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Butter + Toffee = Love
Rich buttery shortbread mixed with sweet toffee bits is a match made in heaven. It’s why these Toffee Shortbread Cookies are one of the very best holiday cookies you could ask for!
Not only are these festive cookies so easy to make, but they also come together in one bowl, can be made ahead of time, and are perfect for gifting to friends and family.
Classic shortbread cookies are made with simple ingredients and always melt in your mouth. The dough is thick and crumbly and pairs well with a few sweet additions. Add anything from cranberries and white chocolate, eggnog icing, and even cinnamon sugar to give them a festive flair!
Adding toffee bits to this classic Christmas cookie transforms it into an even richer, chewier cookie with so much depth. If you really want to go all out, mix in some chocolate chips and nuts too! Your party guests won’t be able to resist.
Toffee shortbread ingredients
The ingredients list in this shortbread cookie recipe is quite short, which means it can be hard to cut corners. Try to use higher quality ingredients so you end up with the best tasting toffee shortbread. This is what you need:
Salted butter
Butter is the secret to any delicious shortbread recipe. You always want to make homemade shortbread with salted butter instead of unsalted because there isn’t much liquid in the cookie dough. If you were to use unsalted butter and add salt on its own, the salt wouldn’t dissolve and the cookies would be way too salty.
Powdered sugar
Making shortbread with powdered sugar will always give you super soft, light, and melt-in-your-mouth cookies. Again, because there isn’t much liquid in the dough, I’m not sure granulated sugar would fully dissolve if you were to use it instead of powdered sugar.
Vanilla
Want to take your shortbread up a notch? Swap the vanilla extract for vanilla bean paste instead! Vanilla bean paste has a stronger flavor than the extract and will still impart the signature black specks throughout your cookies without having to buy the expensive pods.
All purpose flour
Nothing fancy needed here! A simple all purpose flour sifted into the cookie dough will bring everything together to give you light and airy cookies.
Toffee bits
These crunchy bits of caramel-tasting toffee bits are truly what makes these buttery shortbread cookies so special! Toffee is a completely addictive dessert made almost the same way as traditional caramel sauce but without any candy thermometers or fancy equipment. The sweet flavor of toffee is delicious in shortbread cookies as well as chocolate, raisins, and nuts (just in case you want to add even more to the dough).
You can buy plain toffee bits (not the ones coated in chocolate) at most grocery stores in the baking aisle or make it yourself at home. It’s surprisingly easy to make using just 3 simple ingredients.
How to make toffee shortbread cookies
Toffee cookies are easy to make and come together in just one bowl. Just like my favorite slice and bake shortbread recipe, these cookies are so easy to make days or even weeks ahead of time.
Pro Tip!
- The back of the cookies should look golden brown, like the back of the cookie in the picture below!
Making shortbread ahead of time
Make the shortbread cookie dough ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can thaw the frozen dough overnight in the fridge or leave it on the counter for an hour before baking.
I recommend rolling the dough into a log shape and wrapping it well in plastic wrap. That way, the cookies are easy to slice and bake right out of the fridge or freezer!
Recipe
Buttery Slice and Bake Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup toffee bits
Instructions
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl until it just becomes light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Add flour and toffee bits, and on low speed, beat until the dough just starts to come together, about 3 minutes.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press together to form a log. Divide the dough in half and form each piece of dough into a 6-inch log. Wrap in parchment paper and chill for at least 2 hours, up to three days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice each log into ⅓- inch slices. You should have about 36 cookies.
- Evenly place cookies on the parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake until the bottom edges of the cookies just start to brown, 14-16 minutes. Allow cookies to cool and serve!
Linda Kult says
Loved the shortbread recipe and great instructions....I did find that 3/4 cup of Skor Toffee chips is too much.....I actually cut it back to 1/3 of a cup and found that the cookie had better flavour with the lesser amount of toffee....Thank you very much for your recipe....
Michelle Weiner says
Thanks so much for the review of my recipe Linda! I appreciate the tip about using less toffee, I'm going to have to try that next time I make them!