Buttercream Frosted Shortbread. Light and buttery shortbread that melts in your mouth with the added sweet touch of buttercream.
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My first experience with shortbread was while visiting someone at the hospital. I had gone down to the cafeteria and was craving something sweet to eat after my lunch. I was standing in line to pay for lunch and realized I had forgotten to grab my sweet treat. At the register was a package of shortbread. I grabbed it so I wouldn’t lose my place in line but in all honesty I was disappointed. Where was the caramel, the sprinkles, the nuts, anything but plain cookie looking sticks.
I finished my lunch and had forgotten about the package of shortbread I had bought. About an hour later I came across it on the table and thought what the heck, ripped the package open and with little to no anticipation had my first bite. I remember sitting there shocked and took another bite and another and another until the whole package was gone.
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To my amazement it was awesome. A little sweet, hint of salt, buttery through and through and the way it melted in my mouth was like heaven. It was fair to say I misjudged these little cookie sticks and have been a fan ever since.
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The only kind of shortbread better than what I had eaten out of that little red plaid package is homemade shortbread, Buttercream Frosted Shortbread to be exact.
With only a handful of staple ingredients you can make one of the most buttery, delicious cookies ever. You will be everyones new BFF if you start passing these out. Like for myself, the simple look of these cookies might fool folks but they will be sold after the first bite wondering if heaven delivered these personally.
Just to note, this shortbread is wonderful on its own and does not require the buttercream. However the buttercream does add to the deliciousness of this shortbread and besides isn’t it pretty?
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So pour yourself a cup of coffee, tea or milk. Plate yourself up one (or two) of these deliciously buttery sweet cookies and Enjoy!
Stacey
Shortbread recipe adapted from the book “William Sonoma- Cookies”
Buttercream Frosted Shortbread
Ingredients
- SHORTBREAD:
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- pinch of salt
- BUTTERCREAM:
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp milk
- 2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- purple food coloring I used gel based coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Have 9x9 pan ready, ungreased .
- In medium bowl sift flour and salt together, set aside.
- In bowl of mixer cream the butter until light and fluffy.
- Add confectioners sugar and mix.
- Add the granulated sugar and mix.
- Mix until well combined, about 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in the vanilla and almond extract.
- Add in the flour mixture and mix until just blended.
- Scoop mixture into 9x9 pan, pressing it into place with floured fingers.
- Bake until golden brown, about 60 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven, with sharp knife cut into 1x3 rectangles
- Let cool completely before removing from the pan.
- BUTTERCREAM:
- Cream butter in bowl of mixer.
- Add sugar and mix well.
- Add in vanilla paste, mix well.
- Add in milk, mix well.
- Mix in food coloring, amount will be based on type of food coloring and desired color. Start with a little and add more as needed until color is reached.
- Scoop into piping bag with french star tip.
- GARNISH:
- Lay shortbread rectangles on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Pipe buttercream down the center of each and sprinkle with dragees. (I used gold balls)
Don’t mind if I do! Shortbread has always been a favorite of mine! These sound delicious and that violet color is pure happiness! Have a good night, my friend!
Hi Annie! Agreed on the violet, I am obsessed with pastels right now, thank you. Shortbread is so yummy! Take care.
These are just beautiful! ?
Thanks Lucy! Cant go wrong with a little frosting and sprinkles. Take care.
Oh I LOOOOVE shortbread!! So buttery and delicious! This looks FABULOUS, Stacey! Love the frosting and you decorated these sooo beautifully! They are almost too pretty to eat.. almost, because let’s get real. I AM eating these. ALL of these! 😉 Cheers, friend!
Thanks Cheyanne! Agreed, never too pretty to eat. Have as many as you wish. Take care.
I love those colors, so beautiful! And of course you had me at shortbread and buttercream, what could be better? 🙂
Hi Nicole! Thank you so much, I needed some spring colors! Buttercream makes everything better. Take care.
how long will this keep for and how to store? 🙂
Hi Ana, the fresher the better with cookies (well any baked good) but with these cookies I would say about 1 week kept in an airtight container and stored in a cool dry place 😉 . Happy baking!!
I just found your recipe and I am dying to try it! I do have a question: I’d like to use cookie cutters for this and from a quick glance at the recipe, it seems the dough wouldn’t be firm enough. Is that so? What would you recommend? Or is it possible to use the cookie cutter just after baking?
PS. Those photos are making me drool~ That purple buttercream frosting looks so amazing!
Hi Erica, I haven’t personally tried this to give you a 100% yes or no answer. I think the dough would be firm enough but there is a good possibility the dough will spread due to the high qty of butter as it heats up in the oven. You could attempt the cookie cutter very quickly after coming out of the oven just keep in mind that the shortbread will start to get crumbly (which is what we love about shortbread 😉 ) very quickly as it cools. Thank you so much for your kind words about the photos. I also looove sugar cookies with buttercream and this recipe for my favorite sugar cookies does not require chilling prior to baking. It may be a good alternative to the shortbread … https://www.thesugarcoatedcottage.com/the-best-sugar-cookie-recipe/
Happy Baking!! Take care 🙂