22 shortbread crust recipes

Peanut pie with a shortbread cookie crust bound by peanut butter, packed with peanut butter cookies and roasted peanuts in a gooey brown sugar custard. Triple peanut, double cookie.

Pumpkin pie squares with a crumbly oat-and-brown-sugar shortbread crust and a fully spiced pumpkin custard. Bakes in one pan, cuts into 16 squares, and travels better than a round pie.

Showstopper cheesecake with a pecan shortbread crust, cranberry glaze layer, white chocolate orange filling, and candied orange slice topping. A stunning holiday dessert that requires overnight chilling.

Buttery shortbread crust topped with gooey pecan-coconut filling creates bar cookies that taste like pecan pie without the fussy pastry work.

Idiot's Delight: a layered no-fuss dessert with pecan shortbread crust, cream cheese filling, butter pecan pudding, whipped topping, and praline pecans. Potluck royalty.

Apple dessert bars with a buttery shortbread crust, cinnamon-lemon apple layer, and a rich coconut-nut custard topping that bakes into chewy squares.

A stunning fresh strawberry pie with a buttery pecan shortbread crust, whipped cream cheese filling, and whole berries glazed in homemade strawberry sauce. Worth every minute.

A layered Southern dessert with a buttery pecan shortbread crust, creamy sweet potato and cream cheese filling, and billowy whipped topping. Crunchy, creamy, and utterly indulgent.

Better than sex cake is a four-layer chocolate-pecan icebox dessert: a buttery pecan shortbread crust, sweet cream cheese, chocolate pudding, and whipped topping. A make-ahead potluck legend.

Chocolate pecan pie bars with a buttery shortbread crust and a gooey corn syrup filling loaded with chopped pecans and chocolate morsels. All the flavor of pecan pie, no pie dish needed.

Zesty fig and date pastry bars with walnuts, orange juice, and lemon zest on a buttery shortbread crust with a crisscross lattice top. A bright, old-school cookie bar.

Cranberry orange tart with a buttery almond shortbread crust and glistening marmalade-glazed cranberry filling. A stunning make-ahead holiday dessert that chills overnight.

Layered blueberry dessert with a baked pecan shortbread crust, fluffy cream cheese and whipped topping filling, and glossy blueberry pie filling on top. A potluck favorite that chills in the fridge and slices into neat squares.

Apricot almond bars with a buttery shortbread crust, spiced almond meringue topping, apricot glaze, and chocolate drizzle. Four layers of European-style pastry in every square.

Pecan pie bars: shortbread crust topped with classic gooey pecan pie filling, baked in a sheet pan and cut into 36 holiday bars. All the flavor of pecan pie, none of the slicing drama.

Salted peanut chews with a brown sugar shortbread crust, gooey marshmallow layer, and a crunchy peanut butter chip topping loaded with crisp rice cereal and salted peanuts.