Kay's Shortbread

These shortbread cookies are pure butter luxury in a tiny package. Just six pantry ingredients produce five to six dozen bite-sized cookies that practically dissolve on your tongue. The cornstarch is the quiet secret here, replacing a small portion of the flour to create an incredibly tender, melt-away crumb.

Creaming the butter with powdered sugar (not granulated) until light and fluffy is what gives these their smooth, refined texture. Powdered sugar dissolves completely into the butter, so there’s no graininess. The dough comes together into a firm ball that takes just five or six gentle kneads before it’s ready to shape.

Baking low and slow at 325°F (160°C) dries the cookies without browning them. You want barely golden edges and a pale, sandy center. Shortbread that gets too dark loses its delicate butteriness and starts tasting like a regular cookie.

Kitchen Tips

• Use real butter, not margarine. Shortbread is essentially flavored butter, so quality matters here more than in almost any other cookie.
• Press each ball gently with fingertips or a fork. You want slightly flattened, not paper thin.
• A piece of candied cherry in the center adds a festive pop of color, especially for holiday cookie trays.
• Cool completely on the baking sheet. These are fragile and break easily when warm.

Variations

• Dip half of each cooled cookie in melted chocolate for an elegant finish.
• Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract or almond extract to the dough for a flavored shortbread.
• Roll the dough into a log and slice into rounds for more uniform cookies.