Embark on a delightful baking journey this holiday season with the ultimate no-spread cutout shortbread cookies. These exquisite treats promise a perfect balance of buttery richness, a tender melt-in-your-mouth softness, and a satisfyingly crisp edge with every bite. Specifically designed as **Christmas tree cookies**, they are not only visually stunning but also incredibly easy to decorate. Forget the complexities of royal icing; this recipe champions a simple, approachable technique using classic American buttercream, making the decorating process enjoyable for bakers of all skill levels, even little hands! Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a novice in the kitchen, these shortbread cookies are sure to become a cherished part of your holiday traditions, bringing warmth, joy, and deliciousness to your festive gatherings.
Why You’ll Adore This Christmas Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Our special recipe for easy shortbread cutout cookies is designed to bring joy and simplicity to your holiday baking. This dough is exceptionally forgiving and a true pleasure to work with, making it perfect for stamping with your favorite festive cookie cutters. Should any pieces crack or fall apart before baking, simply squish them together and re-roll – the dough’s resilience ensures nothing goes to waste. While this particular version features a delightful hint of almond extract in both the cookie and icing, it’s incredibly versatile. You can easily omit the almond extract or substitute it with any flavor you prefer, customizing these classic treats to perfectly match your taste or holiday theme.
Experience the truly classic texture that defines perfect shortbread. The true base of this recipe relies on a harmonious trio of ingredients: rich butter, sweet sugar, and fine flour. The judicious additions of vanilla and almond extracts, along with a touch of salt, are purely for enhancing the flavor, transforming these simple components into something extraordinary. This careful balance of ingredients results in cookies with a wonderfully crispy exterior that gives way to a soft, toothsome bite on the inside. This beloved texture is a hallmark of our most popular recipes, just like our delectable pistachio shortbread cookies and charming chocolate-dipped cookie sticks.
Embrace the holiday spirit with simple shapes and an effortless decorating technique. Although these particular cookies are crafted into festive Christmas trees (and a printable template is provided below!), the beauty of this recipe is its adaptability. You can cut these buttery delights into any shape your heart desires, from snowflakes to gingerbread men, and apply the very same decorating technique. What makes this method truly special is its accessibility: no specialized tools are needed, and even the youngest members of your family can join in the fun, making decorating a memorable and stress-free activity for everyone.
This exceptional cookie recipe has been lovingly adapted from the culinary wisdom of a dear family friend, Lisa Vasco. Lisa is an original cookie decorating maestro, having mastered the art of making and decorating cookies with royal icing long before it became a popular trend. We are incredibly grateful to Lisa for allowing us to share her wonderful inspiration.
For more delightful holiday cookie recipes to sweeten your festive season, explore our collection:
- Dark Chocolate Almond Cookies
- Cookie Butter Cookies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Classic Thumbprint Cookies
Essential Ingredients for Perfect Christmas Shortbread
Crafting these delectable shortbread cookies requires a few key ingredients, each playing a vital role in achieving their signature taste and texture. Ensure all your ingredients are fresh and at the specified temperature for the best results.
- Unsalted butter: The star of shortbread, unsalted butter is crucial for both the cookies and the luscious buttercream. Ensure it is at a true room temperature – soft enough to indent easily but not melted – for optimal creaming and a smooth dough and frosting.
- Sugars: Granulated sugar provides the perfect sweetness and delicate crispness to our shortbread, while fine powdered sugar is essential for achieving the silken, lump-free texture of the American buttercream.
- All-purpose flour: The structural backbone of these cookies, all-purpose flour. For the most precise results, especially in baking, we highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale. If measuring by volume, remember to measure your flour correctly by spooning it into the cup and leveling, rather than scooping, to avoid a dense cookie.
- Extracts: Almond and vanilla extracts infuse both the cookies and icing with a warm, inviting flavor profile. These can be easily customized to suit your preference. Refer to our Substitutions and Variations section for exciting alternative flavor ideas.
- Heavy whipping cream: For the frosting, a touch of heavy whipping cream adds richness and helps create that perfectly fluffy, spreadable consistency. Whole milk or even a dash of water can be used as alternatives if heavy cream isn’t available, adjusting the quantity as needed to achieve your desired frosting texture.
- Food coloring: To bring our festive Christmas trees to life, food coloring is used. We recommend gel food colorings, such as Wilton gels, as they provide vibrant color without adding excessive liquid that could alter the buttercream’s texture or cause it to split. A little goes a long way!
- Sprinkles: No festive cookie is complete without a shower of sprinkles! Edible stars and non-pareils add a magical touch, but feel free to choose any sprinkles that inspire your holiday spirit and imagination.
Creative Substitutions and Variations for Your Shortbread
This shortbread recipe is wonderfully adaptable, allowing you to get creative and customize your cookies to suit any occasion or preference. Here are some ideas to inspire your next batch:
- Flavorful Extracts: Beyond almond, explore a world of flavors! Try bright orange, warm spice (like cinnamon or ginger), zesty lemon, refreshing peppermint or mint, or tropical coconut extracts to give your shortbread a unique twist. These substitutions work beautifully in both the cookie dough and the buttercream, allowing for endless flavor combinations.
- Browned Butter Depth: For an extra layer of sophisticated, nutty flavor, consider browning your butter before adding it to the recipe. Simply brown the butter on the stovetop until it’s fragrant and amber, then allow it to re-solidify to room temperature before creaming. This small step adds incredible depth and complexity to the cookies.
- Fun Sprinkled Dough: Infuse joy directly into your cookies by adding a ¼ cup of colored nonpareils to the dough during the mixing process. This creates a charming ‘funfetti’ effect, making each bite a delightful surprise even before decorating.
- Any Shape, Any Occasion: Don’t limit yourself to Christmas trees! This versatile shortbread recipe is perfect for any celebration. Use various cookie cutters or even a simple template to create custom shapes for birthdays, baby showers, or other holidays. The decorating technique can be adapted to any design.
- Piping Bag Alternatives: No piping bags on hand? No problem! A sturdy zip-top bag with a small corner snipped off works perfectly for decorating. You don’t need fancy piping tips; the simple dollop-and-smear technique is all you need for beautiful and effective frosting application.
Step-by-Step Guide: Crafting Your Perfect Shortbread Cookies
This recipe yields approximately 24-30 delicious cookies, making it ideal for sharing or gifting. If you prefer a smaller batch, simply halve the dough and icing recipes to make around a dozen delightful treats.
Making the No-Spread Shortbread Cookies
One: Cream Ingredients Until Fluffy. In a large mixing bowl, combine the unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and kosher salt. Cream these ingredients together using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer) on medium-high speed until the mixture is visibly light and fluffy. This aeration is key to a tender shortbread. Don’t forget to pause and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is thoroughly incorporated. Next, add the almond and vanilla extracts and mix until just combined, infusing the dough with delightful flavor.
Two: Incorporate Flour for Crumbles. Gently sift the all-purpose flour directly into the creamed butter mixture. Sifting helps prevent lumps and ensures a light texture. Mix on low speed until the flour is just incorporated and the mixture forms coarse, crumbly textures. Be careful not to overmix at this stage, as overworking the gluten can lead to tough cookies.
Three: Form a Smooth Dough Ball. Continue mixing on low speed until the crumbles come together and form a smooth, cohesive dough ball. The dough should pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Once a ball forms, stop mixing immediately to prevent overworking the dough, which could negatively impact the cookie’s tender texture.
Four: Chill the Dough. Divide the freshly made shortbread dough in half. Place each half onto a separate sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap each piece completely, then gently press each into a flattened disc, approximately 1 inch thick. This disc shape helps with even chilling and makes rolling easier later. Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until it is very firm to the touch. Proper chilling is absolutely crucial for preventing the cookies from spreading during baking.
Hot tip! For truly no-spread cookies, the dough must be adequately chilled. After refrigeration, the dough should feel very firm to the touch, not soft or pliable in the center. If it still feels soft, extend the chilling time as needed. Patience here ensures perfect cutouts!
Five: Roll and Cut Your Shapes. Once chilled, remove one disc of dough from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes to soften slightly, making it easier to roll without cracking. Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper (this prevents sticking and eliminates the need for excessive flour, which can dry out the dough). Use a rolling pin to evenly roll out the dough to a consistent ¼-inch thickness. Using your chosen cookie cutter or the provided Christmas tree template, carefully cut out the desired shapes from the shortbread dough. Gather any dough scraps, gently squish them back together, re-roll, and cut out more cookies until all the dough is used.
Six: Bake and Cool Completely. Carefully transfer the cutout cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. This prevents sticking and ensures easy cleanup. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through for even baking. Bake only one pan at a time for the best and most consistent results. The most critical step: allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet before attempting to move them. Shortbread is delicate when warm and will easily fall apart if handled too soon!
Creating the Velvety Almond Buttercream
One: Cream Butter, Add Sugar and Extracts. In a clean mixing bowl, beat the room-temperature unsalted butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until it becomes smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl, sift the powdered sugar to remove any lumps, ensuring a velvety smooth buttercream. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar to the creamed butter, mixing on low speed until a thick paste forms. Next, drizzle in the vanilla and almond extracts while continuing to beat.
Two: Beat Until Light and Fluffy. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat the buttercream until it transforms into a light, airy, and fluffy consistency. This process usually takes a few minutes. During this process, be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl at least once to ensure all ingredients are thoroughly combined and no pockets of unmixed butter or sugar remain. You want a consistently smooth and spreadable frosting.
Three: Color Your Buttercream. To create your festive Christmas tree colors, separate the finished buttercream into three separate bowls. Leave one portion white for highlights and a snow-capped effect. Add small amounts of green food coloring to the other two bowls, mixing by hand until you achieve a distinct light green and a darker green shade. Start with a tiny amount of coloring and gradually add more until your desired vibrancy is reached, remembering that gel colors are potent.
Four: Fill Piping Bags. Prepare your piping bags (or zip-top bags if you’re using an alternative). For easy and mess-free filling, place each piping bag into a tall drinking glass and fold the top edge over the rim. This creates a stable opening to easily spoon in each color of buttercream without getting your hands too messy. Fill each bag with its designated color, ensuring you don’t overfill them for better control.
Hot tip! Allocate your buttercream strategically: use a small amount of white, a medium amount for the light green, and the largest amount for the dark green, as this will be the dominant color for the tree’s base. For a slightly more rustic or muted green, add a very tiny speck of brown food coloring to your green mixtures, which can deepen the shade beautifully.
How to Decorate Festive Christmas Tree Cookies
One: Pipe Initial Dollops. With the cookies completely cooled and your buttercream ready, snip off approximately a ½ cm (¼ inch) piece from the tip of your piping bag. Begin with the darkest green buttercream. Position the piping bag over the base of a Christmas tree cookie and pipe five small, evenly spaced dollops. These will form the foundation of your tree’s branches, so aim for consistency.
Two: Smear to Create “Branches”. Take a small offset spatula (or a butter knife or even a popsicle stick if you don’t have one) and gently press it halfway into the center of each dollop. Then, with a smooth, controlled motion, pull the spatula directly towards you, spreading and smearing the frosting to create the ‘branch’ effect. This simple action creates a beautiful, textured look. Wipe the spatula clean after each dollop to prevent color transfer.
Hot tip! For the most natural-looking branch swipes, orient the cookie so the point of the Christmas tree is facing your body. This allows for a consistent downward motion with your spatula, creating uniform and beautiful frosting textures that mimic real pine needles.
Three: Build Layers of Green. Continue this pattern, building up the layers of your Christmas tree. For the next section, pipe an additional row of four dollops of dark green buttercream, slightly overlapping the previous row. Follow this with two rows of three dollops of light green buttercream, again allowing for a slight overlap to create a dense, full tree appearance. Remember to wipe your spatula clean between each dollop for crisp, defined lines.
Four: Add White and Clean Edges. Complete the tree with a single dollop of white buttercream at the very top. This will serve as a lovely snowy peak or a base for your star. After all the dollops have been smeared and your tree is fully frosted, gently run the side of your offset spatula around the edges of each cookie. This cleans up any excess icing that may have spread beyond the cookie’s outline, giving your cookies a neat and professional finish.
Hot tip! Keep a stack of paper towels or a damp cloth nearby your decorating station. Wiping off your offset spatula after each section or even each dollop ensures clean lines and prevents colors from mixing, leading to a much tidier and more appealing final product. Cleanliness makes a big difference in the final aesthetic!
Five: Crown with a Star. To crown your beautiful Christmas tree cookies, carefully add a star sprinkle to the very top. Using a pair of fine-tipped tweezers can provide superior control and precision when placing these delicate decorations, ensuring each star sits perfectly centered and securely atop your edible masterpiece. This adds that final, magical touch to your holiday creation.
Six: Add Final Sprinkles and Enjoy! Finally, personalize your Christmas tree cookies with any additional edible stars, nonpareils, or other sprinkles you desire. Scatter tiny colored pearls as ornaments, or dust with edible glitter for an extra festive shimmer. Once decorated, your festive shortbread cookies are ready to be admired, shared with loved ones, and most importantly, savored!
Expert Tips for Shortbread Success
Achieve consistently perfect shortbread cookies with these tried-and-true expert tips:
- Measure Flour Accurately: For the most consistent and best results, always use a digital scale to measure your flour. This eliminates common measuring errors and ensures the correct dough consistency, preventing dry or crumbly cookies.
- Flour Your Tools: If your knife or cookie cutter begins to stick to the dough as you’re cutting out shapes, lightly flour it. This prevents tearing and keeps your cookie edges clean and sharp.
- Bake One Sheet at a Time: For even baking and consistent browning, bake your cookies one sheet at a time, placing the baking sheet in the center rack of your oven. This ensures proper heat circulation around each cookie.
- Cool Completely on Pan: This is a crucial step! Shortbread cookies are very delicate when warm. Allow them to cool completely on the baking pan before attempting to move them. Moving them too soon will almost certainly cause them to crack or break.
- Refine Edges with a Microplane: For exceptionally clean and professional-looking cookies, use a microplane to gently shave off any lumpy or uneven edges after the cookies have cooled completely. This creates perfectly uniform shapes.
- Set Up Your Decoration Station: Before you begin decorating, organize all your icings, sprinkles, spatulas, and paper towels. A well-prepared workspace makes the decorating process much smoother and more enjoyable.
- Piping Bag Alternatives: Don’t have professional piping bags? No worries! A sturdy zip-top bag with a small corner snipped off makes an excellent substitute. No special piping tips are necessary for this simple decorating technique.
- Spatula Alternatives: If you don’t have an offset spatula, a butter knife or even a clean popsicle stick can be used to create the beautiful smeared-dollop decoration. Experiment to find what works best for you!
Storage and Freezing Guidelines
Proper storage is key to keeping your delicious shortbread cookies fresh and flavorful. Here’s how to store and freeze them effectively:
Store the decorated cookies uncovered at room temperature for up to 5 days. The buttercream icing will form a slight crust on top, but it will remain delightfully soft underneath, preserving its delicious texture. For efficient storage in a cookie box, the cookies can be gently leaned against each other. If you prefer flat layers, place a sheet of parchment paper followed by a piece of small bubble bubble wrap between each layer of cookies to protect them from damage.
Freezing Your Shortbread Cookies
One of the great advantages of shortbread is its freezer-friendliness, allowing you to prepare ahead or preserve leftovers in several different phases:
- Frozen Dough Discs: The prepared discs of shortbread dough can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and then placed in an airtight freezer bag or container. They will keep well in the freezer for up to 2 months. When ready to bake, thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight, then proceed with rolling and cutting as usual.
- Frozen Pre-Baked Cutouts: If you want to cut out your shapes but bake later, flash freeze the raw, cut cookies on a baking pan until firm (about 15-30 minutes). Once firm, transfer them to a freezer bag or airtight container, layering with parchment paper to prevent sticking. They can be frozen for up to 1 month. You can bake them straight from frozen, but you’ll need to add a few extra minutes to the bake time.
- Frozen Baked Cookies: Fully baked, un-iced shortbread cookies can be stored in an airtight bag or container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To enjoy, simply uncover and thaw them at room temperature. Once thawed, they are ready to be decorated or eaten plain.
- Frozen Decorated Cookies: Surprisingly, even fully baked, iced, and decorated cookies freeze beautifully! Place them in a single layer in a zip-top bag or airtight container, layering with sheets of parchment paper to protect the decorations. Freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, remove them from the freezer and allow them to thaw uncovered at room temperature. The icing will soften, and the cookies will be just as delicious as when they were first made.
Frequently Asked Questions About Shortbread Cookies
The primary distinction lies in their ingredients: traditional shortbread cookies are made with just three core ingredients – butter, sugar, and flour. Sugar cookies, however, typically include eggs, which contribute to a chewier texture. Shortbread also often contains a higher ratio of butter, giving it a characteristic tender, crumbly, and melt-in-your-mouth quality, while sugar cookies tend to be firmer and more adaptable to various decorating methods.
The undisputed secret to exceptional shortbread is using high-quality butter. Since butter is such a dominant ingredient in shortbread, its flavor truly shines through. Opt for a good quality, unsalted butter with a high-fat content for the richest, most authentic buttery taste that makes all the difference in the final product.
Determining when shortbread is perfectly cooked relies mainly on visual cues. You’ll want to look for the edges of the cookies to be just very lightly browned. The centers should still appear pale, but firm to the touch. Overbaking can lead to a dry, overly crisp cookie, so keep a close eye on them towards the end of the baking time.
The most effective way to prevent cutout shortbread cookie dough from spreading during baking is to ensure it is thoroughly chilled. After preparing and shaping the dough, it is absolutely essential to refrigerate it until it is very firm. Chilling the dough solidifies the butter, which helps the cookies retain their shape in the oven. Additionally, rolling the dough to a consistent thickness and not overworking it also contributes to no-spread results.
More Delicious Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
- Dark Chocolate Almond Cookies
- Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pie Recipe
- Customizable Slice and Bake Cookies
- Graham Cracker Cookies
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📖 Christmas Shortbread Cookies Recipe Card
Christmas Shortbread Cookies
By Callan Wenner
Festive Christmas tree cookies that are no-spread and full of buttery, soft, yet crispy textures. The perfect shortbread cutout cookie for decorating, these specific cookies use an easy technique using standard American buttercream rather than finicky royal icing, making them perfect for holiday baking with ease.
Print Recipe | Pin Recipe
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Chill and Decorating: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 225 kcal
Equipment
- Digital scale (optional, but recommended)
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
- Plastic wrap
- Rolling Pin
- Sharp paring knife or cookie cutter
- Piping bags (or ziptop bags)
- Offset spatula or butter knife
U.S. Cups vs Metric: Use the metric toggle (if available on the original site) to convert the measurements.
Ingredients
Shortbread Cutout Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Almond Buttercream
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2-4 tablespoons water (or heavy cream/milk)
- Food coloring (green, or color of choice)
- Edible sprinkles and stars (optional)
Instructions
Shortbread Cutout Cookies
- Cream the butter, sugar, salt, and extracts over medium-high speed until combined, then scrape down the sides. Sift the flour into the bowl, then mix on low speed until just combined. (Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 3 cups all-purpose flour)
- Form the dough into one large disc about 1″ thick. Wrap it completely in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remove from the fridge and allow the chill to come off for 10-15 minutes. Place in between two pieces of parchment paper, use a rolling pin to roll it out to ¼” thick (it can be any shape, just keep it an even thickness).
- Use the template to carefully cut out the cookies with a sharp paring knife. Squish the scraps back together and roll out again, repeating the same process. Place the cookies on parchment lined cookie sheets and freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175°C) while the cookies chill.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway mark. Bake only one pan at a time for best results.
- Leave the cookies on the pans until completely cool. Moving them before cooled will cause them to crack.
Almond Buttercream
- Beat the butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Sift the powdered sugar into a separate bowl. (Ingredients: ½ cup unsalted butter, 3 cups powdered sugar)
- Slowly add in the powdered sugar, then add in the vanilla and almond extracts and mix on medium high speed for about a minute. (Ingredients: ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon almond extract)
- On medium speed, drizzle in the cream/milk/water by tablespoon until the mixture becomes light, soft, and spreadable. If it feels too thick, add more liquid. If too thin, add more powdered sugar. (Ingredients: 2-4 tablespoons water)
- If coloring the buttercream, separate into bowls and mix in the coloring by hand to desired shades. (Ingredients: Food coloring)
- Transfer to piping bags or ziptop bags.
Decorating the Cookies
- Starting with the darkest color, pipe 5 dollops at the base of the tree, then use an offset spatula to press halfway into each dollop and pull down to smear. Wipe off the icing and move on to the next row.
- The next rows will be 4 dollops dark green, 3 dollops light green, 2 dollops light green, 1 dollop white.
- Finish the decorating by adding edible stars and other sprinkles of choice. (Ingredients: Edible sprinkles and stars)
Video Tutorial
Notes
*See the post write up for a printable tree template.
Store the cookies uncovered at room temperature for about 5 days.
You can also freeze the cookies in a few different phases:
- The discs of dough can be frozen for 3 months, thawed in the fridge, then rolled out.
- The cut and pre-baked cookies can be frozen by flash freezing on a baking pan and then adding to a bag or container to freeze for 2-3 months. They can be baked straight from frozen, but you will need a few extra minutes of bake time.
- The baked cookies can be frozen in a bag or airtight container for 3 months. Uncover and thaw at room temperature, then decorate.
- The full baked, iced, and decorated cookies can be frozen in a zip top bag or airtight container for 3 months (layer between slices of parchment paper). Leave at room temperature (uncovered) to thaw, then eat!
The base cookie recipe was re-tested and updated on 3/14/25 to further reduce spreading during the baking process. For more detailed cookie instructions, see the shortbread cutout cookies recipe post.
Show Nutritional Information
Calories: 225 kcal
Carbohydrates: 29 g
Protein: 1 g
Fat: 12 g
Saturated Fat: 7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 31 mg
Sodium: 26 mg
Potassium: 18 mg
Fiber: 1 g
Sugar: 19 g
Vitamin A: 355 IU
Calcium: 6 mg
Iron: 1 mg
The provided nutritional information is an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
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