Name: Brown Sugar Scottish Shortbread
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 cups butter (unsalted, softened); 1 cup brown sugar (packed); 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour; ½ tsp salt

These Brown Sugar Scottish Shortbread are buttery, deliciously chewy, sweet and incredibly easy to make! These cookies are so delicious, they’re begging to become a new holiday tradition!

a bunch of scottish shortbread on a cooling rack next to a cup of coffee

We’re all the familiar with the sweet, buttery, velvety morsel that is short bread. Some of my favorite holiday memories growing up always seemed to accompany a big old plate of the stuff.

We’re talking butter, sugar, flour, and salt – and that’s it! We’ve got that perfect balance of simple ingredients that we know and love in shortbread. Anyone else drooling yet?

What Is Brown Sugar Scottish Shortbread?

In the time that this delicacy was invented, shortbread was considered a special, luxurious treat usually only served for weddings or important birthdays. We’re fortunate enough to live in a time where this delicious biscuit is more readily available! As are the simple ingredients require to make it.

Scottish shortbread is just a super simplified shortbread recipe, one that is made to be nice and crisp. So good luck eating just one.

overhead shot of ingredients needed to make scottish cookies

Ingredients in Scottish shortbread

Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Butter – Unsalted as we are adding the salt ourselves into this recipe. If using salted butter, you can omit adding any additional salt to the recipe.
Flour – Just all purpose flour is all we need, nothing fancy required here!
Sugar – I used packed brown sugar to create depth of sweetness, rounded out some notes of molasses.
Salt – Every baked good needs a bit of seasoning to balance out all that sugar, it’s a science in baking so be sure to be precise.

No Unsalted Butter?

Because I’m using unsalted butter I’ve added some salt to the recipe to help season our cookies, it’s essential in baking and cooking. If you only have salted butter then omit the additional salt entirely.

How To Make Brown Sugar Scottish Shortbread

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Create the batter:Cream the butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl with a mixer. Add 3 to 3 3/4 cups flour, one cup at a time, mixing well after each cup. Sprinkle your work surface with the remaining flour. Knead the dough a few times until it comes together, then roll it out with a rolling pin so that it’s about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch in thickness.
Assemble:Use either a 2-inch cookie cutter or a shortbread cooking cutter to cut your cookies into desired shape. Prick with fork or a toothpick so make little holes in the cookies and place on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Do not let them get brown. Remove from the oven. Do not let them get brown. Remove from the oven. Let the cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to finish cooling.

overhead shot of a bunch of Brown Sugar Scottish Shortbread on a cooling rack with a cup of coffee

Some Tips

Handle your dough carefully! Don’t beat it too much or handle it too roughly.
Make sure the dishes you use and your hands are cold when handling your dough, this will ensure your butter doesn’t melt before you pop it in the oven.
Pick up a shortbread mold to make the cutest shaped shortbread cookies! Especially festive around the holiday season regardless of the holiday!

Freezing

These cookies freeze incredibly well. To freeze, place shortbread cookies in an airtight container and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.