Description
Delight in these festive Christmas Shortbread Bites, a buttery, tender cookie infused with almond extract and adorned with colorful sprinkles. Perfect for holiday parties or gifting, these bite-sized treats are easy to make and bring joyful color to any occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 teaspoons Christmas colored nonpareils
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Heat the oven to 325°F. Line an 8 or 9-inch baking dish with plastic wrap or parchment paper and set aside.
- Cream Butter Mixture: In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the softened butter, powdered sugar, and almond extract. Beat until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Turn off the mixer.
- Incorporate Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the all-purpose flour and kosher salt a little at a time. Beat gently until the mixture starts to form a dough; be patient to avoid overmixing.
- Add Sprinkles: Stir in the Christmas colored nonpareils evenly throughout the dough.
- Knead and Shape: Knead the dough a few times to form a ball. Press the dough evenly into the prepared baking dish. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to firm up.
- Cut Dough: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and lift it out using the plastic wrap or parchment paper. Place on a cutting board and cut into ½-inch squares.
- Arrange for Baking: Place the squares onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them slightly apart to allow for slight spreading.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Monitor closely to avoid over-browning.
- Cool and Serve: Allow cookies to cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You can swap almond extract for vanilla extract; if using an 8x8-inch pan, increase vanilla extract to ½ teaspoon.
- If using salted butter, omit the additional kosher salt in the recipe.
- To make a larger batch, double the ingredients and use a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- For extra decoration, sprinkle additional nonpareils on top of the dough before baking.
- Use the scoop-and-level method with a tablespoon and butter knife to measure flour accurately.
- Adapt the sprinkles colors to suit different occasions such as blue for Hanukkah or green for St. Patrick's Day.
- Try adding chocolate chips for a tasty variation using a chocolate chip shortbread recipe.
- If short on time, you may skip chilling the dough, but chilled dough is easier to cut and yields better shapes.
- Refer to the original blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 mini cookie
- Calories: 35 kcal
- Sugar: 1.8 g
- Sodium: 15 mg
- Fat: 2.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 4 g
- Fiber: 0.1 g
- Protein: 0.3 g
- Cholesterol: 7 mg
