Shortbread biscuits recipe

Melt-in-your-mouth shortbread and a hot cup of tea are a match made in heaven. This recipe is super-easy, using only 4 ingredients, and you don’t need the usual rice flour either. Make them any shape you like, bake, and then good luck stopping at just one!

How to make shortbread biscuits: key tips

As this shortbread recipe is slightly different to the usual, instead of creaming the butter and sugar, you rub the butter into the flour until small crumbs form. This ensures that all the flour is coated in butter and your final biscuits have the light and crumbly texture they are known for.

After adding the sugar, it’s really important that you don’t overhandle the mixture or your biscuits will be rather dense and heavy instead of lovely and light. Mix until just combined.

As the dough contains quite a bit of butter and is soft, placing it in the fridge for 20 minutes will firm it up somewhat, making it much easier to roll and cut. If you find that your dough is becoming too soft while cutting your shapes, simply return the dough to the fridge for a bit. 

The cook likes to sprinkle extra sugar on the top of the biscuits before baking to give them extra crunch, but if you plan on icing your biscuits, omit the extra sugar.

Key ingredients in this shortbread biscuits recipe 

It wouldn’t be shortbread without butter, and it doesn’t matter if you use unsalted or salted. Use caster sugar for the sugar, as it’s nice and fine and will ensure your biscuits have a fine texture, too. The vanilla may be optional, but I find it enhances the flavour of the biscuits.

Want to ice your biscuits? Here’s a lovely royal icing recipe to use, and you can tint it to whatever colour you please using food colouring paste. These colourful shortbread squares are fun to make as well.

This recipe was originally submitted by Debra Lee, a member of the Australia’s Best Recipe community. Introduction and additional recipe notes by Natasha Shaw.