Easy 3-Ingredient Shortbread Bites Recipe

Shortbread Bites have a rich, buttery flavor that melts in your mouth with each bite. They’re lightly sweet with a delicate, crumbly texture, making them simple yet irresistibly satisfying. My shortbread bites recipe only uses 3 ingredients (plus sprinkles) and is super easy to make. You’re going to love it!

Shortbread Bites

I’ll admit it—this recipe came about by pure necessity.

Recently, I completely forgot to make something for a holiday party. As I was scrambling through the pantry, I realized I had everything I needed to whip up a batch of these buttery shortbread bites.

With just a few ingredients, these little cookies come together fast, and they’re perfect for those times when you need something quick (like me!).

I tossed in some Christmas sprinkles to make them look pretty and displayed them on a cookie tray.

These Christmas shortbread bites were a great success at the party, with folks reaching for “just one more.”

Now, they’re one of my go-to Christmas cookie ideas for the season. So if you ever find yourself in a pinch, give these a try—they’re the perfect sweet treat to save the day!

Why You’ll Love My Shortbread Bites

• Simple Recipe with Basic Ingredients: This recipe calls for only three main ingredients—flour, sugar, and cold butter. There’s no fussing with hard-to-find items. Perfect for a last-minute dessert!
• Buttery, Melt-in-Your-Mouth Flavor: These classic shortbread bites have that rich, buttery taste we all love.
• Fun and Festive for the Holidays: These Christmas shortbread bites will look great on a cookie tray at your next holiday party. They’re easy to customize for any holiday with a dash of colored sprinkles.
• Quick and Easy to Make: Using a food processor makes mixing up this simple shortbread dough a breeze. Plus, these tiny squares bake up fast, so you can go from dough to done in no time.
• Perfect Size for Snacking: These little bites are just the right size to pop in your mouth. They’ll fit perfectly in little cellophane treat bags for gifting too!

Shortbread Bites Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour: This is the base of the shortbread cookie dough and gives these buttery shortbread bites their soft, crumbly texture.
• Sugar: Just enough granulated or cane sugar is added to give these little cookies a hint of sweetness without being overly sugary.
• Butter: Using cold butter is key to getting that light, delicate crumb. Cutting it into small pieces and mixing it in with the food processor creates a smooth simple shortbread dough. The butter also brings that rich, buttery flavor everyone loves in a shortbread recipe.
• Colored Nonpareils or Sprinkles (Optional): Adding colorful sprinkles or Christmas sprinkles makes these little bites look perfect for the holiday season! You can skip this if you want a more traditional look or use rainbow sprinkles to make funfetti shortbread bites.

How to Make Shortbread Bites

Preheat the Oven: Set your oven to 325 degrees. This lower temperature helps keep these little bites nice and tender.

Mix the Dry Ingredients: In a food processor, pulse together the all-purpose flour and sugar until blended.

Add the Cold Butter: Cut the cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Pulse until the dough just starts coming together. The butter should be mixed in but still keep the dough soft.

Knead in Sprinkles: Place the dough in a large bowl and gently knead in the sprinkles (if using) by hand until they’re evenly spread throughout.

Form the Dough into Rectangles: On waxed paper lightly dusted with flour, pat the dough into two equal-sized rectangles. This step makes it easier to cut into neat little squares.

Chill the Dough: Place the rectangles in the freezer for about 20 minutes. This chilling step helps the dough firm up, making it easier to slice into squares.

Cut into 1-Inch Squares: Once chilled, cut each rectangle into 1-inch squares. This is the right size for a bite-sized cookie. Place the squares about half an inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet or baking sheet.

Bake the Cookies: Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until they’re lightly browned on the bottom. You want them just golden for that melt-in-your-mouth buttery shortbread bite.

Cool and Store: Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, store them in an airtight container. They’ll keep at room temperature for up to a week or can be frozen for up to three months.

Print Pin

Shortbread Bites

Servings 2 to 2.5 dozen

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 sticks of cold butter cut into small pieces
• 3-4 tablespoons of colored nonpareils or sprinkles

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• In food processor with knife blade attached, pulse flour and sugar until combined. Add butter and pulse until dough begins to come together.
• Place dough in a large bowl. With hand, gently knead in nonpareils or sprinkles until evenly blended and dough forms a ball.
• On lightly floured waxed paper, pat dough into 2 equally sized rectangles; freeze 20 minutes. Cut dough into 1-inch squares. Place squares, 1/2 inch apart, on an ungreased large cookie sheet.
• Bake cookies 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.
• Store cookies in tightly covered container at room temperature up to 1 week, or in freezer up to 3 months.