262 shortbread cookie recipes

Holiday fruit bars: a brown sugar shortbread crust topped with a chewy raisin, candied cherry, and lemon-zest filling. Cookie-tin classic for Christmas and gift trays.

Filled butter ring cookies sandwich apricot preserves between two shortbread rounds, the top one cut with a thimble window, dusted with powdered sugar. Linzer-style holiday classic.

Traditional Scottish shortbread made with butter, flour, cornstarch, and sugar. A four-ingredient buttery cookie baked low and slow until just pale gold, then dusted with sugar while warm.

Kiss cookies tuck a whole chocolate kiss inside a buttery walnut shortbread, baked until just set and rolled in powdered sugar. Crack one open and the melty chocolate middle is the payoff. An easy holiday cookie that keeps for days.

Mexican wedding cookies (polvorones): tender almond shortbread balls baked low and slow, then rolled twice in powdered sugar for that signature snowy coating. Melt-in-your-mouth holiday classics.

Buttery pecan shortbread balls rolled in snowy powdered sugar for these melt-in-your-mouth Mexican wedding cookies. A holiday favorite that's actually simple enough for weeknight baking.

Hazelnut shortbread with toasted ground hazelnuts pressed into a buttery dough and drizzled with melted semi-sweet chocolate. A simple, elegant cookie with a Nutella-like flavor combination.

Toffee squares with a buttery brown sugar shortbread base, melted chocolate on top, and chopped nuts. A sheet pan cookie bar that's rich, crunchy, and easy to make.

Pecan shortbread cookies with buttery, melt-in-your-mouth crumb and a simple powdered sugar glaze drizzle. Five ingredients, no eggs, with toasted pecans throughout each tender bite.

Lemon roll-out cookies with sour cream, lemon zest and lemon extract, brushed with fresh lemon juice before baking. Tender citrus shortbread for tea trays and gift tins.

Ischler cookies are an Austrian classic from Bad Ischl: ground-almond shortbread rounds sandwiched with raspberry jam and crowned with espresso-spiked chocolate icing. Spa-town pastry royalty.

Walnut fudge cookies (British-style biscuit fingers): a buttery shortbread base studded with walnuts and topped with a quick brown sugar fudge. Tea-time treat that slices clean.

Classic butter nut balls (also called Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies). Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread rolled twice in powdered sugar for a snowy finish.

Pecan squares with a buttery shortbread crust and a gooey pecan pie filling baked on a sheet pan. All the flavor of pecan pie in a portable, shareable bar cookie format.

Classic shortbread wedges with almond extract, cornstarch for extra tenderness, and a whole almond pressed into each piece. A buttery, crumbly Scottish-style cookie baked in a round pan.

Buttery shortbread cookie bars packed with chopped walnuts and a thick layer of strawberry jam baked between two golden crusts. Rich, sweet, and utterly impossible to eat just one.