Shortbread might just be one of the most wholesome, pure and beautiful baked treats. It’s such a simple recipe, and you can literally taste every ingredient in it. One of the keys to great shortbread is the butter. Get the highest quality butter you can for shortbread. However, there are times when I’ve used cheaper butter and my recipes turn out great. Just don’t use margarine, because the oils in margarine will destroy the shortbread.
This shortbread recipe depends on the addition of sweet coconut. Delicious, delicate and creamy sweet coconut is what makes this shortbread so special. I like the addition of almonds on top for an added nutty, buttery kick. It’s a super easy, absolutely delicious recipe you’ll be making quite often once you’ve tried them!
What you’ll need:
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 + 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 cup sweetened coconut
- sliced almonds for topping
Make them:
Cream the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla. Beat in flour in 1/4 cup increments until it’s all added. Stir in the coconut. That’s it! That’s the dough – pretty crazy easy, right?
Lay down wax paper and plop the dough on it. Shape the dough into a rectangle with about 1/2 inch thick. Use flour and a rolling pin to help you manipulate the dough. Wrap it up in the wax paper and put it in the fridge for at least 3 hours. You can also leave it in there overnight if you need a quick prep dessert.
Preheat the oven to 300. Cut the dough into sticks – you can make these any size you want. These are wonderful as thin sticks to dip into coffee (seriously – SO GOOD with coffee), or as thicker bar cookies (like I made). This is where I throw some almond slices on top. Just sprinkle them, and pat down lightly. Put down some parchment paper on a baking sheet (or leave it UNgreased if you don’t have paper). Place the cookies 1 inch apart and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until that golden edge is visible. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then move to a wire rack.
ENJOY!! ….and I’m serious about snacking on these with a cup of coffee.
Hungry for more? Check out more fun recipes!
Jeni’s Disclaimer: I’m just a regular girl. I love to drink wine while I bake. I’m by no means a professional baker or pro photographer. My creations aren’t staged, they just are what they are, and that’s probably obvious. If you’re a normal person that loves to bake or cook and your food ends up looking like REAL food, and not like something you’ll see on Instagram, you’re in the right place.
