Christmas Shortbread Bites: 12 Days of Cookies Day 1

Time at Christmas goes so quickly! All of a sudden, it’s towards the end of December and you haven’t done everything that you need to do! Every year I plan to do 12 Days of Cookies, and this year I was actually organized and am doing it. Most years, I think I will do it and then I end up not having the time. It gets to be mid-December and it’s too late.

This recipe has one of the shortest ingredients lists that I have ever made. Shortbread is very simple, just butter, sugar, and flour. This recipe ups the flavor by adding almond extract. The original recipe suggests that you could use vanilla instead, but I feel that almond extract is the winner here. You also add sprinkles; I of course used Christmas sprinkles, but any type of small sprinkle would work. I halved the recipe, as it makes quite a few.

The dough for these cookies is very thin. It was difficult to get the chilled dough out of the pan, and my dough cracked a little bit. When you cut them into tiny squares, some of them crack as well, so overall these are very tricky. When I baked them, the smaller squares got over baked, but many of the cookies turned out fine. These are meant to be a snack, where you might eat them by the handful. They taste fabulous, and I recommend the almond extract. These cookies would not be as good without it.

Christmas Shortbread Bites

½ cup butter, cut into pieces

1/3 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon almond extract

1-1/8 cups flour

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Christmas sprinkles

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium until the mixture comes together. Add the almond extract and stir to combine. Add the flour and mix on low until the dough almost comes together. Add the Christmas sprinkles and stir until incorporated.

Press the dough into the prepared pan and press down with the bottom of a measuring cup. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Have a baking sheet ready; make sure that the sheet is not covered with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and peel away the foil. Cut the cookies into small squares, ½” to ¾”. Place the cookies on a baking sheet.

Bake for 10-14 minutes, until lightly browned along the edges. The cookies will be soft. Allow the cookies to cool before serving.

Recipe from Cooking Classy