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Shortbread bites are little individual bites of buttery goodness. They are the same recipe I came up with for my Classic Scottish Shortbread and close to my whipped shortbread but using a different method to make them into little thick squares that are individually decorated.
How to Make Shortbread Bites
Shortbread bites are really quick and easy to make. The trick is to pat them into your baking pan and then freeze them for a few minutes. Then, to make the cookies, all you do is slice them into little squares. After you do that, you decorate the tops with whatever you choose to use, bake them, and voilà! You have perfect little bites of sweet, buttery shortbread.
Because they are so thick, these also hold up better than traditional shortbread cookies when gifting or putting on a cookie tray. Remember, when baking shortbread, the key is that you are actually drying it out and not really baking it.
Ingredients
- butter
- brown sugar
- icing sugar
- flour
Directions
- Cream together your butter and brown sugar. Add in the icing sugar and combine.
- Mix until the dough is completely mixed together.
- Pat the cookie dough into an 8×8 wax paper/parchment paper lined pan. (see photo)
- Place in your freezer for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the freezer and cut into squares. (see photo)
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and decorate.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned.
- Remove and cool on sheets for several minutes, then remove and cool completely on baking racks.
Shortbread Bites Tips and Tricks
- Make sure not to skip the time in the freezer. This is what’s going to make the shortbread hold its shape in a little square while you dry it out in the oven.
- The reason that we are baking these shortbread by at a low oven temperature is that we are drying the cookies out more than we are baking them. If you finds that they are browning on the outside too quickly, you can drop the oven temperature to as low to 250°F as we are simply drying them out.
- You can store these in a freezer safe closed container by packing them in layers with parchment paper in between, then simply defrost them at room temperature and enjoy!
I have a crazy love for shortbread during the Christmas season. I don’t think that I actually make it any other time of year, which you could if you wanted simply change the sprinkles to rainbow colored ones for birthday parties or heck, make Halloween shortbread if you are so inclined by putting some Halloween sprinkles on them.
You have to love how easy yet decadent and tasty these are! If you want more Christmas cookie recipes, try my Christmas Candy Cane Cookies, my Marshmallow Yule Log, or my cup of hot cocoa cookies,
Enjoy!
Love,
You Should See How Much Butter is in My Fridge This Holiday Season Magpie
Shortbread Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
- 2 cups flour
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F
- Cream together your butter and brown sugar, making sure that there are no lumps in your brown sugar.
- Add in the icing sugar and combine.
- Add in the salt and flour slowly, with the mixer on low – this is not whipped shortbread after all- until the dough is completely mixed together.
- Pat the cookie dough into an 8 x 8 wax paper/parchment paper lined pan.
- Place in your freezer for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the freezer and cut into squares. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and decorate as you wish. I love half a candied cherry on top, it's the perfect size.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned and dried out.
- Remove and cool on sheets for several minutes, then remove and cool completely on baking racks.
Notes
Nutrition
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Joy Leeb says
Quick and easy. I will be making these. How much salt do you use?
The Kitchen Magpie says
Use salted butter! In need to edit that up. Salted butter is the best!
The Kitchen Magpie says
And skip the salt!
Susan Forbes says
A great idea. 🙂
MissKay says
I’m wondering if I could use half a merichino cherry on top?
Karlynn Johnston says
I don’t put salt in my shortbread, whipped or plain, but since I don’t specify unsalted butter, you can use salted to get that sweet/salt combination.
garlic bulb says
how much salt?
Deb McKay says
Thanks for sharing. I love the idea of putting it in a pan and freezing it so you can cut it easily into squares.