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Overhead picture of Brown Sugar Shortbread cut into wedges, decorated with purple and white flowers

Ridiculously Easy Brown Sugar Shortbread

This one-bowl, no-mixer, Ridiculously Easy Brown Sugar Shortbread takes minutes to put together. The dough is pressed into a pan, so there's no scooping, rolling or cutting. Oh yeah, and all the taste-testers also say it's ridiculously delicious!

Course Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine American, Scottish
Keyword easy brown sugar shortbread
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 137 kcal
Author Chris Scheuer

Ingredients

For the shortbread:

  • 4 ounces very soft butter (1 stick)
  • 6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

For the topping:

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  1. Place an oven rack in the middle position in your oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom (or a 9-inch cake pan) with baking spray and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

  2. In a medium-large bowl, stir the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar, salt, and vanilla and stir again until smooth and creamy.

  3. Add the flour and stir until just combined and all the flour disappears and the mixture starts to form into a ball.

  4. Press the dough into the bottom of the tart (or cake) pan. If your fingers are sticking to the dough just dip them in some flour from time to time. Using a fork, poke the dough randomly several times. (this will keep it from puffing up)
  5. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from the oven and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar (and flaky sea salt, if desired).
  6. Bake for another 7-12 minutes longer or until deep golden brown.
  7. Remove the pan from the oven and invert the shortbread onto a dinner size plate. Invert again onto a cutting board so the sugared side is up and cut into wedges while hot (a pizza cutter works great for this). Transfer the wedges to a cooling rack.
  8. Hide a couple of wedges for yourself in a secret place because once the rest of the family discovers them, they will disappear before you can blink your eyes!

Recipe Notes

See Café Tips above in the post for further instructions and tips.

Recipe adapted from One-Bowl Baking.

Nutrition Facts
Ridiculously Easy Brown Sugar Shortbread
Amount Per Serving
Calories 137 Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Fat 8g12%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 20mg7%
Sodium 166mg7%
Potassium 19mg1%
Carbohydrates 16g5%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 8g9%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 236IU5%
Calcium 9mg1%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.