holiday cookie

Out of all of our cookie recipes for the holiday season this Sugar Plum Shortbread Cookie recipe is a tried and true classic!

Sugar Plum Shortbread Cookies 

Prunes,

pitted,

dried cranberries, minced

almonds

cinnamon

unsalted butter,

sugar

gluten free all-purpose flour or unbleached all-purpose flour

coarse kosher salt

pearl sugar

For the optional icing & decoration

powdered sugar, plus more if needed

milk

pistachios

cranberries

In a small bowl combine the prepared prunes, date, cranberries, almonds, and cinnamon. Stir to coat the fruit completely. Set aside. 

Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Chill until the butter is firm, about 30 minutes. 

Whisk together the flour and salt; add to the bowl with the butter and sugar.  

Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until dough starts to resemble a coarse meal, about 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium and mix 2 to 3 minutes more, until the dough starts to clump together in the bowl or around the paddle.  

Add the cinnamon coated fruit mixture and the pearl sugar pieces to the bowl with the dough and mix on low just until everything comes together. 

On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a cylinder, then pat it into a rectangle. Lay a large sheet of parchment paper on the work surface and dust it lightly with flour. Put the dough on top. Start rolling the dough, stopping to push together any cracks that form. To keep the dough from sticking, dust the top lightly with flour and cover with another piece of parchment paper.  

Continue to roll the dough until it reaches a ¼-inch thickness, approximately a 10x13-inch rectangle in shape. Transfer the dough and parchment to a baking sheet. Cover with another piece of parchment and chill until firm, at least 20 minutes, preferably several hours or overnight. 

Preheat oven to 350°. Let the dough sit at room temperature for up to 10 minutes.  

Invert the dough onto a work surface and peel off the top sheet of parchment paper. Using a knife, pastry wheel or cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shapes. Use up remaining scraps of dough by combining and re-rolling.  

Arrange 12 to 16 cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Pierce each cookie with a fork multiple times. Transfer the pans to the oven, lower the temperature to 325° and bake for 10 minutes.  

Rotate pans and bake until cookies feel firm to the touch and are lightly golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes more. Let the cookies cool completely on the pan. 

Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. 

In a small bowl whisk the powdered sugar and milk together until completely smooth. Dip a small portion of each shortbread cookie into the icing. Allow excess to pour off. Place the cookie back on the sheet pan. Sprinkle the prepared pistachios and cranberries over the wet icing. Leave undisturbed, the icing will set within a few hours. 

Scottish shortbread cookies with a Christmas twist! Filled with holiday spices like cinnamon, cloves and ginger to satisfy all those cosy winter spice cravings! Learn the the best tips on how to make the most perfect shortbread cookies with this simple recipe!

Christmas Shortbread

butter (Unsalted)

TBSP brown sugar

flour

((omit

tsp pumpkin pie spice

Allow your butter to soften to room temperature before making.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, the loose tea leaves and the pumpkin  pie spice. Set aside.

By hand, or in a mixer or food processor, cream the butter with the sugars. You will need to scrape the sides down. Do this until it is light and fluffy.

Slowly fold in the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Divide mixture in half and chill for at least one hour. Several hours is ideal, and overnight will work.

When ready to bake, bring oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Pick whether you would like pie shaped, rolled cut out shapes, or slice and bake. There are tips above in the post. If doing the pie shape, pat one half of the mixture into about a 7 inch circle. Using a knife, score into 16 wedges. If rolling and cutting, be sure to do so on a floured surface. If just slicing, do so in about ¼ to ½ thick slices. Place all on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes, but keep a keen eye. Only the slightest start of browning is desired. Allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes (unless already too brown)

Transfer and cool on a wire rack.

This is the perfect shortbread recipe! My entire family loved it!

The perfect holiday recipe!! Yum, I make shortbread every year, will be trying this recipe this time :)

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Sugar Plum Shortbread Cookies

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Top 2 holiday cookie recipes from across the web

The most viewed holiday cookie recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Sugar Plum Shortbread Cookies

Christmas Shortbread

The most viewed holiday cookie recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine