Almond shortbread cutout cookies are a great, easy cutout recipe. The buttery shortbread is flavored with vanilla and almond and is not overly sweet. Pair these almond shortbread cookies with royal icing and festive sprinkles for the perfect holiday cutout cookie!
Ingredients for Almond Shortbread Cutout Cookies
- Unsalted butter: Room temperature for easy creaming.
- Powdered sugar: Adds a subtle sweetness.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract adds a hint of vanilla flavor.
- Almond extract: Almond extract adds amazing almond flavor to these cutouts.
- Salt: A bit of salt enhances the flavor of the cookies.
- All-purpose flour: Be sure to level your measuring cups.
Tools & Supplies for Making Almond Shortbread Cutout Cookies
How to Make Almond Shortbread Cutout Cookies
To make the almond shortbread cutout cookie dough, I recommend using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet pan with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Cream together butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl.
- Add in vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Mix until combined.
- Add in all-purpose flour. Mix on low speed. The dough will be very crumbly but continue to mix until it comes together.
- Form the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for approximately 30 minutes.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut out cookies with cookie cutter.
- Place cookies on prepared baking cookie sheet pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate the cookies with royal icing and sprinkles.
Almond Shortbread Cutout Cookies Recipe Tips
Mix the dough until it comes together
After adding the flour, the dough will be very crumbly at first. This is normal. Continue to mix on low speed for several minutes. The dough will eventually come together.
Yield and baking time will vary
Depending on the size of your cookie cutters, your dough may yield slightly more or slightly less cookies than indicated in the recipe. You may also need to vary your baking times very slightly depending upon on the size. For larger cookies, add an extra minute of baking and for very small cookies, reduce one minute of baking time.
Chilling the dough
Chilling the dough is an important step in this recipe as it prevents the cookies from spreading and allows them to maintain their shape while baking.
Royal icing
Be sure to check out my recipe for Royal Icing to learn how to make this easy and delicious icing. You could also frost these cookies with a vanilla buttercream frosting but note that the buttercream is soft and will not harden like royal icing will. You could also dip the cookies in melted chocolate!
Storing the cookies
Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 or 4 days. If the cookies are iced, be sure that the icing is completely dry before storing the cookies. I also recommend placing parchment paper in between to cookies to ensure they do not stick together.
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Almond Shortbread Cutout Cookies
Equipment
- Electric hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment
- Rolling pin/Cookie cutters
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- royal icing click here for the recipe
- sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer or a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
- Add in vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Mix until combined.
- Add in all-purpose flour. Mix on low speed. The dough will be very crumbly but continue to mix until it comes together.
- Form the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for approximately 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet pan with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut out cookies with cookie cutter.
- Place cookies on prepared baking sheet pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate the cookies with royal icing and sprinkles if desired.
Notes
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