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Whipped Shortbread Cookies

These Whipped Shortbread Cookies are buttery, delicious, and so simple to make! No refrigerating, no rolling pins. Just perfect, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread!

An overhead view of round Whipped Shortbread Cookies with sprinkles and candy eyes. They are smooth and buttery, and a little bit fluffier than a traditional shortbread cookie.

I have SERIOUSLY slacked on Halloween recipes this year, so I’m here to repent with some cookies. Please accept this butter-laden apology.

I am particular about Halloween recipes. I’m not typically interested in anything that looks like eyeballs or worms [gross], but I don’t love anything that’s too cutesy either. My favorite Halloween recipe is this Bloody Good Cheesecake. Red velvet, some very bright “blood” frosting, a little dramatic cake staging – so good.

I’ve got a mini version as well – Bloody Good Mini Cheesecakes are bite-sized and have a gingersnap crust.

This shortbread Halloween cookie recipe can be cutesy, if that’s your thing. Or it can be a little bit sophisticated. You can go the spooky route with some red candy melts. Or you can be a total purist and just go the candy eyeball route (my personal favorite).

LeMoine Family Kitchen

This recipe is based on these excellent Rainbow Shortbread Cookies from LeMoine Family Kitchen. I tweaked it a little to accommodate my lazy person ways, but this shortbread cookie goodness originally came out of her kitchen.

Every couple of months, I swap recipes with other bloggers because it’s fun to try things that friends have developed, and /or get to know a new website. Also HOW TF ELSE DO YOU MAKE NEW FRIENDS IN A PANDEMIC?!!

(sorry for freaking out – I need to get out of this house)

Anyway, this month, I coked from the blog of LeMoine Family Kitchen , and because I am me, I immediately searched for Halloween recipes. I found these adorable Halloween Mini Chocolate Cakes, but they felt a little bit to much like my Slimeball Hi Hat Halloween Cookies. THEN I found the shortbread.

If you are looking for a new food blog to follow, especially if you love pasta, Angela is YOUR GIRL! She’s from Jersey with Italian roots, and there are tasty things like this Linguine with Pancetta & Fresh Tomato for days.

A tray of Halloween Shortbread Cookies, all dotted with Halloween sprinkles and candy eyes

Whipped Shortbread vs. Traditional Shortbread

I used Angela’s original ingredients here, but I added a couple of things (vanilla and a little more salt). What I really played around with was the actual technique, because again, I am lazy.

Traditional shortbread cookies will either be rolled out and cut, or the dough is shaped into a log, chilled, and then sliced.

Whipped Shortbread Cookies skip all the rolling out or slicing, and there’s no need to refrigerate the dough. With this recipe, you’ll just whip together the butter and the sugar for a little longer than normal (5 minutes), then add the remaining dry ingredients, and then add the vanilla and the egg.

The dough is soft and smooth, and is super easy to work with.

Soft balls of shortbread dough set 2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Each unbaked cookie has been slightly pressed with a fork to make small ridges on top.

Tools for making these cookies

There are a few things that can make your cookie-baking life easier, and you definitely don’t HAVE to have them, but I’m always glad to have them handy.

Need a few more Fall Recipes?

This is a SOLID list of 13 fall faves -each tested by at least two food bloggers, all sure to be delicious.

  1. An Affair from the Heart – Instant Pot Chicken & Rice Soup
  2. An Affair from the Heart – Honey Corn Bread
  3. Aunt Bee’s Recipes –  Pecan Pie Cheesecake Bars
  4. Devour Dinner – Instant Pot French Onion Meatballs
  5. House of Nash Eats – Slow Cooker Crack Chicken
  6. Lemoine Family Kitchen – Turkey Cranberry Sliders
  7. Life Currents – Cheesy Shrimp Dip
  8. Life, Love & Good Food – Lemon Garlic Smashed Potatoes
  9. Or Whatever You Do – Traeger Grilled Parmesan Halibut
  10. Take Two Tapas –  Pork Tenderloin Sliders
  11. The Foodie Affair – Easy Greek Style Cauliflower Rice Salad
  12. The Speckled Palate – Upside Down Cranberry Cake
  13. West Via Midwest – Hawaiian Pulled Pork (Kalua Pork Recipe)
A pinnable image for sharing on Pinterest. The image has text that reads easy holiday whipped shortbread, and shows the dough ready for baking as well as the finished cookie with sprinkles
Whipped Shortbread Cookies
Yield: 15 cookies

Whipped Shortbread Cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 14 minutes
Total Time: 29 minutes

Whipped Shortbread Cookies are buttery and just slightly sweet. This simple to make recipe will be one you love for every holiday!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/8 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • Sprinkles or candy eyes

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Beat together the softened butter and powdered sugar on medium high for about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl at least once halfway through.
  3. Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt, and mix on medium until you have a crumbly, sandy sort of consistency.
  4. Then add the vanilla extract and the egg. Mix on medium low until the dough forms a ball.
  5. Use a medium cookie scoop to portion out the dough; if you don't have a cookie scoop, it's about a heaping tablespoon. Space the balls of dough at least 2" apart on the cookie sheet. Use a fork to gently press the top of each cookie; this will flatten them a bit so that they bake more evenly.
  6. Top with sprinkles or candy eyes as desired.
  7. Bake for 13-15 minutes. The bottoms will be golden brown, but the top should still be pale.
  8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, and then let them cool completely on a wire rack.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

15

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 41mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 0gSugar: 6gProtein: 2g

Amy Nash

Friday 23rd of October 2020

These looks so fun and easy that I whipped them right up with my kids yesterday afternoon! I had some fun Halloween sprinkles too that they loved using, and the cookies tasted delicious!

Rebecca

Tuesday 20th of October 2020

I can't wait to try these shortbread cookies. I've never heard of Whipping them and excited to give these a try!

Brandi Burgess

Monday 19th of October 2020

Shortbread cookies are one of my absolute favorites! These look SO GOOD!

Erin

Sunday 18th of October 2020

Oh my goodness gracious. These are the CUTEST little cookies (the eyessssss!), and we're going to be making them again and again because I am obsessed with how easy and tasty they are! Well done, ma'am!

Sandra Shaffer

Saturday 17th of October 2020

Heather! Sooo, nice to see you in FF! Buttery shortbread cookies are my favorite and this one can be used for all holidays with a swap of sprinkles! We all need simple dessert ideas that are cute!

Heather Tullos

Saturday 17th of October 2020

YES to all holidays! It was so fun to see you as a participant here! HAYYYYYYYYY. Looking forward to cooking from your site one of these rounds.

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