These homemade frosted shortbread cookies with holiday icing are perfect sweet and buttery baked treats for Christmas.
These delicious cookies will make a nice addition to your holiday cookie recipe collection. Buttery shortbread, a classic, simple royal icing, another classic, and some simple Christmas decorations. Easy, quick, festive sugar cookies your family and guests will absolutely love.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They are melt-in-your-mouth types of cookies.
- Large batch: the recipe yields 24 festive buttery cookies.
- Made from scratch in no time and with simple ingredients, all pantry staples and budget-friendly.
- Decorated cookies make an amazing food gift for holidays
Ingredients Notes
Cookies
- Unsalted butter, softened – (2 sticks). You need good quality butter (European butter is good) as the flavor of these classic shortbread cookies really depends on the butter.
- Confectioner’s sugar. I find that using granulated sugar doesn’t yield the same results so I stick to confectioner’s sugar, as it makes cookies more tender.
- Vanilla extract for light flavoring.
- All-purpose flour
- Kosher salt. You can skip added salt and use salted butter instead. But I would taste the dough first to make sure it is sweet and not overly salty.
Icing
- Confectioner’s sugar (or powdered sugar)
- Milk, you can adjust the amount to achieve the desired consistency (thinner/thicker). For much thicker icing, you can also use cream.
- Vanilla extract. Can be replaced with other flavors like almond extract or coconut. Best to use pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
- Food coloring (optional)
- Sprinkles (optional)
Kitchen Equipment
- Parchment-lined baking sheet
- Cookie cutter (popular shapes for Christmas are round like ornaments, Christmas trees, stars, or mittens)
- Rolling pin
- Bowls
- Electric mixer
How To Make Frosted Shortbread Cookies
1: Prepare The Cookie Dough
- Combine the butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Slowly cream the butter and sugar until the sugar has moistened, then increase the speed and whip for another 30 seconds to combine.
- Whisk flour and salt together in a separate bowl. Slowly stir in the flour mixture into the butter until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Shape the shortbread dough into a disk, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to chill.
2: Shape & Bake The Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets (or cookie sheets) with parchment paper.
- Use a rolling pin to roll dough on a lightly floured surface or silicone mat. Roll to approx ¼” thickness.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out cookies into the desired shapes.
- Transfer the dough to prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
3: Make The Icing
- Whisk the confectioner’s sugar with the milk and vanilla in a medium bowl, adding more milk a little at a time until the desired consistency is achieved.
- Stir in food coloring to tint the icing – if desired.
- Spread or pipe onto the cooled cookies and add any sprinkles or decorations if desired before the icing hardens. I don’t use a piping bag, but if it is easier for you to pipe the icing, do it.
- Let the icing set before serving.
Storage
Store baked and frosted shortbread cookies at room temperature in an airtight container or in the fridge for 5-6 days.
You can also freeze unfrosted cookies for 3 months.
You can also form dough ahead of time. Frozen shortbread cookie dough rolled or cut out will last for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, roll, shape, and bake.
Substitutions & Variations
- You can adjust the icing color and decorations for any occasion and holiday from a baby shower to a birthday party or Valentine’s Day.
- Different flavors. Make chocolate shortbread cookies by adding cocoa powder to the dough, or lemon cookies by adding some fresh lemon zest and lemon extract (or other citruses). Adding cinnamon will add just a little warmth if you don’t want to change the flavors dramatically.
- Icing variations. Another classic shortbread cookie frosting is the buttercream frosting, which has the same ingredients just a bit different cooking method. You can also use meringue powder in the icing to make richer frosting. On top of the icing, you can sprinkle some crushed candy cane, colorful sprinkles, or even chopped caramel bits or nuts.
Expert Tips To Make The Best Iced Shortbread Cookies
- Working with thicker icing or creamy frosting will be easier with an offset spatula.
- Do not bake these cookies for too long. Once the edges are lightly browned, they are done.
- To make different colors for the icing, simply separate it between bowls and tint each.
- There are rolling pins on the market with adjustable rings on the sides that will help you get any thickness you want. It is that easy!
- If the icing thickened while you were coating the cookies, you can add a splash of milk or half and half and mix to thin it back.
- Keep the icing clean between cookies, remove all the crumbs, and stir to avoid the film forming.
Popular Questions
What Is The Secret To Making Good Shortbread?
Mixing the ingredients just until combined and using just enough flour will make sure the shortbread cookies are moist and light, yet buttery and sweet. Overmixing and using too much flour, even on the working surface, will make dry and tough cookies.
What Is The Difference Between A Butter Cookie And Shortbread Cookie?
Shortbread cookies are made with just butter, sugar, and flour, while other cookie recipes also use eggs and dairy. Butter cookies have less butter than classic shortbread cookies.
How Do You Stick Icing To Shortbread?
Make sure to let the shortbread cookies cool completely before spreading the icing to make it stick. Then allow some time for the icing to set and firm up before moving the cookies.
Why Do You Put Shortbread In The Fridge Before Baking?
Chilling the shortbread cookie dough is necessary because it helps the dough set and holds its shape when you bake it. Otherwise, the dough won’t set up properly and will spread flat on the baking sheet.
Do Shortbread Cookies Harden When Cooling?
Yes, shortbread dough solidifies during chilling and after baking cookies will firm up while cooling, that’s why you need to be careful to not overbake.
Pull them out of the oven when the edges and bottom are light brown. You can also add some cornstarch to the flour mixture to keep the shortbread cookies soft even the next day.
If you love this easy cookie recipe, you’re going to love these other cookies too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!
More Great Shortbread Recipes
White Cornmeal Shortbread Bars
Buttery Walnut Potato Chip Cookies
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Frosted Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup butter softened – (2 sticks) unsalted
- ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
Icing
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tbsp milk 2-3 tbsp + more for desired consistency
- ½ tsp vanilla extract or almond – if desired
Food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
Cookies
- Combine the butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Slowly mix the two together until the sugar has moistened, then increase the speed and whip for another 30 seconds to combine.
- Slowly stir in the flour and salt until just combined.
- Shape the dough into a disk and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface or silicone mat. Roll to approx ¼” thickness.
- Use cookie cutters to cut into the desired shapes.
- Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing
- Whisk the confectioner’s sugar with the milk and vanilla in a medium bowl, adding more milk a little at a time until the desired consistency is achieved.
- Stir in food coloring to tint the icing – if desired.
- Spread or pipe onto the cooled cookies and add any sprinkles or decorations if desired before the icing hardens.
- Let the icing set before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
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