3 Ingredient Shortbread
I must admit it’s pretty hard to resist these crisp, buttery pieces of heaven. Who doesn’t love Shortbread. Especially if it’s a 3 Ingredient Shortbread.
3 Ingredient Shortbread
I’ve had this recipe since I was a young lady and it’s been my firm favorite. The reason I love it so much is that it is so easy.
Everything that tastes great doesn’t have to be complicated. For me the tastiest cookies are the easiest ones with limited ingredients.
There are cookie recipes with oil as the ingredient, please don’t even go there. Oil in cookies is a no no for me.
I know it’s their to preserve cookies longer but my cookies don’t last that long anyway! Besides, I am a huge butter fan.
If it’s in cakes I don’t mind the oil but just don’t ask me to add it to my cookies. With some bars it’s also okay but just not cookies…haha!
Maybe I am a cookie snob, but if I eat a cookie or shortbread it better be a good one. If I can’t taste the butter in the cookie then I’d rather not eat it.
It’s why this 3 ingredient shortbread ticks all the right boxes. Easy ✔ Delicious✔ Buttery Goodness ✔
Knead the Shortbread Dough
Doesn’t butter make everything taste better, this buttery shortbread is testament to that fact. I also learnt a great tip that the Shortbread dough must be kneaded for 10 minutes.
At first I thought that was crazy. I know this technique is mainly used when making bread to develop the gluten but believe it or not the kneading works and the result is flaky, buttery, crisp shortbread.
Shaping the Shortbread
To obtain the best results I make my dough and try to create a neat rectangle on my baking sheet. I use a fork and prick some holes in the dough, this prevents it from bubbling.
I then sprinkle some granulated sugar over and bake. It is best to cut the shortbread whilst it’s still a little warm, this prevents it from breaking.
The dough will still be a little soft when removed from the oven but that’s perfectly okay, it will harden once it cools down.
Shortbread Cookies
You can also make beautiful shortbread cookies with this dough. Simply cut them into shapes, refrigerate for a few minutes and bake.
Often when I buy cookies from the store it’s quite shocking to se the amount of ingredients that goes into some of them.
Most of the ingredients are far from healthy too, with homemade you at least know what goes into them. This is also a great recipe if you want to keep your little ones busy in the kitchen.
Variations
This 3 Ingredient Shortbread recipe is also great if you want to add nuts, almonds, chocolate or whatever else you prefer. You can refrigerate the dough when baking cookies to prevent it from spreading in the oven.
Please do try this simple 3 Ingredient Shortbread Recipe and drop me a comment. I would love to hear how they turned out.
More Cookie Recipes to try:

3 Ingredient Shortbread
Ingredients
- 250 gram butter
- 1/2 cup castor sugar
- +- 2 cups cake wheat flour/all purpose flour
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add flour, a little at a time. You may not require all the flour. Knead well for 10 minutes.
- Flatten on a baking sheet, should be about 1cm thick. Prick with a fork (this will prevent the dough from bubbling). The rectangle can be about 18cm x 25cm more or less.Sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake at 160 deg celcius for 40 to 50 minutes. Will be ready when it's a light golden brown on top and edges may be a little deeper brown.Cut into squares/rectangles whilst still warm
- Will keep in an airtight container for about a week
Notes
- This recipe is makes about 24 pieces of shortbread. You can make it as thick as you want or thinner.
- The kneading creates a crisp, light shortbread
- Depending on the altitude and weather you may use more or less flour
- Most cookies/shortbread will still feel a little soft when removed from the oven but will harden once cool
- The dough does spread a little, you can refrigerate it for about 10 minutes before baking, if you prefer. It will prevent the dough from spreading. Although I skip this step. I just cut the little uneven edges and it's still edible
I tried this recipe recently with fabulous results. It is literally the first time that my shortbread cooked through. Generally the outsides cook well then I have to remove them and rebake the rest…just too time consuming for me to bother with. This recipe is perfect. I think the kneading and lower temperature helped tremendously. Thank you for the detailed steps.
Thanks for the recipe. I made half the quantity and the biscuits were delicious.
Thank you:-)
Just tried these omg the best ever an they crispy on top an so so so tasty .. I’m just having my 3rd one now 😁
Thank you so much Sharon. It’s the best, I agree:-)