This recipe comes to you from WestRosa! I follow this Vancouverite foodie on Instagram and when I saw her photograph for these cookies propped up so prettily in a beautiful tall white mug, I knew I had to try making (and photographing) them myself. I thought that these little shortbread bites would be perfect for holiday baking and I was right!
This recipe makes such perfect little cookie bites that are so easy to make, I have awarded it My Favourite Christmas Cookie Recipe of 2017! In fact they are the best new Christmas cookie of the past few years since I rarely stray from my personal classics. I did make some alterations to the recipe, mostly when it comes to baking technique. Here is my version.
Ingredients
For this recipe you will need: 1/2 cup soft salted butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch, pinch of salt and 3 tsp decorative sprinkles.
Foodie Shopping Tip
This has been a horrible year for vanilla beans so the price has skyrocketed! I found LorAnn Gourmet Madagascar Vanilla for $13.99 at Bulk Barn. I have heard that Walmart has it for a pretty good price and another friend recommended bringing a 50% off coupon to Michaels to get it there. Holiday baking has not been cheap this year! Another reason why I wanted to share this recipe with you. Just 1/4 tsp and totally worth it.
Making The Cookies
I personally like to sift my dry ingredients together.
I was in a huge rush trying to get these done for the studio’s Christmas party so time was of the essence! I used my mixer but you really can do these by hand if you prefer.
First cream butter, sugar and vanilla well. Add dry ingredients.
Mix well. You want the dough to come together but do not overwork it!
Add sprinkles and mix into dough.
Put plastic wrap on cutting board and then the dough on top. Flatten dough until it is about 1/2” high. Add a few more sprinkles on top.
Wrap up and let chill in fridge for 15 minutes.
Trim the round edges from dough. Do not discard. Keep to make more cookies.
Cut dough into 1/2” squares. Make all the cuts in one direction first and then in the other direction.
Place cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. This was the last little piece of parchment paper I had!
Make sure to give them some room.
Put in a 325F preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes.
Bake until the bottoms of the cookies are light brown. Let cookies cool on cooling rack.
Foodie Results
Are these not the prettiest little cookies? And so easy to make!
Fast, lovely and very delicious. The perfect bite of shortbread. Next time I will add even more sprinkles on top!
These were perfect for the party. Just a little bite of Christmas so you feel like you have indulged without being overwhelmed with cookie-binging guilt. These cookies make me very happy and I will continue to make them as a holiday baking tradition. Which is huge! I always make the same damn thing at Christmas, LOL.
Thank you WestRosa for sharing your recipe! Congratulations on winning one of my 2017 Favourite Things Awards!
A few weeks back I played with a coconut flour shortbread. Got the idea from Jo on Blogger. Fun to make. As for vanilla, I stopped buying it awhile ago now. Just too rich for my blood and also, the quality has gone WAY DOWN. No thanks!
Did the coconut flour work well for the shortbread? It’s hard to do a lot of the kind of baking I do without vanilla. Just going to try and make this bottle last as long as I can.
I’m glad to hear you liked my shortbread recipe. 💕 They’re so cute!
Rosa, they are wonderful! They were hugely popular at the Christmas party and yes, so cute, good job! Thanks for sharing and inspiring me to try something new.
👍❤️😊
Those look lovely. How long do they last still being good to eat?
I would give them just a couple of days Gisele! This doesn’t make that many so they will probably go quickly.