Everyone has a go-to cookie recipe. This is mine.
THREE ingredients somehow meld together to make an incredibly luscious, melt in your mouth, sweet bite of goodness! Shortbread has a wonderfully crumbly texture, due to the high amount of butter in the cookies. And in my humble opinion, a high amount of butter is never a bad thing. Ever.
These cookies come together very quickly, so this is the perfect recipe for when you have guests drop by unexpectedly. What takes the most time is waiting for your butter to soften. I take mine out of the refrigerator the night before and leave it on the kitchen counter. When I’m ready to bake, the butter is soft and ready to be creamed.
Don’t leave the butter in a really warm place, such as on the stove. You want it soft, not melted!
Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
1 lb of butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
4 cups AP flour
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter on high speed until light and fluffy.
Gradually add the brown sugar, and mix it well. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour a little at a time, waiting between additions for the flour to be incorporated. You will need to stop and scrape down the bowl a few times as you add the flour.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. This is not a necessity, but does make for easier clean up. And I’m all about easy clean up…
WITH CLEAN HANDS roll an approximately 1 inch ball of dough between your palms, and place onto the baking sheet. Continue with the remaining dough, placing the balls about an inch apart on the baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. The cookies are very soft when they first come out of the oven, so let them cool on the cookie sheet for 7 - 10 minutes. Remove the cookies to a cooling rack to complete the cooling process.
Now this is important…try to not eat them all as they cool. It will not be easy.
These cookies look delicious!
Lana says
I found your recipe through a Google search specifically for brown sugar shortbread cookies. Like you said, they are easy to make and very yummy. My boyfriend and I made them last night and even added some sprinkles to some before baking. I will be making these again. Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies! And no guilt eating them since they were made for a good cause!
MK says
I just bought these at the bake sale and they are delicious! I am so excited to make them and am thawing out the butter tonight!
holland says
oh Cheryl you temptress…
I have a very happy family. Made it in the pie plate. The new oven baked them to perfection.
Eating a slice right now and thanking you for the slightly different twist on my classic shortbread.
Wow these look super simple but the pound of butter is making me cringe. I can make them for the kiddies though. Thanks for the recipe!!
You most certainly can make this in a pie plate. Just press the dough out into the pan, and bake. You should be able to follow the same baking time as your usual shortbread. Let me know how it turns out!
Oh my. I just make three ingredient shortbread in a pie plate…but with white sugar. Wonder if I could make this successfully in a pan. I have no patience with cookies I must roll. Hmmm. Ok, these may just convince me. I had better pick up some butter.
Yes it uses salted butter. I am not one to use unsalted butter, unless absolutely necessary. Many will argue with me about that, but what can I say. I like salted butter.
Keith says
No extra salt in this? So I’m assuming salted butter…