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Home » Tis the Season! » Simple, 3 Ingredient Honey Shortbread

December 15, 2021 5 Ingredients or Less

Simple, 3 Ingredient Honey Shortbread

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Simple honey shortbread only requires 3 main ingredients, one bowl, and is so easy to mix together. It's a delicious, light, buttery cookie that pairs perfectly with a hot cup of tea. Glaze them, or leave them unglazed, either way you have a delicious cookie.

honey shortbread cookies in a gray bowl with a green linen

Honey shortbread is a simple, easy cookie with just 3 main ingredients. You probably have everything you need right in your pantry! These easy shortbread cookies are crisp and buttery, with a delicate, lightly sweet taste. These are the kinds of cookies you enjoy while you're sipping a cup of tea in front of the fireplace while a Hallmark movie is on. These one bowl, simple honey shortbread come together in 10 minutes, are frozen for 30 minutes, then baked till golden brown, while the chilling time is not optional, I promise they're worth the wait!

simple shortbread cookies piled on a white backdrop

WHAT IS SHORTBREAD?

Shortbread is actually a traditional Scottish cookie! It uses a very simple, 1-2-3 ratio of ingredients, which is how they get that classic, crisp, buttery, cookie. The ingredients are measured by weight so there's 1 part sweetener, 2 parts butter, and 3 parts flour. My recipe uses cups, but only after I weighed the ingredients and used the closest possible measurements to make this recipe easy for those who do not have a kitchen scale. (which I recommend getting!)

HONEY SHORTBREAD INGREDIENTS

3 ingredient shortbread ingredients on a white backdrop labeled with black text
  • Butter
  • Honey
  • Flour
  • Cinnamon
  • Salt

HOW TO MAKE 3 INGREDIENT HONEY SHORTBREAD

easy honey shortbread ingredients on a white backdrop
Prepare your ingredients
honey shortbread dough in a glass bowl
Mix the dough together
shortbread cut into squares
Roll the shortbread dough to ¼ inch thick then cut into desired shape
shortbread cookies baked on parchment paper
Freeze for 30 minutes then bake at 300 F for 15 minutes
  1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, honey, flour, cinnamon, and salt until a dough forms
  2. Roll out the honey shortbread dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until it is ¼ inch thick
  3. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the shortbread dough into your desired cookie shape, but leave the dough together
  4. Place the honey shortbread dough onto a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes
  5. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and place the baking sheet into the oven
  6. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the shortbread cookies look like a light golden brown
  7. Take the tray out of the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the tray before breaking them apart into your cookie shape

MORE CHRISTMAS COOKIES!

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Healthy Molasses Crinkle Cookies

EXPERT TIPS

  • Read the full recipe before you begin
  • Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to make the honey shortbread dough, it would be hard to mix by hand
  • Roll out your dough to ¼ inch thick, this is the best thickness for shortbread
  • Cut the cookies into any shape you want, you do not have to do the squares like I did
  • Please do not skip the chilling time! This is important to let the dough rest, hydrate, and develop more flavor
  • After baking, let the honey shortbread cookies cool completely on the tray before you attempt to separate them
  • Glaze these if you want a sweeter cookie, or enjoy a light, delicate buttery cookie if you keep them plain
glazed simple shortbread cookies on a piece of crumpled parchment paper

Did you make this recipe? If you did, I would greatly appreciate you leaving a comment and rating down below! In addition, you can follow me on Instagram, @coleinthekitchen, and tag me so I can see your creation there.

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Simple, 3 Ingredient Honey Shortbread

honey shortbread cookies in a gray bowl with a green linen
Print Recipe
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Honey shortbread is a simple, easy cookie with just 3 main ingredients. You probably have everything you need right in your pantry! These easy shortbread cookies are crisp and buttery, with a delicate, lightly sweet taste. These are the kinds of cookies you enjoy while you're sipping a cup of tea in front of the fireplace while a Hallmark movie is on. These one bowl, simple honey shortbread come together in 10 minutes, are frozen for 30 minutes, then baked till golden brown, while the chilling time is not optional, I promise they're worth the wait!

  • Author: Nicole Radcliffe
  • Prep Time: 40 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 Minutes
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units Scale
  1. 1 Stick Softened Butter
  2. 4 Tablespoons Honey
  3. 1 ½ cup Flour
  4. 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
  5. ¾ Teaspoon Salt

OPTIONAL CINNAMON GLAZE

  1. ⅓ cup Powdered Sugar
  2. ¾ Teaspoon Cinnamon
  3. Pinch of salt
  4. 2-3 Teaspoons of Milk

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, with a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together the butter, honey, flour, cinnamon, and salt until a dough forms
  2. Roll out the honey shortbread dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until it is ¼ inch thick
  3. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the shortbread dough into your desired cookie shape, but leave the dough together
  4. Place the honey shortbread dough onto a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes
  5. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and place the baking sheet into the oven
  6. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the shortbread cookies look like a light golden brown
  7. Take the tray out of the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the tray before breaking them apart into your cookie shapes

OPTIONAL CINNAMON GLAZE

  1. Whisk together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, salt, and milk 
  2. Drizzle glaze over the honey shortbread cookies and allow the glaze to harden before storing the cookies

Notes

  • Read the full recipe before you begin
  • Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to make the honey shortbread dough, it would be hard to mix by hand
  • Roll out your dough to ¼ inch thick, this is the best thickness for shortbread
  • Cut the cookies into any shape you want, you do not have to do the squares like I did
  • Please do not skip the chilling time! This is important to let the dough rest, hydrate, and develop more flavor
  • After baking, let the honey shortbread cookies cool completely on the tray before you attempt to separate them
  • Glaze these if you want a sweeter cookie, or enjoy a light, delicate buttery cookie if you keep them plain

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Serving
  • Calories: 141

Keywords: honey shortbread cookies, 3 ingredients shortbread, easy shortbread cookies

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag me — I can't wait to see what you've made!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. rose says

    September 24, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    Thank you for the recipe, I am off to make these right now❤️

    Reply
    • Nicole Radcliffe says

      September 25, 2022 at 1:13 pm

      So happy to hear that! Hope you enjoy them!

      Reply

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Hey, I'm Nicole! I'm here to share simple and nutritious, whole food recipes. (with a side of indulgence of course) Most recipes can easily be made gluten free or dairy free so there's something for everyone to enjoy!

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