Shortbread Christmas Cookies — Jazz up typical shortbread cookies with this two-toned, soft and buttery Christmas version! They have fun and festive star-shaped sprinkles and are decorated with white chocolate Christmas trees making them perfect for holiday entertaining and cookie exchanges. They look impressive, but are easy enough for beginning bakers!
Christmas Shortbread Cookie Recipe
This holiday season, if you want to blow everyone away at your next holiday party or event, or an upcoming cookie exchange, these absolutely stunning Glazed Christmas Shortbread Cookies are just the thing to do so!
Homemade shortbread cookies are always some of my all-time favorite treats and these Christmas shortbread cookies are sweet, buttery, and all dressed up in their Christmas best.
That’s because you’re mixing plain dough with colored dough, and decorating the tops with an easy glazed icing and a super fun and festive Christmas tree scenic design.
Don’t worry, I’ve included plenty of tips and tricks here to help you simplify this process.
I love adding the confectioners’ sugar!
If you’re a beginner when it comes to decorating desserts, this is a perfect recipe to get started with!
My biggest advice to you with any recipe, holiday or otherwise is to not stress yourself out. Your cookies will be fabulous no matter what! I’ve got lots of tips and tricks scattered throughout this shortbread cookie recipe post so let’s get started.
Tip: If you’re a fan of making decorated Christmas cookies, make sure to also check my classic Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies, Classic Gingerbread Cookies, and Cut-Out Coffee Cup Cookies.
Ingredients For Decorated Christmas Shortbread Cookies
If you’re an avid baker, you likely already have most (if not all) of these ingredients in your kitchen right now.
And if you do have to do a little shopping, that’s alright because this is a budget-friendly recipe that features simple, inexpensive ingredients. After all, saving a little money around the holidays is always nice.
Shortbread Cookies
- White granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Unsalted butter
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Whole milk
Decorating
- Blue food coloring
- Star sprinkles
- White chocolate
- Green food coloring
- Confectioners sugar
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Two-Toned Shortbread Cookies
After you follow these easy step-by-step instructions, you’ll feel like the most festive baker in the North Pole!
Pro tip – Have some Christmas music playing as you as you make these cookies to really set the tone. I promise it’s so much more fun to really feel the Christmas spirit as you bake!
Step 1: Combine and beat the granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and butter until creamy.
Step 2: Separately, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Step 3: Combine the wet and dry mixtures, gradually adding the milk, until a soft dough forms, and transfer your dough onto a working surface.
Step 4: Divide the dough in half.
Step 5: Dye half of the dough blue using gel blue food coloring.
Tip: I strongly recommend using gel food coloring or gel food dye.
Step 6: Roll each dough half into an 8-inch log
Step 7: Cut each log in half lengthwise. You now have two 4-inch blue and two 4-inch plain pieces.
Tip: If you have a baking mat with measurements on it, your job will be a bit easier but it’s not required and you can guesstimate.
Step 8: Press the blue and plain halves together.
Step 9: Wrap each log tightly with plastic wrap and freeze the logs for 10 minutes.
Step 10: While the dough is in the freezer, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 11: Cut each log into 1/4-inch slices.
Step 12: Place on a baking sheet and flatten slightly with your palm.
Step 13: Place the cookies on the baking sheet and decorate with the star sprinkles on the blue dough side.
Step 14: Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes and let them cool on the baking sheet. If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar now. And I always add more at the end, too.
How to Decorate the Christmas Shortbread
While your cookies are cooling, you can get to work on making this easy glaze. In just a couple of minutes it’ll be ready.
Step 1: Melt the white chocolate.
Step 2: Stir in the green food dye.
Step 3: Draw the little trees on each cookie using a toothpick that you dip in the green colored white chocolate and then refrigerate until they are fully set.
Step 4: Dust with the powdered sugar and enjoy!
Do I Have To Put The Cookie Dough In The Freezer?
That’s a big yes! When you pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes, the logs become slightly firm to the touch, and that’s exactly what you want.
Freezing the dough ever so slightly helps prevent spreading so the dough will hold the correct shape and look like the cookies I have pictured.
If you try to rush the process by skipping those 10 short minutes in the freezer, the dough won’t hold its shape in the oven and will likely spread out into thin discs.
Is It Really Necessary to Dye Half the Shortbread Cookie Dough?
No, it is not. If you want to save a step and are fine with plain colored dough, and do not need two-toned dough, you can simply skip the step of coloring the dough.
It’s definitely more festive to have the two-toned effect but it’s not essential.
Also, if you want to use a different color besides blue, go right ahead!
I think it would be cute to use red because you would have the red and plain dough with the green trees, and very festive looking, but it’s completely up to you.
How Do I Create The Decorative Christmas Trees?
First thing’s first, make sure the white chocolate (that you’ve dyed green) isn’t too hot. If it’s too warm, it’ll be a big mess. Let the chocolate cool for a few minutes or until you’ve noticed it’s a bit thicker and not as hot.
Once your chocolate has cooled, use a toothpick to draw the trees. You don’t want to use anything bigger.
Here’s what to do:
- I recommend starting with three straight green lines, each placed where you want a tree to be. I use the dividing line between the blue and plain dough for where I put the trees so the “roots” are just barely going into the plain and the tree and its branches will be in the blue section.
- After drawing the lines, carefully start adding three more lines on each side of those original lines to create the outline of the branches.
- Fill in with your toothpick, adding more green as necessary.
- Repeat on all the cookies. Before you know it, you’ll have the cutest little Christmas trees!
- Fixing “Mistakes” – If you make a mistake you can take a tiny section of lightly moistened paper towel and try to correct it if you really care that much if a quick wipe with your finger doesn’t do the trick. You don’t have to be Picasso!
Can I Make These Christmas Shortbread Cookies Crispier?
Sure thing! While I like them chewy and on the softer side, you can easily use this nifty little trick to make sure they get crispy without burning.
After the initial baking time, turn off the oven, but leave the baking sheet with the cookies inside.
Slightly open the oven door to let some (but not all) of the heat out. This will help to dehydrate the cookies, which results in crispier cookies.
However, make sure that you are paying close attention to the bottoms of the cookies and I would not let them linger in the oven for more than two or three minutes.
Because of the high ratio of butter in shortbread cookies, they are prone to burning and I don’t like the look of darkened cookie bottoms.
Can I Double The Recipe?
Yes, you can easily double this Christmas cookie recipe.
As written it makes approximately 14 cookies, but if you want to make more by all means feel free to double or triple the recipe.
Serving Suggestions
If you’re leaving a plate of these festive cookies out for Santa, he’ll also need a mug full of hot cocoa! Be sure to keep things extra Christmas-y by serving my favorite Peppermint White Hot Chocolate.
Are you hosting a Christmas party this year? If so, you’ll definitely want to present these Shortbread Christmas Cookies alongside some of my favorite holiday appetizers and snacks.
I love serving things like my Christmas Cheese Ball Wreath and Loaded Christmas Puppy Chow at my holiday gatherings with friends and family.
How to Store Shortbread Cookies
At room temperature and stored airtight, these cookies will stay fresh for up to 5 days. No need to refrigerate these decorated Christmas shortbread cookies.
This is a great make-ahead recipe so if you’re planning on handing some Christmas cookies to your neighbors, teachers, friends or family, this is a great recipe to do so with.
If you do want to freeze the cookies, I recommend freezing the dough before baking it, allow it to come to cold room, temperature, and then bake the cookies off. Unbaked frozen cookie dough will stay fresh for up to 4 months.
You can also freeze already baked, but undecorated, cookies. However, I do like the previous option because the finished product just tastes fresher.
Tips for the Best Christmas Shortbread Cookies
Butter: Remember to leave the butter out on your countertop for about an hour prior to using it. Nothing is more annoying than going to bake, only to realize your butter is still cold and hard. You can sometimes cheat successfully by putting it in the microwave for about 10 seconds, but it’s really best to just let it soften over time, at room temperature.
Sifted All-Purpose Flour: For the best results, always make sure you sift and spoon your flour into the measuring cup. When you dip the cup directly into the flour, you’re tightly packing it in there. Remember, packed flour means there’s too much flour!
Very rarely, do I advocate sifting flour, but in this particular recipe, do it for the best results.
Dividing the Dough: Don’t let this part scare you off. You’ll divide the dough in half when it’s first created, then you’ll dye one half blue while leaving the other untouched.
Roll each of those halves into even 8 inch logs, then cut them each in half lengthwise, so you’ll have four 4-inch pieces of dough. After that, all you need to do is press each blue and plain halves together.
While technically not necessary, I find it’s much easier to work with dough that’s a bit shorter in length, which is why I cut it in half from 8 to 4 inches.
Gel Food Dyes: When I dyed my cookie dough blue, I used Wilton blue gel food coloring and had fantastic results. I used the green dye that came in that very same pack for the trees and it also worked well.
Another very reputable brand is AmeriColor in Blue or AmeriColor in Forrest Green.
I highly advocate, using gel food coloring or dye rather than the food coloring drops that many of us remember from our childhood. Gel tends to be more intense, so you need less product, and it doesn’t tend to water down frostings or icings in the way that the more old-fashioned types of drops can do.
Sprinkles: As for the star sprinkles, I also used Wilton and they did the trick. However, you don’t have to specifically use these exact star sprinkles. Feel free to decorate with almost any type of holiday sprinkles, or sprinkles or jimmies in general, that you have on hand.
Decorating: Use a small utensil like a toothpick to create the tiny trees. Anything bigger than that will likely just creating messy green blobs! With a toothpick, you can be exact enough to really create shapes that resemble trees.
White Chocolate: I highly recommend using a high-quality white chocolate bar intended for baking rather than white chocolate chips. White chocolate chips are notoriously difficult to melt and you’re really not melting much of a quantity, making it even a little bit trickier if you are trying to do this in a microwave. Microwave in 10 second bursts stopping to stir after each burst. This will prevent your chocolate from seizing up, meaning it turns hard, unsightly, and you have to start over.
You can also melt chocolate by placing it in a glass (or other heatproof) bowl, then placing that bowl over a pot of simmering water.
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Christmas Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Shortbread Cookies
- ½ cup 115 g unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup 67 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups 170g plain/ all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon Wilton Royal Blue Food Coloring Gel
- Wilton Star Sprinkles, as desired (or other favorite sprinkles or jimmies may be substituted)
Decorating, Optional
- 2 ounces 50 g white chocolate baking bar (white chocolate chips not recommended due to melting difficulty)
- ⅛ teaspoon Wilton Green Food Coloring Gel
- Confectioners‘ sugar for dusting, as needed
Instructions
- Shortbread Cookies - To a large bowl (and bowl of a stand mixer), add the butter, granulated, sugar, vanilla extract, and beat on medium-high speed until creamy. Stop, scape down the sides, and set bowl aside.
- To a separte bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and whisk to combine.
- Slowly, add the dry ingredients to the wet, alternating with 1 tablespoon of milk at a time, and beating on low speed, until you have a soft dough.
- Transfer the dough to a clean working surface and divide the dough in half. Set one half aside on a clean work surface.
- Place the other half back in your mixing bowl, and using gel blue food coloring (I used Wilton Royal Blue for this recipe, AmeriColor Blue is also good) dye that half blue. Add a few drops at a time and gently mix in, and keep adding drops until the desired color is achieved. Note - It is optional to dye the dough blue, and you can also use another color such as red or your favorite, or you can optionally skip dying the dough.
- Place both the blue dough and the plain dough on a clean work surface. Tip- If you have a baking mat with measurements on it, it's very handy for this recipe.
- Shape each mound of dough into an 8-inch log.
- Then cut each log in half lengthwise. You'll now have 2 plain and 2 blue sections of dough.
- Press 1 plain + 1 blue together. And repeat, and press the other plain + blue together.
- Wrap each of these two bundles tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 10 minutes or until slightly firm. Tip - Do not skip this step or your dough will be too mushy to cleanly slice and the cookies will also spread too much in the oven.
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- After about 10 minutes, or when the dough is slightly firm (it doesn't have to be in shouldn't be rock hard), remove it from the freezer, and slice the dough horizontally down each log in 1/4-inch slices. Press each down slightly with your palm, but don't over-flatten.
- Place each doll mound on the prepared baking sheet, spaced 1 to 2 inches apart. Tip - The cookies don't spread very much, but to be safe if you're baking sheet is on the smaller size, use 2 baking sheets rather than cramming onto one.
- Decorate with star-shaped sprinkles, or your favorite sprinkles or jimmies. If using stars, I use approximately 3 stars per cookie. I decorate the blue side, but you can decorate whichever side you prefer.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until set. Cookies will continue to firm up as the cool so don't be afraid to pull them even if they look slightly underdone. Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets* See Notes for Baking Tips.
- Optionally, dust the cookies now with confectioners' sugar. I always dust them again at the end.
- Decorating - Note that if you do not plan to make or decorate with Christmas trees, you can skip this whole section below. Just dust with confectioner's sugar and serve.
- While the cookies are cooling, melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave in 10-second bursts, stopping to stir after every burst. You can also melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of boiling water.
- After the chocolate has melted, and has been stirred smooth, add gel green food coloring, until desired shade is reached (I used Wilton Green in the same set at the Royal Blue I used in the dough, AmeriColor in Forrest Green is also good).
- Allow the green tinted white chocolate to continue to cool for a couple more minutes. If it's too warm, it's usually too thin and more difficult to use.
- Making The Trees - Optional
- Note that the trees are an optional step but do go along way in adding towards the fun and festive look!
- I recommend starting with three straight green lines, each placed where you want a tree to be. I use the dividing line between the blue and plain dough for where I put the trees so the “roots” are just barely going into the plain and the tree and its branches will be in the blue section.
- After drawing the lines, carefully start adding three more lines on each side of those original lines to create the outline of the branches.
- Fill in with your toothpick, adding more green as necessary.
- Repeat on all the cookies.
- Fixing “Mistakes” – If you make a mistake you can take a tiny section of lightly moistened paper towel and try to correct it if you really care that much if a quick wipe with your finger doesn’t do the trick. You don’t have to be Picasso!
- Allow cookies to fully set up before dusting with confectioners" sugar and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes:
Cut-Out Coffee Cup Cookies – Soft, buttery sugar cookies cut out in the shape of coffee cups and decorated with red and white royal icing! These sugar cookies are PERFECT for Christmas as well as for wintertime parties and entertaining. No one will be able to resist these unique beauties!
Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies – These traditional sugar cookies are just like Grandma used to make!! They’re thin but still soft, topped with a simple 2-ingredient royal icing, and loaded with sprinkles! So festive and perfect for cookies exchanges or hostess gifts!!
Classic Gingerbread Cookies – Soft and chewy cutout gingerbread cookies filled with plenty of ginger and warming spices! Decorated with a sweet, soft royal icing and topped with cinnamon candies, these gingerbread men are a nostalgic favorite Christmas cookie that everyone adores!
Glazed Eggnog Cookies — Soft, buttery tea cakes topped with a creamy eggnog glaze are a Christmas treat that everyone will love!! EASY to make, not at all dry, and great for cookie exchanges or hostess gifts!!
Snowflake Linzer Cookies – Linzer cookies are the ultimate sandwich cookies! A layer of raspberry jam is tucked in between two buttery, nutty cookies and dusted with powdered sugar! Great Christmas cookies that are perfect to serve at your holiday parties or to include in cookie exchanges!
Christmas Chocolate-Covered Christmas Oreos – Oreo cookies dipped in chocolate and loaded with sprinkles are an irresistible holiday treat! Fast, EASY, no-bake, can be made in advance! Perfect for cookie exchanges and hostess gifts. Get ready to break out the sprinkles and have fun making and then eating these family favorite Christmas cookies!
Stacked Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies – Softy, chewy, buttery sugar cookies are stacked in the shape of Christmas trees and layered with buttercream frosting! Fun and festive for the holidays and EASY to make! No need to roll out the dough nor chill it. A great holiday cookie to make with kids!
Santa’s Kitchen Sink Cookies – Santa and everyone else won’t be able to resist these AMAZING cookies loaded with everything but the kitchen sink!! EASY, festive, salty-sweet treats with a FUN ingredients list!!
I am not someone who obsesses over cookies but I am obsessed with this recipe of yours, I tried it recently and now my siblings want more of it. Honestly you have made my job difficult haha , but seriously , I am in love with this dish. Keep feeding us such delicious recipes . Thanks
These are super cute! Love the idea.
Something that has worked well for me for sprinkling powdered sugar on top of baked goods in a tidy fashion is to put the powdered sugar in a looseleaf tea infuser/strainer. 😊
I am not someone who obsesses over cookies but I am obsessed with this recipe of yours, I tried it recently and now my siblings want more of it. Honestly you have made my job difficult haha , but seriously , I am in love with this dish. Keep feeding us such delicious recipes . Thanks , Radhika Sharma https://theasianfoodbaby.com
I am not someone who obsesses over cookies but I am obsessed with this recipe of yours, I tried it recently and now my siblings want more of it. Honestly you have made my job difficult haha , but seriously , I am in love with this dish. Keep feeding us such delicious recipes . Thanks
These are super cute! Love the idea.
Something that has worked well for me for sprinkling powdered sugar on top of baked goods in a tidy fashion is to put the powdered sugar in a looseleaf tea infuser/strainer. 😊
I do the same thing otherwise I am prone to dumping big blobs of powdered sugar rather than fine “snow”! Happy Holiday season!
Good to know I’m not the only one with blobs of sugar. I need every trick I can get to make decorating my baked goods look nice.
Haha! No, I am the same way!