Today I want to share with you a super simple, delicious cookie recipe.

Goodness.

So simple it’s almost embarrassing to share.

Those are the best kind, though, right?

My favorite recipes are ones you can memorize. Why? Because I am almost always cooking around small children, with other things on my mind, and intense recipe-reading or complicated steps are almost always a recipe for disaster.

Case-in-point:

As I was finishing up the last batch of cookies for this post, I was thinking about how thankful I was for super simple recipes like this one. As I was mulling over the necessity of it, I was rolling the snowball cookies in powdered sugar, one-handed, baby on the other hip, 9 year old transferring hot cookies on the other side of the kitchen. I finished rolling the last cookie, pretty pleased with myself, until I did a double-take at the powdered sugar container. It was too large. Because it was actually the flour container. I had rolled all of those warm snowball cookies in flour.

Apparently I can’t be trusted with complicated steps during this stage of life!

Oy!

But no worries. I have your back here. This recipe is so super simple you won’t mess it up. I promise.

In true Simplified Pantry form, I am using a “base plus beauty” format here.

The base of this shortbread cookie is so simple. You start with 1/2 cup of sugar, then double the measurement to add 1 cup of room temperature butter. Double the measurement again and add 2 cups of flour.

I always start by beating the butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy- maybe a minute or so? And then just slowly add in the flour and beat until completely combined. The dough will start to cling together and leave the sides of your bowl pretty clean. At this point, you can add in the extras.

For these yummy pumpkin spice shortbread cookies, I added 4 tbsp pumpkin puree, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp cloves. Remember that you can change the spices up however you’d like here- and if you need more cinnamon or less clove? This is your canvas. Just remember it’s easier to add than remove spices. You can test this cookie dough to make sure you have the taste just how you’d like it- there are no eggs in it (not that it’s ever stopped me from eating cookie dough in the past, but you know…)

Then pop the dough in the fridge for a little while. This chilling will make the dough easier to work with.

When you pull it out, you can shape it into a long log on a piece of parchment or foil or saran wrap, and then roll it up. Put it back in the fridge to cool for awhile longer.

When you are ready to bake these cookies, slice the log into 1/4″ or so slices, and then place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper isn’t required, but it lends for more even baking and will help these to not over brown on the underside. Bake them at 350 for 10 minutes, and check them. The underside should just be getting tan, and the cookie should have “set.” They might need another minute or two.

This basic shortbread cookie is one of my main go-to cookie recipes. It is deceptively simple, and gets great reviews every time I make them! Happy baking!

6 Comments

  1. Maybe it’s just not formatting right on my phone, but I don’t see the cooking temperature or time here? Point me in the right direction if I’m going crazy. :•]

  2. I love it! Making this for my Sunday school class this morning! I love the easy, logical measurements–this is amazing. However, I’m not seeing the baking instructions. I’ve made biscotti before–is it bake 350 in logs, cool completely, slice diagonally and rebake, again at 350?

    1. Hi Elizabeth! I’ve updated the post for you – thank you for the head’s up! No, you don’t want to bake this in log form- you want to slice and bake them. The wonderful thing about this recipe is you can just slice off what you want to bake and keep the rest of the cookie dough in the fridge or freezer (depending on how long you want to keep it) to eat…ahem, I mean, bake, later. ;)

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