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These 5 ingredient Christmas Shortbread Bites are an easy holiday treat in bite-sized squares for optimal snacking! They’re perfect for Christmas parties or gifting to friends and family.
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I was always the weird kid that chose shortbread cookies over the more decadent and over the top cookies. There’s just something about the simple buttery goodness, the way the cookies aren’t too sweet, that light little crunch…shortbread is my kind of cookie!
We have a few shortbread recipes here on the site, like our Millionaire Shortbread, chocolate chip shortbread cookies, and pecan shortbread bars.
We made things mini with these little Christmas shortbread bites!
Tiny, poppable bits of shortbread loaded with Christmas sprinkles – could a Christmas cookie be any cuter than this??
Ingredient Notes:
Shortbread Cookie Dough – Butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, and salt are all that’s needed.
Decoration – Some red and green nonpareils make these festive and fun.
What We Love About This Recipe!
It’s so incredibly easy to make shortbread cookie dough and you almost certainly already have the ingredients for it at home. All it takes to turn them festive is to add a few red and green sprinkles! The shortbread bites are also perfectly sized for snacking and turn out so rich and buttery.
How to Make Shortbread Bites:
Mix: To begin preparing the shortbread cookie dough add the butter, sugar, and vanilla to a mixing bowl and beat together until it is smooth and creamy. An electric mixer works well here.
Dough: To finish the shortbread dough you can start mixing in the flour and salt. Beat that together until it’s nice and crumbly.
Use your hands to knead the dough together – the heat of your hands will help it come together into a soft dough.
Line an 8×8 baking dish with foil leaving an inch overhang and then press the dough into the dish until it forms a smooth square.
Helpful Tip!
The dough will be quite thin going into the pan. Drop pieces of dough all around the pan and then use your hands to press it together into one piece that covers the bottom of the dish.
Cut: Carefully lift the shortbread dough from the baking dish by the edges of the foil and place it onto a cutting board. We’re going for bite sized Christmas snacks so you will cut the dough into 1/2 inch sized squares!
Bake: Once you’ve finished cutting the shortbread dough into bite-sized shapes you can arrange them on a baking sheet and bake for about 13-15 minutes or until the bottoms just begin to brown. Make sure you don’t overbake, you want melt-in-your-mouth perfectly buttery shortbread bites!
FAQs:
They’re pretty much the same thing as Christmas shortbread cookies, but in a smaller square bite-sized form for snacking! They are buttery and soft and simple to make!
These Christmas shortbread bites will last well at room temperature in an airtight container for at least 5 days. They also freeze well and should last for a couple of months!
Shortbread is a traditional Scottish cookie (or biscuit, as they call it) that doesn’t contain any leavening agents, such as baking powder or baking soda.
MORE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY RECIPES!
- Christmas Rice Krispies Treats
- Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
- Christmas Chex Mix
- White Chocolate Christmas Popcorn
- Christmas Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Christmas Crunch Bars
Christmas Shortbread Bites
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon red and green nonpareils
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8×8 baking dish with foil, leaving a 1 inch overhang.
- Add the butter, sugar, and vanilla to a mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Beat in the flour and salt until the dough is crumbly. Stir in the nonpareils.
- Knead the crumbly mixture with your hands 3-4 times, just until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix the dough or your shortbread will be tough.
- Drop pieces of the dough into the lined pan and press them together to completely cover the bottom of the pan.
- Lift the dough from the pan by picking up the edges of the foil and place the dough onto a cutting board.
- Cut dough into 7 rows each direction, making 49 pieces of shortbread.
- Arrange shortbread bites on a baking sheet leaving a bit of space between each piece.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until bottoms just begin to brown. Do not overbake.
- Let cool before serving.
Mandy says
It was definitely easy but the taste was off no shortbread texture not even remotely soft and melt in yr mouth
Karly says
I’m sorry these weren’t a hit for you. Kneading the dough for too long can make a more tough dough. I’ll have to add a note in the recipe not to knead longer than necessary to form the dough.