Traditional Irish Shortbread

This rolled Traditional Irish Shortbread is rich and buttery. It’s simply the best tasting cookie that requires only four simple ingredients. This must be your lucky day!

Hi everybody! As we near St. Patrick’s day, I wanted to share with you this recipe for Traditional Irish Shortbread. 

You can either cut it with cookie cutters or break it into rustic pieces as I did. Whichever way you cut it, this will be a recipe you’ll make time and again, and not just for the Irish holiday!

**Please Note – The printable recipe card with detailed instructions, complete ingredient measurements, and nutritional information for making Traditional Irish Shortbread is available near the end of this post. 

The super short ingredient list;

• All-purpose flour
• Butter
• Sugar
• Salt

What I love the most about this recipe for Irish Shortbread (other than how delicious it is), is the ease in which this dough comes together and how simple it is to roll out.

I received this nifty Kudos Kitchen rolling pin for Christmas so I thought this would be the perfect recipe to show off this extremely fun (and functional) gift.

Thank you, Adam. I love this rolling pin very much and I’m proud to showcase it in my kitchen and with my baking. 🙂

What I did with this Irish Shortbread dough is rolled it out into two separate blocks, and left them whole. However, cookie cutters can certainly be used to cut the unbaked dough into any shapes you like.

I decided I wanted to keep the cookies on the “rustic” side, so after the dough was baked, I broke them into random pieces. I really like the way it turned out. It’s approachable and completely unpretentious.

Rolling out Traditional Irish Shortbread;

• Place the dough on a sheet of parchment.

• Roll the dough out to an even ¼” thickness.

• Use a decorative roller (optional) to press the design into the dough.
• OR cut the dough with cookie cutters if desired.

• Trim the dough using a paring knife or pizza wheel to even the edges (optional).

• Bake the dough in a preheated 350-degree oven for 15-17 minutes, or until your desired level of brownness.
• *Note – Traditional Irish Shortbread should only be lightly browned.
• Once baked, cool on a rack.
• Once cooled, break the cookies into rustic pieces (if desired).

The following Irish blessing is compliments of Irish Expressions;

For additional Irish recipes I’ve shared in the past, please click on the following titles for;

• Luck of the Irish Corned Beef Boxty  
• St. Patrick’s Day Recipe Roundup 
• Dubliner Cheesy Potato Tart

Below is the printable recipe card for today’s Traditional Irish Shortbread. If you’ve enjoyed this recipe and look forward to making it (or have already made it), I’d appreciate if you’d take a moment to give it some feedback by way of stars near the comment section at the end of this post. Thank you so much!

5 from 3 votes

Print

Traditional Irish Shortbread

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

This rolled Traditional Irish Shortbread is rich and buttery. It's simply the best tasting cookie that requires only 3 simple ingredients. This must be your lucky day!

Course: cookies, Dessert, shortbread

Cuisine: Irish

Keyword: Shortbread cookies, Traditional Irish Shortbread

Servings: 24

Calories: 137 kcal

Renee - Kudos Kitchen: Renée

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter softened (I always use salted)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer (or using a stand mixer and the paddle attachment), beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. 

3. Turn the mixer to low and blend in the flour and salt until fully incorporated and the dough forms a ball.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (or if baking in blocks, a piece of parchment paper) and roll to approximately ¼" thickness. OR cut the dough with cookie cutters (if using) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If baking in blocks, use a pizza cutter to even the edges of the dough, and transfer the cut block of cookie (parchment paper and all) to a baking sheet.

5. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-17 minutes or until you achieve your desired color or doneness.

6. -Cool completely, and break the blocks into pieces (if desired).

Recipe Notes

tools and equipment:

rolling pin, baking sheets, parchment paper, hand mixer or stand mixer, cookie cutters (optional)

Nutrition Facts

Traditional Irish Shortbread

Amount Per Serving (1 g)

Calories 137 Calories from Fat 63

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7g 11%

Saturated Fat 4g 20%

Cholesterol 20mg 7%

Sodium 116mg 5%

Potassium 13mg 0%

Total Carbohydrates 16g 5%

Sugars 8g

Protein 1g 2%

Vitamin A 4.7%

Calcium 0.4%

Iron 2.7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed today’s recipe for Traditional Irish Shortbread as much as I’ve enjoyed bringing it to you.

I thought it would be appropriate to coordinate this Irish Shortbread recipe with a couple of “Travel the World” mugs I painted for a customer last Christmas.

Even though Ireland’s flag isn’t depicted here (just use your imagination), these are, in fact, Irish style coffee mugs! LOL