Christmas Shortbread Cookie Bars
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Buttery Shortbread Cookie Bars will be one of your favorite things to make this holiday season. This delicious and simple recipe is extra easy to make in one bowl with ingredients you most likely already have. These bars are extra buttery, flakey, and oh so tender!
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Shortbread Cookie Bars
Shortbread Cookie Bars taste just like a classic shortbread except they are in a bar form. This simple recipe is made with a few basic ingredients and comes together in minutes. Add your favorite sprinkles to celebrate the holidays or any occasion any time of year!
Other festive cookies I love making during the holidays are my Gingerbread Men Cookies, Santa’s Cookies, Reindeer Cookies, and Snowman Cookies.
These are perfectly light, tender, buttery, and will melt in your mouth. I love how these are cut into cookie bars so you don’t have to worry about scooping and rolling out any cookie dough. The best part is you can custimize these cookie bars by adding your favorite mix-ins and cookie toppings, see a full list below in the blog post.
Enjoy these shortbread cookie bars with a cup of hot tea, hot chocolate, coffee, or anytime you’re in the mood for a buttery cookie. Everyone will fall in love with these because they are better than any store bought shortbread since they are made with real butter and simple ingredients.
Key Ingredients
- Butter: One of the key ingredients used in a traditional shortbread recipe. You could use salted or unsalted butter- I prefer salted to offset the sweetness a bit. You want to use softened butter so it creams together easily.
- Confectioners’ sugar: We use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar because it’s less dense and creates lighter cookie bars. It also adds the perfect amount of sweetness.
- Flour: Spoon and level regular all-purpose flour when measuring it. Be sure not to scoop it out of the bag using the measuring cup. This way, you won’t accidentally measure out too much.
- Cornstarch: Common in many shortbread recipes, it helps make these cookie bars extra crumbly, flakey, and tender.
- Vanilla extract: Enhances and adds a warm vanilla flavor.
How To Make Shortbread Cookie Bars
Mix wet ingredients. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan or baking dish with parchment paper. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy and light. Add vanilla extract, and continue mixing until combined.
Add dry ingredients. Add flour and cornstarch and mix until combined and a cookie dough has formed. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add shortbread cookie dough to prepared pan or dish. Spread the dough in an even layer onto the prepared baking pan. Press dough with your hands or with a rubber spatula. Prick the shortbread with a fork all around.
Top with egg wash, sprinkles, and bake. Brush the egg white on to the shortbread until evenly coated, then add sprinkles. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the shortbread has turned a light golden brown. Place the pan on a cooling rack and wait until the shortbread has significantly cooled before removing from baking pan. Cut into 24 bars and enjoy!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Crowd pleaser: Buttery, flakey, and will melt in your mouth. These bars are everything shortbread should be everyone will absolutely love them.
Portable: These cookies are perfect for any occasion and can be transferred easily by placing cookies in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Pack them up for a picnic, party, lunch box treat, or bring them to work.
Fun holiday treat: Kids and adults will both love these cookies. They are perfect for classroom parties, cookie swaps, cookie holiday platters, holiday cookie exchange, and treat bags for gifts.
Year Round Treat: Just because these have Christmas sprinkle on them doesn’t mean they are just for the holidays. Make them year round by switching out the sprinkles to celebration any holiday or occasion Rainbow sprinkles are always a good option!
Recipe Variations
Jam Shortbread Bars: Swirl in your favorite jam to the bars before baking with a toothpick or knife. This will add a jammy flavor and add small pockets of fruit filling. The bare also look pretty too!
Add Chocolate: Add mini chocolate chips to the cookie dough for a chocolate flavor. You could also top the cooled bars with drizzled dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or a combination.
Add Crunch: Add a handful. of your favorite chopped nuts to the cookie dough or to the top of the bars. Great nut options for these cookie bars are chopped almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pecans.
Small or Large Bars: I cut these cookies into 24 squares but you can make them mini by cutting them into smaller squares or larger. You can even cut them into triangle shapes if you prefer.
Crunchy vs Soft Shortbread Cookie Bars
You can make your shortbread cookies either crunchy or soft depending on how long you bake them for. Bake cookie bars for about 35 minutes for crunchy bars and 25 minutes for softer bars. Since there isn’t any egg in this recipe, it’s ok to underbake the cookie bars.
Leftovers & Storage
To Store: Place cookie bars in an airtight container or ziplock bag and store for up to 7 days. You can also cover a dish with plastic wrap and store in a cool area.
To Freeze: You can also freeze any leftover cookies for up to 3 months. For best results, let the cookies defrost at room temperature when ready to eat. The best way to enjoy shortbread is when they are at room temperature or warmed.
Other Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Reindeer Cookies
- Melted Snowman Cookies
- Christmas Tree Brownies
- Grinch Cake Mix Cookies
- Hot Chocolate Cookies
- Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Santa’s Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint Graham Crackers
Other Easy Cookie Bar Recipes
- Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Sugar Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Funfetti Cake Mix Cookie Bars
- Chewy Caramel Chocolate Cookie Bars
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Shortbread Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups salted butter softened at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg white slightly beaten
- sprinkles of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy and light.
- Add vanilla extract, and continue mixing until combined.
- Add flour and cornstarch and mix until combined and a cookie dough has formed. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Spread the dough in an even layer onto the prepared baking pan. Press the dough down with your hands or with a rubber spatula. Prick the shortbread with a fork all around.
- Brush the egg white on to the shortbread until evenly coated, then add sprinkles. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the shortbread has turned a light golden brown. Place the pan on a cooling rack and wait until the shortbread has significantly cooled before removing from baking pan. Cut into 24 bars and enjoy!
Notes
- To Make Jam Shortbread Bars: Swirl in your favorite jam to the bars before baking with a toothpick or knife. This will add a jammy flavor and add small pockets of fruit filling. The bare also look pretty too!
- To Add Chocolate: Add mini chocolate chips to the cookie dough for a chocolate flavor. You could also top the cooled bars with drizzled dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or a combination.
- To Add Crunch: Add a handful. of your favorite chopped nuts to the cookie dough or to the top of the bars. Great nut options for these cookie bars are chopped almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pecans.
- Small or Large Bars: I cut these cookies into 24 squares but you can make them mini by cutting them into smaller squares or larger. You can even cut them into triangle shapes if you prefer.
- Bake cookie bars for about 35 minutes for crunchy bars and 25 minutes for softer bars.
- To store leftovers, place cookie bars in an airtight container or ziplock bag and store for up to 7 days. You can also cover a dish with plastic wrap and store in a cool area.
Welcome to #ChristmasCookies Week! That time of year when we soften the butter, fire up the oven, and make cookie trays for family, friends, and neighbors. This year more than 20 top-notch bloggers are sharing their very favorite creations for all to make and enjoy. Join us for a week’s worth of Christmas cookie deliciousness.
- Caramel Tassies by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
- Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies by Red Cottage Chronicles
- Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Chocolate Thumbprints by Hostess At Heart
- Christmas Shortbread Cookie Bars by Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog
- Date Sugar Walnut Cookies by Magical Ingredients
- Earl Grey Snickerdoodles by The Spiffy Cookie
- Easy Cake Mix Biscotti by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies by Best Cookie Recipes
- Gingerbread Penuche Sandwich Cookies by That Recipe
- Ginger Molasses Cookies with Caramelized Ginger by Family Around the Table
- Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms by Frugal & Fit
- Hot Chocolate Cookies by Blogghetti
- Iced Gingerbread Bars by Art of Natural Living
- Maple Doodles by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Mini M&M Cookies by Palatable Pastime
- Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies by Shockingly Delicious
- Orange Ginger Refrigerator Cookies by An Affair from the Heart
- Peppermint Meringues by Cheese Curd in Paradise
- Peppermint Mocha Cookies by Sweet Beginnings
- Reese’s Macaron by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Sugar Plum Pinwheel Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, and Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Texas Sheet Cake Cookies by Jen Around the World
Shortbread is my jam!!! Love this bar version. Thanks
I love festive holiday treats! Those sprinkles are just so fun. I bet these bars taste amazing too!
These are just so cute with those sprinkles. Love shortbread.
These sound delicious and I love theholiday sprinkles on top.
I love bar cookies for the holidays because it gives my hands a little rest from scooping and rolling!
That’s why I love them too!! 🙂
I really need to start baking more cookie bars during the holidays! So much easier than forming or scooping all of the cookies!
They are so easy to make, I hope you get a chance to try them!
Festive, fun and buttery good. These are a perfect Holiday cookie.
This recipe will go over big in my house!
I love holiday sprinkles! Great way to dress up the cookies!
Loving these Shortbread Cookie Bars! So fun and festive
These sound yum!