Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies are a simple, buttery, and utterly delicious cookie perfect for afternoon tea, an after school snack, or any occasion.
If you’re looking for a soft spoken, elegant cookie to pair with coffee or tea, look no further. These demure cookies speak in the hushed tones of floral vanilla bean, they quietly crunch and then melt away in your mouth.
After you eat one or two, you’ll wonder why you’d ever need anything else in a cookie.
I made them for the book group ladies, to balance out the DECADENT CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES and FLOURLESS BELGIAN CHOCOLATE CAKE. I didn’t want to be responsible for anyone going into shock from chocolate overload.
I’ve made lots of SHORTBREAD COOKIES on the blog, and if you like these you might try my WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP PECAN SHORTBREAD COOKIES, or my original PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD COOKIES.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks) at room temperature
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Cream the sugar and butter together with the vanilla bean seeds. Blend in the flour and vanilla extract. Keep stirring until the dough comes together.
- Turn the soft dough out onto a floured surface and for into two disks, like for pie dough. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about an hour.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out the cookies. Place them on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.
- Put the baking sheet in the refrigerator while you clean up.
- Bake the cookies for about 13 minutes until firm.
- Cool on a rack
Don’t forget to pin these Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies
48 Comments
courtney
December 12, 2018 at 12:15 pmTwo questions have you ever used a cookie press with the dough instead of rolling them out. And if we’re using the vanilla bean paste it replaces the vanilla bean and the extract?
Sue
December 12, 2018 at 1:30 pmI haven’t used a cookie press but I often roll the dough into a log, chill, and slice and bake. And yes, the paste takes the place of the bean and extract.
Trinity
December 6, 2018 at 10:35 pmSo I am making these for my grandmother who Celiac so she cant have gluten. I cant find a straight forward recipe with out having to buy a million things. Will this recipe would if subsgiting with gluten free flower and a binder?
Lucy
November 30, 2018 at 5:43 amHi, when you say confectioners sugar are you meaning powdered sugar or regular granulated sugar?
Sue
November 30, 2018 at 7:15 amI mean powdered sugar!
allyson sampson
October 25, 2018 at 3:25 pmcould you use these for cut out/ royal icing cookies? do they spread?
Sue
October 25, 2018 at 5:25 pmThese don’t spread, so yes, I think you could.
E
December 19, 2017 at 10:47 amInstead of using only vanilla flavoring I used half almond, and I also replaced the vanilla bean with fresh orange peels (two of the little cutie peels chopped up because that’s what I had in the house) and they tasted just like marmalade!
Sue
December 19, 2017 at 11:06 amNice! I adore almond, and the combination with the Cutie zest sounds amazing!
Sue
December 19, 2017 at 11:10 amWould they be good made into a sandwich cookie with marmalade, too??
Lele
December 16, 2017 at 6:03 pmBaked them for a tea party with some friends and everyone absolutely loved it! They smell and taste absolutely amazing! So simple but so delightful
Sue
December 16, 2017 at 7:39 pmThese cookies really are as simple as a cookie can get ~ glad you liked them!
Natalie
May 14, 2017 at 11:00 amThese look amazing! I just got an embossed rolling pin – any advice on how to use that with this recipe? Should I chill dough first before rolling out or after cookies are cut so it holds the stamp? Thanks!!
Kathy
August 10, 2018 at 5:12 pmI was wondering the exact same thing.
Sue
August 10, 2018 at 6:21 pmI haven’t tried these with an embossed stamp or rolling pin, but I would definitely chill the dough first.
Christine
December 5, 2016 at 2:00 pmDo you think the dough would hold up if I refrigerated over night? I have a massive baking day coming up with a girlfriend and like to make my doughs the night before to keep things moving when it comes to the oven. Thanks in advance.
Sue
December 5, 2016 at 3:12 pmOh absolutely!