flour for cocoa powder to make chocolate shortbread!
- Shortbread fingers - instead of rolling into a sausage shape, roll the dough out and slice it into fingers or shortbread wedges, and prick a pattern with the tines of a fork and sprinkle with cane sugar before baking
- Round - dust a round cake pan or shortbread mould with flour, getting into all of the grooves if it is patterned, then press the shortcrust pastry firmly inside
- Nutty - use nuts such as hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, and pistachios, but chop them into very small piece so it is easier to slice before baking
- Seedy - try seeds such as sunflowers, sesame seeds, poppy seeds with lemon extract
- Fudgey - Mix in small fudge pieces for delightful squidgy bites
- Festive - for Christmas shortbread, try adding ½ teaspoon of ground mixed spice, cinnamon or ginger. Or make currant cookies with candied orange and lemon peel, or chopped cranberries, apricots, cherries, etc
🔪 Equipment
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- Weighing scales
- Mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon*
- Spatula
- clingfilm (plastic wrap)
- baking tray
- silicone baking mat or parchment paper
- Chopping knife
- Chopping board
- Wire rack
*For quickness, you could use a hand mixer, or stand mixer with paddle attachment
❄️ Storage
Storing after baking - Due to the fat and sugar content of homemade shortbread, they have a longer than normal shelf life and should last about 3-4 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature
Storing before baking - once you've made your cookie dough, you can keep it in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it in baking paper for up to 6 months and thaw it until you're ready to bake them.
Gifting - They make the perfect shortbread cookies gift at Christmas time, especially if you know someone who enjoys receiving a tin of Scottish shortbread cookies like Walkers. I give them away in Mason jars or a Le Parfait jar with a seal ring and clip lid.
Freezing - Once stored in a freezer-safe, lidded container, you should be able to store in the freezer for 6 months. However, I would personally separate each not with a small piece of baking paper if possible to easily separate when wanting to defrost.
💡Pro Tips
- Use butter at room temperature as it's easier to work with the dough, but even easier if adding a dash of vanilla extract
- If adding fruit, only use dried to avoid weak, soggy biscuit bread
- Remove them from the oven once the edges have started to turn golden brown
- If you don't want to wait for the shortbread dough to firm in the fridge, you can roll it out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. I recommend resting the rolling pin on something 1cm higher to get an even thickness. Then use cookie cutters or cookie stamps of your choice.
- If storing them in the freezer, place a piece of parchment paper between each one to easily separate them while frozen
- Use the best butter you can for the best results as opposed to a baking block
- If the dough doesn't come together, try simply wetting your hands and squish together. I find it's best to use less water than more
❓ FAQ
The reason I prefer to place my shortbread cookie dough (which is safe to eat raw), is for a more even bake. You'll find as the butter hardens, it's easier to slice and keep a nice shape.
If you don't want to wait around, other ways you could shape them is to create balls in the palms of your hands and flatten on your baking mat. Or lightly dust a surface with flour or even icing sugar and use a round cookie cutter to create shapes. And the continue baking.
As for flour, there are so many different types that will react differently. For example, coconut flour which is gluten free requires more moisture than plain. But you can see how it also soaks up flavours very well in my mini victoria sponge cupcakes.
Looking at other recipe ratios available online, I recommend trying 62g of coconut flour and baking at the same temperature for 10 minutes. Then, for healthy eating, swap ¼ cup sugar for ¼ cup of sweetener if they recommend a 1:1 swap.
Also note, that for shortening, butter adds a delicious flavour. But I would avoid savoury fats like lard. However, by all means, you can use salted butter, or add a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter.
I would avoid using a very large amount of butter more butter as from experience, they will spread out excessively and cook on the edges, leaving a raw centre.
Although note, there are some great chocolate chip cookies that call for more butter as the acid reacts well with bicarb and they expand. But if you don't add enough fat, you'll be left with a shortbread too crumbly for words.
In short, yes, you can add a teaspoon (or 5g) or baking powder if you want to. Just like I did with my Easy Nutella Cookies recipe with chocolate chips.
However, with baking powder being a type of leavening agent, they will rise a little and have a very slightly softer inside. I personally don't see these as a traditional shortbread recipe.
Some Scottish shortbread recipes contain a blend of fats rather than an all butter shortbread like the recipe I'm sharing. Others say great shortbread recipes need a mix of plain with rice flour or cornflour (cornstarch).
If you're starting out with baking, then I recommend first using basic ingredients, such as caster sugar, plain flour and butter. Then you have a base recipe that you understand and can refer back to when you play around with other ingredients.
For example, you can swap some sugar for golden syrup or even honey. But you may prefer using less honey as it's sweeter than sugar. But in theory, the more sugar you use, the crisper (or harder) you biscuits should be. Which is also why making shortbread biscuits with sweetener may not be as firm to bite.
First of all, I'm going to give you a heads-up and say that I made my own caster sugar. That is because our supermarkets have been selling out fast. So I poured a whole bag of granulated sugar into my Optimum blender and ground it into a finer sugar.
Some do say you shouldn't do it too long as it will become too much of a powder. I personally don't think it matters for this easy shortbread biscuit recipes.
If you prefer a more golden shortbread cookie, although I prefer white, then you can use soft light brown or brown sugar. Using golden caster sugar will also give a slightly golden bake.
You could also use honey, but with it being sweeter, you may want to use less as it may give you a chewier texture.
Providing you've followed this recipe, you can tell when these shortbread cookies are done in the oven when they start to crisp on the edges. They'll also be slightly golden.
You may be tempted to leave them in the oven longer as they'll still be soft in the centre. But once you take them out to cool and transfer them on a cooling rack, they'll harden and set.
If you find that after baking for 15 minutes and they are way more golden than anticipated then it may be that you're oven is running too hot. If this is the case, I recommend you test it with an oven thermometer. To test, place it in the centre of the oven where you would normally cook or bake things.
Then turn your oven on and leave it for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, some thermometers have a lag and you may find your oven or 10 or 20 degrees different than your dial.
➕ More Delicious Recipes
Looking for more sweet treats that go great with a cuppa? Try these:
🍽️Pairing
Here are a few of my favourite dishes that go great with cookies:
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📖 Recipe
Easy Fruit Shortbread Cookies Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 150 g Plain flour (1 cup)
- 100 g Salted butter (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) at room temperature (add a pinch of sea salt if using unsalted butter)
- 50 g Caster sugar (¼ cup) See alternatives in notes if you can't find any
- 100 g Dried mixed fruit (½ cup) *Or a mix of currants, mixed peel, nuts, chocolate chips, etc
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Instructions
- Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until comined. I like to use a silicone spoon for this to press down and squish but a food processor is fine too.
- Add the plain flour and mix.
- Then add any dried fruit, nuts or chocolate chips if using and squish together with your hands until it's all stuck together.
- Lay out a sheet of clingfilm and place the shortbread cookie dough on top, close to one edge and create a sausage shape. Wrap as tightly as possible and twist the ends and spin in the air, holding both sides.
- Roll with your hands while the clingfilm is now tight until it is even and around 5cm in diameter. Then flatten both ends and place in the fridge on a plate or baking sheet until solid for at least two hours.
- Preheat your fan oven at 175 degrees Celcius, gas mark 3. Meanwhile, remove the shortbread from the fridge and slice into 1cm or ⅜" slices.
- Place on a lined baking sheet and bake in the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the edges have firmed as is slightly golden.
- Leave to cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack to harden.
Disclaimer
*This is an unofficial page and has no affiliation or endorsement from Slimming World. Slimming World's website can be found at https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/. Any syn values are personal estimates and not verified by Slimming World.
Video
Notes
- Use butter at room temperature as it's easier to work with the dough, but even easier if adding a dash of vanilla extract
- If adding fruit, only use dried to avoid weak, soggy biscuit bread
- Remove them from the oven once the edges have started to turn golden brown
- If you don't want to wait for the shortbread dough to firm in the fridge, you can roll it out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. I recommend resting the rolling pin on something 1cm higher to get an even thickness. Then use cookie cutters or cookie stamps of your choice.
- If storing them in the freezer, place a piece of parchment paper between each one to easily separate them while frozen
- Use the best butter you can for the best results as opposed to a baking block
- If the dough doesn't come together, try simply wetting your hands and squish together. I find it's best to use less water than more
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i added chopped up candied orange slices to my cookies. despite few hours in the fridge they did melt a bit when baking but it does not bother me, they taste great.
lovely recipe, thank you!
Susy
Beautiful recipe, love how the butter flavor comes through. I put dried tangerines in one batch with extra vanilla, and dried cherries in another batch with almond flavoring. Really lovely, couldn't wait for them to cool so had a couple right away, yummy, the fruit is a lovely chewy addition.
Vikkie Lee
So glad you enjoyed them too and that you're also finding it very versatile 🙂
Sue
Can you freeze the dough if it’s got dried fruit in it?
Vikkie Lee
Hi, I can't see why not, although I've never tried. I'll give it a try with my next batch 🙂
Janice Pattie
Your shortbread looks amazing. I'm definitely a fan of all-butter shortbread, I'd never dream of adding other fats to it!
Vikkie Lee
Thanks! They should work out around 5.5 each. But you could instead make with low-fat marg and natural sweetener to lower them which I plan on trying next week 🙂
Christina Conte
Shortbread is one of the tastiest and maybe the king of all biscuits! Love the additions you put into these!
Manjiri C
Cookies! These look perfect Vikki, I think a spot of afternoon baking is going to happen this week in my kicthen 🙂