Whipped shortbread cookies are the classic crumbly and buttery cookies found in pastry shops. They are perfect cookies for an afternoon snack accompanied by tea or hot chocolate. Today I propose an absolutely simple recipe to make whipped shortbread cookies at home.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
For whipped shortbread cookies, basic ingredients such as flour, butter, and sugar are used, accompanied by chocolate and mixed nut grains for decoration.
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups butter
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup milk (Any type)
- lemon zest
- pinches salt
- 1 packet vanilla
- 9 oz 70% dark chocolate (For coating)
- 3.5 oz chopped pistachios
- 3.5 oz chopped hazelnuts
- 10.5 oz white chocolate
- candied cherry
Tools
To create the shape of whipped shortbread tea cookies, we can use different tools. I prefer the method with a piping bag and a star tip (like the classic Wilton 1M). In reality, it’s also possible to use a cookie press like this one from Tescoma.
- 1 Piping bag
- 1 Star tip
- 1 Cookie press
- 2 Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- 1 Small pot
Steps
Let’s start preparing all the ingredients for the whipped shortbread cookies.
The butter needs to be soft, so let’s leave it out of the fridge for at least a couple of hours. If we haven’t bought powdered sugar, grind regular sugar finely with a food processor; this will allow us to obtain a smooth and crumbly cookie.
Weigh the flour and the milk right away.
Prepare the chosen aromas, grate the peel of a lemon or an orange. And keep vanilla or vanillin and salt at hand.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place the star tip in the piping bag and keep it at hand.
To start, place the room-temperature soft butter and powdered sugar into a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or use beaters) and start to whip.
Now, let it run for a few minutes until you get a cream-like, soft, and fluffy mixture.
Now add the aromas and a pinch of salt, and ensure they are well dissolved.
At this point, add all the flour into the creamy mixture and ensure it is well blended. It will take two or three minutes at medium speed with the paddle attachment.
The result will be a fairly hard and compact mixture, so we will add the milk little by little.
Let it run for a few more minutes in the mixer, and the dough for the whipped shortbread cookies is ready.
At this point, place our whipped shortbread dough in the piping bag, and we are ready to shape the cookies by piping them directly onto the parchment paper in the prepared baking sheet.
Once piped onto the sheet, we can bake the whipped shortbread cookies in a static or convection oven at about 340°F for about 16-18 minutes.
I recommend letting the cookies cool completely before proceeding to decorate them.
To decorate these types of tea cookies, use chocolate and grains or with the candied cherry that is inserted during baking.
Melt the chocolate as desired; I often use the bain-marie technique and dip the cookies into it.
Also, add sprinkles or nut grains like pistachios, hazelnuts, and our cookies are ready.
Store our crumbly and buttery tea cookies in a tin box for up to a week. They will always be tasty.
