I have a love/hate relationship with cookies. I love eating them; I hate making them. Baking is something I do more out of necessity (desserts are my most viewed posts) versus really love to do. Thus, I try to keep my desserts simple, and cookies, while not difficult to make, are more hands-on and time-consuming so I rarely make them. Even though I still pin plenty of cookie recipes, I just have no intention of ever making them … until now.
Shortbread cookies are my favorite. Something about their crispness and buttery goodness hits all the right notes for me. But they are cookies … so I never make them, which may or may not be an actual blessing, since I don’t have to battle their temptation either. But then I saw these gorgeous shortbread cookie bites on Cooky Classy.
Immediately, I knew they were going on my holiday treat platter this year. Not only were they absolutely adorable, but a bite-size morsel is perfect for the holidays, because they leave plenty of room for me (and you) to nosh on everything else too. Plus, these are more cut-and-bake, so the process for both baking and decorating is much simpler. Woot-Woot!
These guys are unbelievably tasty and incredibly addictive, like gobble them up by the fistfuls good. They also freeze well, so make a batch now and freeze for your holiday festivities. They also make great gifts too. I can’t imagine anyone being unhappy to receive a container full of these crispy, bite-size yumminess. Also, these are year-round cookies. You can change the funfetti colors to match different holidays or use regular funfetti for every day cookies.
Shortbread Cookie Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold and diced into 1 Tbsp pieces
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract*
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoons nonpareils sprinkles (any color), divided
Instructions
- Butter a 13 by 9-inch baking dish and line with parchment paper with a 1-inch over hang on all sides. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer (you can also use a hand mixer too), cream together butter and sugar until well combined. Add vanilla extract and salt and mix together. Slowly add flour with mixer set on low and mix until combined. The mixture will start out dry and pebbly but will come together, although it won't be creamy like most cookie dough. Gently fold in 2 1/2 Tablespoons of sprinkles.
- Press dough into an even layer in prepared pan. Sprinkle with another 1/2 Tablespoon of sprinkles, gently press into dough. Chill for 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using parchment overhand, lift dough from pan. Cut 1/2 squares with a sharp knife (make rows, don't try to individually cut 1/2 pieces).
- Transfer about 1/3 of the cookies to an unbuttered cookie sheet, spacing cookies 1/2-inch apart. Put remaining cookie batter in the refrigerator.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes. Remove to another baking sheet to cool. Repeat process with remaining cookies. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
If you use salted butter, eliminate the 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Generally, I only unsalted butter so I can salt to my preference.
The original recipe used almond extract, which I don't really like, so I swapped it with vanilla. You chose whichever you prefer as both work fine.
The cookies look the nicest when they are a bit pale, generally that means baking for 8 minutes. I prefer 10 minutes because I think they taste a bit better when browner (even though they look a bit nicer when they are pale).
Recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Classy
Be a hero this Christmas and whip up a batch of these delightful treats for your loved ones. You’ll most definitely make Santa’s nice list this year. 😀
Enjoy!
Tanya
Oh my gosh, I would eat these all in one sitting!!! 🙂
I did. Okay, almost. They are so tasty and addictive!