![Sparkling Shortbread Cookies](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/12/07/multimedia/YK-Sparkling-Shortbread-1-a959/YK-Sparkling-Shortbread-1-a959-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Sugared Shortbread
![Sugared Shortbread](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/03/15/dining/sugared-shortbread/sugared-shortbread-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 240grams all-purpose flour (2 cups)
- 36grams rice flour (¼ cup)
- 62grams sugar (¼ cup), more as needed
- 2grams fine sea salt (½ teaspoon)
- 16tablespoons unsalted butter (1 cup), melted and cooled
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- Step 2
In a bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar and salt. Stir in the butter. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with sugar while warm and slice; cool completely.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I adore this recipe and have made it many times. I make my own rice flour by whizzing white rice in a Magic Bullet. I can't get it uniformly powdery, which is a good thing: I love the tiny bits of raw rice in the finished shortbread. They lend an irresistible crunchy texture. The other bonus to this recipe is how ridiculously easy it is. Be sure to slice the shortbread while it is warm. If you wait until it cools, you'll have a pile of shattered shards, albeit a delicious pile.
Easy and simple, delish. Next time, I'll rub some lemon zest with the sugar before mixing it in the flour for some fresh lemon flavor (a Dorrie Greenspan baking process I've tried).
I can't stop making these. Is there a 12 step program to to help me with this? These are fantastic!
Great recipe. Call me crazy, but I'm certain the flavor and texture improved after I let the finished shortbread fingers sit in a sealed container overnight.
Given that this recipe already calls for melted butter, I made this using Kate Zuckerman's method of browning butter with a vanilla bean (e.g. https://www.cookstr.com/recipes/whipped-brown-butter-and-vanilla-birthda.... It was spectacular.
Used fine almond flour instead of rice flour, and was delicious. Noticed description states sugar on top and bottom of cookie - should we also sprinkle pan before pressing dough?
easy to scale down (knew i couldn't trust myself with the whole thing:).
added a slug of vanilla extract to 1/2 recipe and baked in my 8-inch cast iron skillet for 25 minutes @ 350-degrees. perfect.
next time, i'm going to try it with a salted, cultured butter (see melissa's cultured butter cookies), and maybe sub turbinado sugar for granulated.
This is the easiest and best shortbread recipe I’ve tried. I don’t change a thing. I use parchment, lift it out of the pan immediately and then slice before they cool. I roll each piece in sugar while still hot and it sticks very well.
I'm going to guess no, you were right not to add tahini on this occasion. And also yes, you should've gone ahead and bought rice flour. After a lot of delicious research I can tell you my favourite shortbread contains 100 percent rice flour. And butter and sugar. That's it.
Orange zest works also, and with the orange if you cut the finished shortbread into sticks, you can dip one end in dark chocolate, or just drizzle dark chocolate over the whole sheet
This is delicious and addictive as some have said. I added cardamom to the last batch and it was very good. I had a bit of lemon curd leftover so substituted for some of the butter and that was good as well.
The original recipe (available on Amy Casey's web site) specifies a quarter cup, so I would go with that.
I took lynn ricardo's suggestion and added a slug of vanilla. Wonderful. Will definitely be a regular for me.
Very easy to make and good taste and texture. I buttered the dish instead of using parchment paper and had no issues with sticking. I added a half teaspoon of vanilla and some extra sugar to the mix. I sprinkled mine with sugar and sliced almost immediately after taking out of the oven, and transferred to another dish to cool. Lost some sugar in the process so resprinkled again. I guess the comment about sugar on the bottom of the cookies will be one of life's unsolved mysteries.
First comment on a NYT recipe: prepared recipe as directed - delicious and ever so easy to make. Yum!
First comment on a NYT recipe: prepared recipe as directed - delicious and ever so easy to make. Yum!
Amazing easy recipe. I've made it with plain melted butter and with brown butter, both incredibly delicious. It' amazing how much the flavor and texture improve the next day.
Very dry
Don’t melt the butter, or else cool it completely
Oh yum! A perfect recipe and so easy. Rave reviews and they kept beautifully.
Meant to add that I used almond flour instead of rice flour and added a hint of almond extract. Absolutely delicious.
Try using cultured butter, it makes a difference in the flavor. I also added lemon zest and vanilla extract as others suggested, it was delicious!
I think this is the best recipe I cut it in round shape, slightly thinner and this my view of what a perfect sugar cookie is. Forget the other sugar cookie with icing, which compared to this is like mini purgatory !! this is THE sugar cookie for ever. Best recipe, tons of thanks !!!!!
Can I cut the dough with cookie cutters and bake on parchment on cookie sheets, rather than baking in a pan and then cutting into bars?
I don't see why not.
This is the easiest and best shortbread recipe I’ve tried. I don’t change a thing. I use parchment, lift it out of the pan immediately and then slice before they cool. I roll each piece in sugar while still hot and it sticks very well.
This recipe, as is, is my absolute favorite for an easy cookie/treat. If you want a stronger flavor, you can also add 1.5 tsp of almond extract, which is equally delicious
Added 1 tablespoon of ground lavender buds is a MUST otherwise as noted it is too bland. Increase sugar to 1/3 of a cup. Added ground lavender - only 1 teaspoon to the sugar before sprinkling on the top of the still warm shortbread. Delicious!!
Made as written with the following flavorings: 1tbsp of culinary lavender seeds and 1tbsp of dried lemon peel, crushed together with mortar to release more aromas. Also stirred some of this in the sugar topping. Best shortbread I have ever had. Looking forward to experiencing with different flavorings.
I made this as written and added culinary lavender and minced lemon peel for flavor. Will never try another shortbread recipe. It came out looking professional with divine taste and texture. I may experience with other flavorings.
Delicious! I baked 30 minutes and it was too long. Next time, I will check after 25 minutes. I added approximately a teaspoon of vanilla after reading reviews.
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