Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
These Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies are an amazing crisp and buttery shortbread with all the robust flavor of brown sugar. When you're looking for an easy shortbread recipe, but equally delicious, this cookie is it!
If you love shortbread, check out Kamut Flour Shortbread Cookies, Olive Oil Shortbreads, Sourdough Chocolate Shortbread Cookies, or Gluten Free Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
- Ready In: 4 hours 34 minutes
- Makes: 24 cookies
- Main Ingredients: salted butter, light brown sugar, all purpose flour
- Flavor Profile: buttery, brown sugar
- Dietary Info: eggless, no seed oils, gluten free swap available
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: brown sugar twist on classic buttery shortbreads
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Buttery & Crisp: I love shortbread cookies because they are buttery and crisp! These are best if dipped in a glass of milk.
- Brown Sugar: While most shortbreads are made with cane sugar or powdered sugar, these are made with the addition light brown sugar. This gives them the flavor of a classic chocolate chip cookie but with the texture of a shortbread.
- Simple: This easy shortbread cookie recipe combines butter, brown sugar, and flour for a simple cookie with minimal ingredients. So, when you want some quick, easy, and flavorful, this is it!
- Crowd Pleaser: Brown Sugar Shortbreads are a true crowd pleaser! This easy shortbread recipe has a nostalgic taste thanks to the butter and brown sugar with a buttery and crisp texture. Everyone will love this simple cookie.
Ingredients
- Butter: I use organic salted butter, but unsalted butter is fine if you add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the recipe. Also, check out Best Salted Butter for Baking for my top picks for butter when making shortbread cookies.
- Powdered Sugar: I use a mix of organic powdered sugar and light brown sugar to give them the best flavor and texutre.
- Light Brown Sugar: I use my homemade light brown sugar, but store bought also works. If you want an even more intense brown sugar flavor, you can use dark brown sugar too as it has more molasses.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Flavor Variations
- Chocolate Dipped: Melt 8 ounces of chopped dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl and half dip or drizzle chocolate on top of cookies.
- Chocolate Chip: Add in 113 grams chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate chunks to the dough after mixing the flour in.
- Cardamom Pecan: Add in 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom (with the butter) and 113 grams chopped pecans to the dough after mixing the flour.
- Chocolate Walnut: Add in 57 grams chopped dark chocolate and 57 grams chopped walnuts after mixing the flour. Finish with flaky sea salt after baking.
- Almond Cranberry: Add in 57 grams sliced almonds and 57 grams dried cranberries into the dough after mixing in the flour.
- Blueberry Muffin: Add in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon with the butter. Then add 113 grams dried blueberries and some lemon zest into the dough after the flour is mixed in.
Baker's Tips
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- Be sure to use softened butter, this is so crucial for shortbread cookies! I like to let my butter soften naturally out on the counter for the best results.
- Make sure to sift powdered sugar. This ensures there are clumps as you don't want those transferring to your cookies.
- Use high quality ingredients, especially butter! Shortbread cookies are made up mostly butter, so it really matters. And they have very few minimal ingredients so those ingredients really count.
- Feel free to add chocolate chips to the batter if you like, I'd do 142 grams.
- You can also add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt if you are as obsessed with sweet and salty cookies as I am!
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 226 grams (scant 1 ½ cups) gluten free flour blend and 57 grams (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon) organic coconut flour. I used the Namaste Organic Perfect Flour blend for testing.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom and edges.
How to Make Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Mix on low speed until combined and there are no butter chunks.
- Add in the flour.
- Mix on low until combined and a smooth, soft dough forms, this shortbread dough should feel like play dough in your hands.
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll it into a log that is about 14-inches long. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove the cookie dough log from the fridge and slice it into about 28 cookies that are about 1/4-inch thick. If you like them a little thicker or thinner, feel free to adjust.
- Place on the prepared baking sheets, spreading evenly apart.
- Bake for 19 to 21 minutes or until golden brown on the bottoms and edges. Sprinkle with cane sugar immediately after coming out of the oven. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets.
Recipe FAQ's
Brown sugar has molasses, which provides a richer flavor and also a darker color to shortbread cookies. They can also have a softer crumb, thanks to the addition of molasses and a caramel-like flavor.
These are buttery and crisp with a tender, melt in your mouth crumb.
Butter is the foundation of shortbread cookies and they are made up of mostly butter. This provides fat and flavor, which helps give them that buttery, melt in your mouth texture.
There are three main differences between shortbread and sugar cookies. First, shortbread has much more butter than sugar cookies, giving them a more rich buttery flavor. Shortbread cookies usually do not have eggs or leavening (baking soda or baking powder), while sugar cookies do. The eggs and leavening agent makes sugar cookies softer and chewy, while the the absence of these two ingredients in shortbreads helps create their dense and crisp crumb.
Yes, you can use dark brown sugar the recipe will work just fine. The color will be a bit darker and the flavor will be richer.
Yes, just add ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt to the flour.
I did a test of 4 top organic butter brands and for the shortbread test, the Nancy's Organic Salted Butter won for the most delicate, tender and delicious flavor and texture. So, this is what I always use now!
Yes, you can add in your favorite mix ins with the flour. I provide instructions for flavor variations in the blog post for some of my favorite combos!
Chilling the dough helps the butter and sugars solidify, which helps them keep their shape baking. It also helps provide an incredibly light and tender crumb on this recipe, don't skip chilling!
Incorrect measuring can cause this (too much flour). Also, if your butter is cold when mixing the dough, it won't mix properly, which can affect the texture of the finished cookies, not in a good way.
Yes, this is a great recipe to make ahead of time because the dough needs to chill anyways. So, you can make it a couple days in advance and leave the dough log in the fridge. If you want to make it even more in advance, you can freeze the dough log for up to 3 months. If frozen, remove from the freezer and refrigerate for 24 hours before slicing and baking.
Shortbreads are buttery and crisp so they are best stored in a cool dry place. Don't store in an airtight container as they can become soft.
Ways to Enjoy Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
- With a big glass of milk is always best!
- Have an afternoon snack with Iced Blueberry Latte or Berry Protein Smoothie Without Banana.
- Enjoy with Coconut Hot Chocolate, Chai Tea Hot Chocolate, or Caramel Hot Cocoa for a cozy evening treat.
- These also go really well with an evening cup of tea. They sorta remind me of tea biscuits I had with my mom growing up.
More Organic Cookie Recipes
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Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
Ingredients
- 226 grams salted butter (softened)
- 71 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 71 grams light brown sugar (packed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 255 grams all purpose flour
- 28 grams cane sugar (for topping)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until combined and there are no butter chunks.
- Add in the flour and mix on low until combined and a smooth, soft dough forms, this shortbread dough should feel like play dough in your hands.
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll it into a log that is about 14-inches long. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the cookie dough log from the fridge and slice it into about 28 cookies that are about 1/4-inch thick.
- Place on the prepared baking sheets, spreading evenly apart.
- Bake for 19 to 21 minutes or until golden brown on the bottoms and edges. Sprinkle with cane sugar immediately after coming out of the oven. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets.
- Store in a cool dry place for up to 7 days.
Notes
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- Be sure to use softened butter, this is so crucial for shortbread cookies! I like to let my butter soften naturally out on the counter for the best results.
- Make sure to sift powdered sugar. This ensures there are clumps as you don't want those transferring to your cookies.
- Use high quality ingredients, especially butter! Shortbread cookies are made up mostly butter, so it really matters. And they have very few minimal ingredients so those ingredients really count.
- Feel free to add chocolate chips to the batter if you like, I'd do 142 grams.
- You can also add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt if you are as obsessed with sweet and salty cookies as I am!
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 226 grams (scant 1 ½ cups) gluten free flour blend and 57 grams (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon) organic coconut flour. I used the Namaste Organic Perfect Flour blend for testing.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom and edges.
Nutrition
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These brown sugar shortbread cookies are more flavorful than classic shortbreads made with sugar! They’re so good!
These cookies are insane!! I do mine chocolate dipped like the way Mimi does them and they come out…🤌🏼! It’s a classic shortbread that takes me right back to my grandmother’s kitchen. Highly recommend!!