Karen’s Christmas Shortbread

I enjoy baking, but I rarely make the time for it. Except at Christmas. I still don’t do a lot of baking, but I always make at least a few yummy goodies to have on hand. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without cookies.

Growing up, we would go to my grandparents house for Christmas every year. I have so many wonderful memories of playing games with my cousins, singing carols, playing Skipbo (once I was old enough to join the adult card table – a BIG moment in my life – ha!), and finding the delicious treats Grandmother had strategically placed around the house. My favorite was the shortbread hidden under a covered pink glass dish in the living room. It was such a simple cookie. Dry yet sweet. No special flavoring. A simple sheet cut into rectangle fingers. I loved it!

Strangely enough, I never tried baking it myself until about 10 years ago. Now it is a Christmas staple. The perfect cookie to have with hot tea while curling up with a fun Christmas read.

Shortbread Christmas Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 350. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine butter and sugar. Add vanilla. In a medium bow, sift together flour and salt. Add to butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined. Form dough in your hands and mold into 2 flat disks. Cover in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Roll dough 1/2 inch thick and cut into shapes. Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Karen’s tip: Instead of rolling dough out on a floured surface to cut into shapes, since this dough is already dry, it is much better (and easier) to roll the dough onto a piece of wax paper. Lay a piece the plastic wrap you covered the dough in earlier over the top and roll dough between the plastic wrap and wax paper. No additional flour is needed. I do dip my cookie cutters in flour, however, before cutting the dough to prevent sticking.

I like to cut my cookies into cute mini Christmas shapes. These are my guilt-free cookie bites. And they are just adorable! If you make these mini cookies, reduce baking time to 15 minutes.


I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!
May you have lots of yummy goodies to enjoy with your cowboy Christmas reads.

 

 

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For those who love to smile as they read, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. Karen is a firm believer in the power of happy endings. . . and ice cream. She is an avid cross-stitcher, and makes her home in Abilene, TX with her husband and three children. Learn more about Karen and her books at: www.karenwitemeyer.com.

32 thoughts on “Karen’s Christmas Shortbread”

  1. For years now we’ve used a shortbread recipe sweetened with honey. This one offers a bar cookie version (bake longer, after scoring the dough into those finger shapes, then break apart once cooled). My grandma was a working mom during WWII (teletypist for Western Union), so didn’t have a lot of time for cooking/baking when she got home. She was gung ho for Pillsbury’s slice and bake cookie dough when it was introduced (1960’s, I think). Prior to that her favorite things to bake were quick breads or chocolate chip bar cookies called Congo Squares (I suspect that recipe came from one of the Boston newspapers as well as the recipe for Grape Nuts bread [this might’ve been on the cereal box]). Merry Christmas!

  2. Thank you for the recipe. I bake several different kinds of cookies and make several kinds of candy for Christmas. Have a very Merry Christmas!

  3. I make shortbread often! One of my recipes is a coffee shortbread to which I add mini chocolate chips. Another is Whipped shortbread which end up light and airy.
    Merry Christmas!

  4. Merry Christmas and have a great new year. I usually make candy this time of the year. I may have to try the cookies sometime.

  5. My baking days are over. We no longer have family near who come for Christmas, so it holds no interest for me. At 80, who wants a lot of dishes top do anyway. Your recipes look delicious, Karen. Have a blessed Christmas and a joyful New Year.

  6. Wow! Your recipe sounds delicious. Will give it a go. Thank you, for the Christmas card.
    Enjoy the Holidays with your family & friends. Your reader always…

  7. Thank you for sharing your shortbread cookie recipe, I love shortbread cookies. May you and your family have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.

  8. I didn’t get all the baking I had hoped to do done this year. Christmas Eve I made an English toffee bar recipe I like that is easy and good. Unfortunately the oven temperature is off. Instead of taking 20 minutes it took an hour with changing temperatures and switching ovens. They taste good despite of all that. Then I made a mincemeat pie and a really nice apple pie. Unfortunately, I hit the handle of the upper oven when I was taking the apple pie out and dropped the pie plate. Luckily, the pie ring caught much of the pie, but there was an awful lot on the floor, the oven door, and the interior of the oven. It took a lot of time to clean the mess up. What was in the ring and pie plate I saved and it became “dump apple pie.” The rest I salvaged became dog food and they loved it. I had a small pie I made with the dough scraps and left over apples that was supposed to be for breakfast. Not very pretty, but it tasted good as did the dropped one. After cleaning up the mess I didn’t feel like working on another cookie, plus the temperature issues with the oven made it iffy. It was also after 4 AM. Today, I made gingerbread cookies with our granddaughter. I got a rolling pin with Harry Potter designs on it that imprints the cookies. a fun activity. I will be having her take the rolling pin with them. I do love shortbread cookies. I have some moulds for shortbread and may make some for New Year’s Day.

    I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and a great 2025.

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