These crisp, buttery shortbread cookies hold their shape perfectly for decorating. The dough rolls smoothly, bakes evenly, and melts in your mouth with every bite! They're the perfect base recipe and can be customized to add your favorite flavors and textures.
Cream the butter, sugar, salt, and extracts over medium-high speed until combined, then scrape down the sides. Sift the flour into the bowl, then mix on low speed until just combined.
1 cup unsalted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon additional extract, 3 cups all-purpose flour
Chilling Option #1
Note: This version is more difficult to roll out, but is good if you need to store the dough for longer than 1 hour before baking.
Form the dough into one large disc about 1" thick. Wrap it completely in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
Remove from the fridge and allow the chill to come off for 10 minutes. Place in between two pieces of parchment paper use a rolling pin to roll it out to ¼" thick (it can be any shape, just keep it an even thickness).
Chilling Option #2
Note: This version is easier to roll out but needs to be baked at the 1-hour mark so the dough doesn't dry out.
Immediately after mixing the dough, place it in between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it out to ¼" thick.
Transfer the rolled dough (keeping it in between the parchment layers) onto a sheet pan and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Cutting and Baking
Use a cookie cutter to stamp out the cookies, pushing down to the bottom, and pulling the whole way up. Remove the excess and use an offset spatula to transfer the cut cookies to a sheetpan lined with parchment paper. Squish the scraps back together and roll out again, repeating the same process.
Freeze the cookies on the pan for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350℉ while the cookies chill.
Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway mark.
Leave the cookies on the pans until completely cool. Moving them before they are cooled will cause them to crack.
Video
Notes
Please use a digital scale and metric measurements for the best results. Using cup measurements generally leads to the addition of too much flour, which can cause the dough not to come together. If the cookie dough starts to stick to the cookie cutter, dip the cookie cutter in a bit of flour. You can also roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, but rolling it in between parchment paper is much easier and prevents sticking.The cut (pre-baked) cookies can be flash-frozen for 30 minutes, then transferred to an airtight container and stored in the freezer for 3 months. Bake directly from frozen.Store the baked cookies in an airtight container for one week.