These Whipped Shortbread Cookies are so buttery, light and fluffy! A classic cookie perfect for your holiday cookie tray. Love at first bite.
I love to bake! It is one of my favourite things to do. And the Christmas season gives me all the incentive I need to bake as much as I want! Stay tuned, as I am going to be posting a lot of holiday treats for you to try at home! And today, I’m sharing this Whipped Shortbread recipe…one of the best Christmas cookies around!
A family tradition.
My mom has been making Whipped Shortbread for as long as I can remember. In fact, they are the cookie that stands out the most in my mind from my childhood. When Mom would bake them, I knew that the Christmas season had arrived! These cookies are melt in your mouth amazing! And such an easy cookie recipe.
Whipped Shortbread Recipe Tips:
- Butter: I use room temperature salted butter.
- Sugar: Use icing (confectioner’s sugar).
- Vanilla Option: If you want to take this cookie up a notch, add a vanilla bean to the recipe (instead of the vanilla extract). They are easy to use, and the taste they give to the cookie is so different and so delicious! I found them at Costco for about $12 for 10 pods – not too bad. If you are adding vanilla bean, slide a knife along the outside of the vanilla bean to reveal the centre, then gently scrape out the centre of the bean. Don’t add the bean pod.
- Whipping: The key to making this recipe successful is to make sure you beat it for 10 minutes. You’ll have to scrape the bowl a few times, but whip, whip, whip! The batter should be light and fluffy before you bake it!
- Decorating: If you want to make these cookies even more festive you can add some sprinkles or chopped red and green maraschino candied cherries to the tops of the cookies before you bake them. You can even drizzle them with chocolate after they have baked!
- Storage: Keep these cookies in an airtight container on the counter.
- Freezing: These cookies freeze well! Store them in your freezer in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
- Tip! With the leftover vanilla bean pod, make this Vanilla Sugar!
Whipped Shortbread
These Whipped Shortbread Cookies are so buttery, light and fluffy! A classic holiday cookie.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookie
- Method: Baking
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioner’s / powdered sugar)
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using a stand mixer on high speed, cream together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla, until fluffy.
- NOTE: If you are using a vanilla bean instead of the vanilla extract, slide a knife along the outside of the vanilla bean to reveal the centre, then gently scrape out the centre of the bean, then add the centre to the ingredients as listed above. Don’t add the bean pod.
- Add the flour, then beat for 10 minutes.
- At this point you will have to scrape the sides of the bowl often to make sure all the ingredients are being whipped.
- When the batter is ready, it should be white and fluffy.
- Drop the cookie dough by the tablespoonful onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes, careful not to let them brown.
- Let them cool on wire racks.
Keywords: shortbread, whipped shortbread
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PIN IT to make later!
More Delicious Shortbread Cookie Recipes to try:
Enjoy!
18 Comments
Barb
November 28, 2010 at 12:46 AMmmmm, hoping to have some of them next weekend! I’ll say it again, too – your photography is fabulous!
Tiffany @ Eat at Home
December 8, 2011 at 2:01 AMThese sound so good!
Tracy S
October 30, 2012 at 8:39 AMDoes it matter if you use salted or unsalted butter?
Tracy S
October 30, 2012 at 9:49 AMok, I only have unsalted now, I will try it and see! thank you! can’t wait…love shortbread!
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April
May 23, 2020 at 5:35 PMThese are delicious. They’re delicate and light and melty in your mouth. Mine cooked in 9 minutes. It’s a keeper!
★★★★★
Jo-Anna Rooney
May 23, 2020 at 9:46 PMThank you April! I’m so happy you enjoyed these!
Sheri
December 12, 2021 at 8:18 PMHi Joanna!
I came across your recipe for whipped shortbread as I’m not pleased with my usual. Curious as to why there is no cornstarch used in yours but most other whipped recipes include it? I’m wondering if that’s what is making me feel like my shortbread isn’t as great as it used to be.
Jo-Anna Rooney
December 12, 2021 at 8:24 PMHi Sheri! I’m actually not sure why there’s no cornstarch in these…it’s always just the way I’ve made them. But I do know that cornstarch is often added to make cookies more chewy, and these aren’t supposed to be chewy. Maybe that’s why?
Jeri
September 22, 2020 at 1:46 PMHi Jo-Anna,
Can double the amount of dough be dropped to make a thicker, taller cookie, or am I asking the impossible? Thank You.
Jo-Anna Rooney
September 22, 2020 at 2:53 PMHi Jeri! My concern would be that they wouldn’t cook through to the middle properly. They will brown pretty fast on the outside, but may not cook inside…
Jeri
October 6, 2020 at 4:49 PMHi Jo-Anna,
I just want to say how great it is that you answered my question about your cookies (that I will be trying out at the next family gathering). I have commented and sent questions to other cooking sites over the years, and it seems, in some cases, they just go into a giant black hole. The owners of the sites never answer any, or they pick and choose which ones they will answer. Thank you for being one of the nice people in the universe who actually wants to help. Jeri
Jo-Anna Rooney
October 6, 2020 at 7:35 PMYou’re so welcome Jeri, I’m happy I could help! I hope your cookies are delicious!
Karen
February 15, 2021 at 5:34 PMThis looks pretty darned close to the recipe I’ve been looking for for 6 years. Is there a light, soft powdery coating around them? I’ll try these, I hope they are what I’ve been looking for.
Jo-Anna Rooney
February 16, 2021 at 11:18 AMHi Karen! These don’t have a powdery coating on them, but I hope you love them!