Easy Vanilla Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Easy Vanilla Shortbread Cookie Recipe: a traditional shortbread cookie, up dated with the addition of vanilla bean paste.

These easy shortbread cookies are so simple and so very good. If you’re a fan of traditional shortbread, you will love these. I used the old blue cornstarch box recipe for “Grandma’s Shortbread” but I added some vanilla bean paste. These cookies are the definition of simple done right. The addition of the vanilla bean paste takes these up a notch, and the little black specks of vanilla in the cookies add such flavour.
Traditional shortbread is always quite simple to make. It only has a few ingredients, which keeps it quite easy. We used a stand mixer to make ours, and although the traditional method uses some elbow grease and a wooden spoon, the mixer is much easier, and makes the job quite quick as well.
We’ve rolled out our dough and used a traditional scalloped round cutter for these, but you can also roll them into balls and flatten with a fork, if you’re not a fan of getting out the rolling pin.
Rolled shortbread was always a Christmas cookie at my house. My mom would use lots of different Christmas cookie cutters to make them. And I can never have a bite of shortbread without thinking of Christmas. But, you don’t have to wait for the holidays to make these. They are so simple and quick, that they’re an amazing cookie for any time of year.
We used our shortbread cookies as the base for the grey stuff for our Beauty and the Beast themed dinner and a movie night. It was a great combination. You can see how we made the grey stuff here. These cookies were so good though, they deserved their very own post.
Easy Vanilla Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup softened butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
Instructions
- Combine cornstarch, powdered sugar, and flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the butter, and combine unitl it comes together into a dough. Add in the vanilla paste, and mix through the dough.
- If dough is too soft to handle, wrap in plastic wrap and refridgerate for 30 mintues. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thick, and cut with scalloped circle cookie cutter.
- Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet, for 15-20 minutes until just beginning to brown on the edges. Store in an air tight container.
With these Easy Vanilla Shortbread Cookies to enjoy, life really is a party!
This recipe was part of our Beauty and the Beast themed Disney Princess Dinner and Movie Night -check out all the details about the whole party here.
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