Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies

PREP TIME 15

COOK TIME 25

TOTAL TIME 40

25 cookies

Spice up your classic shortbread recipe with these deliciously crisp Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies. It's buttery, crisp and insanely easy to make with just 5 simple ingredients.

Watch how to make the recipe

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

2 ¼ cups all purpose or cake flour
½ cup white granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt See note 1
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg optional
¾ cup salted or unsalted butter see note 2

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°F /162°C (140°C fan)
Mix the flour, white granulated sugar, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg (if using) in a large bowl.
Add the butter and rub into the mixture with your fingertips, to form a breadcrumb-like texture.
Use the palms of your hands, bringing the mixture together to form a dough see note 3
Divide the dough in half - (makes it easier to roll out and work with smaller portions)
Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to ⅜ inch (1cm) thick. See note 4
Use any shape cutter to cut the dough into cookies. I used a round 1 ¾ inch (4 ½ cm) round cookie cutter to make 25 cookies.
Place the cookies about ¾ inch (2cm) apart on a lined baking sheet see note 5
Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven but leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooking rack . The cookies will be soft when removed from the oven, but will crisp as they cool.
Serve plain or allow to cool completely before frosting or decorating with chocolate. See note 6

Storage

At room temperature: in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
To freeze: Baked can be frozen plain (without frosting) in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Recipe Notes

1. The same amount of salt (¼ teaspoon) is added whether you are using salted or unsalted butter

2.Get the butter out of the fridge about 20 to 30 minutes before baking. You want the butter to still be cold but too soft or melted. When cold butter is rubbed into the flour, it creates pockets of flavor which soft, room temperature butter can’t do. Once the cookies are placed in the oven the water in the cold butter begins evaporating. This creates moisture, creating a light but crisp texture. Using cold butter also prevents the cookies from spreading while baking.

3. You may find that the mixture is taking a while to form a complete dough. The butter softens as you use your hands to gather the dough. Within 5 to 6 minutes you should have formed a ball of dough. Don't knead the dough with your knuckles. Use the palms of your hands (which is much warmer) to form the dough. Take a look at the video to see how it's done.

4. Rolling out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper. prevents you from adding flour to your dough as it's being rolled. Any extra flour used during rolling produces drier, more dense cookies. I rolled out the dough to ⅜ inch (1cm) thick, and baked for 25 minutes. If you prefer a thinner shortbread cookie, then bake for a shorter time - about 15-20 minutes.

5. Don't place the cookies directly on a greased pan.Placing your cookies directly on to a baking sheet brushed with butter creates

6. These shortbread cookies are delicious,decorated or plain. I decorated with white chocolate, melted and piped once the cookies were completely cooled. Then sprinkled with crushed pistachio nuts and cinnamon sugar.

Nutrition