These Sprinkle Shortbread Cookies are thin, sandy, and delicately crisp, with a rich, buttery vanilla flavor that makes them hard to resist. Unlike thicker, dense shortbreads, these cookies have a light snap and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Studded with red and white jimmies, they are a natural fit for Valentine's Day but can easily be dressed up with different sprinkle colors for any celebration.
Why You'll Love This Cookie
If you enjoy simple slice-and-bake or shortbread-style cookies, this recipe fits right in with other favorites on My Cookie Journey. The dough is easy to mix and shape, making it a great baking project for kids or beginning bakers.
These cookies are not overly sweet, so the buttery vanilla flavor really shines, and their thin shape helps them bake quickly and evenly. With endless sprinkle color options, you can use this same recipe again and again for holidays, parties, or just for fun.
A Quick Look at the Recipe
Recipe Name: Sprinkle Shortbread Cookies
Ready In: about 1 hour and 40 minutes (including chill)
Yield: 46 cookies if cut ¼ inch thick
Texture: thin, sandy with a snap, crumbly shortbread
Flavor Profile: buttery and vanilla
Get to Know This Cookie
Use the buttons below to get a quick overview or ask questions before you bake.
If you have young bakers helping and learning, you might like to try my Mini M&M Cookies or Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies. These make great choices for a Saturday morning or afternoon baking time together.
Ingredients
Ingredients You Will Need:
- Butter unsalted
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Vanilla bean paste
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Colored jimmies
Ingredients Tip
- Vanilla Extract + Vanilla Bean Paste: Using both gives these cookies a richer vanilla flavor without overpowering the shortbread.
- Butter: Real butter is key for flavor and that sandy texture.
- Sprinkles: Jimmies work best and hold their color without bleeding into the dough.
How to Make Sprinkle Shortbread Cookies
Prep
In a small bowl weigh or measure the powdered sugar and set it aside. In another bowl weigh or measure the flour. Add the baking powder and salt to the flour, running a whisk through to blend.
Mix the Dough
1. Start by cubing the butter into a mixer bowl.
2. Cream the butter until you get soft peaks. This should take about a minute on a medium mixer speed.
3. Next, add the powdered sugar to the creamed butter and mix for 2 to 3 minutes on a medium speed.
4. Now add the vanilla extract and the vanilla bean paste and blend to incorporate. Scrape down the bowl and add the flour mixture about half at a time, just until blended. Finish by adding the colored jimmies.
5. Lightly add powdered sugar onto the pastry mat only if you need it. You just want to make sure the flour has been absorbed into the cookie dough and is not sticking to the pastry mat.
Shape and Wrap the Dough
6. The dough is rolled to about 18 inches, which makes great bite-size cookies for kids to grab and eat.
7. Cutting the log in half, makes it easier to wrap if they are only 9 inches long.
8. Wrap with plastic wrap. I use a baguette pan to help keep their shape.
But you can also use the DIY version by cutting the center paper towel lengthwise in half to cradle each log when chilling in the refrigerator.
9. Chill for one hour.
Slice and Bake the Cookies
10. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C), and line 2 cookie sheet pans with parchment paper.
11. To add a little crunch to the cookies I take the logs out of the refrigerator about a half hour before I am going to bake them. This is so the outside of the logs gets a little soft. Adding sparkling or sanding sugar to a dish that is a little longer than the log. Roll the log in sugar to get as much as you can on the outside.
Baking Tips
Coating with sugar is a little tricky with this type of shortbread. With sandy, crispy shortbread, the dough is a little drier and the sugar will not completely cover the outside of the log. I like a little just to give it an added texture.
Sometimes it is helpful to just take some of the sugar and use my hand to press some into the dough.
12. On a cutting board and using a sharp knife I cut the log into ¼ inch slices. This way I know the cookies will be sandy and have a nice snap when you break them in two. Of course, you can make yours thicker. The choice is up to you.
13. The cookies do not spread, so you can place them close together. With 2 sheet pans I can fit each whole cut roll on its own prepared sheet pan.
14. Bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 10-12 minutes depending on your oven. Once out of the oven move them to a cooling rack.
Enjoy!
Storage Tips
Store at room temperature in an airtight container. I use Rubbermaid Takealongs from Amazon or your local grocery store might carry them as well. Great for storing cookies.
FAQs
These cookies have a sandy, melt-in-your-mouth texture with a light snap, not a soft or chewy center.
Yes. Swap out the jimmies for any color to fit holidays or celebrations.
Yes. The dough is simple, easy to handle, and perfect for little helpers.
Can I Freeze This Cookie?
I do not typically freeze cookie dough when testing my recipes, so the instructions above reflect how this cookie was baked and stored. If you'd like to explore general freezing options for this cookie, the AI tool below can provide additional information.
Other Valentine's Day Cookies
Recipe
Sprinkle Shortbread Cookies
Barbara HallWould you like to save this recipe?
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Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted
- ⅔ cup (80 g) Powdered sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon (6 g) Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) Vanilla bean paste
- 2 cups (250 g) All-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (1.5 g) Kosher salt
- ½ cup (80 g) Colored jimmies
Instructions
- Weigh or measure the powdered sugar in a small bowl and set it aside. In another bowl, weigh or measure the flour. Add the baking powder and salt, then run a whisk through the mixture to blend.
- In the mixer bowl, cube the butter. Cream on a medium mixer speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until soft, creamy peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and mix for 2 to 3 minutes. Next, add the vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the flour mixture about half at a time, mixing just until incorporated. Add the colored jimmies, then scrape down the sides of the bowl and transfer the dough to a pastry mat lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar.
- Knead the dough just enough to incorporate any loose flour, then roll it into an 18-inch log. Cut the log in half and wrap each 9-inch log in plastic wrap. To help keep their rounded shape, set the logs in a baguette pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C). Line two cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. You will also need a cutting board and a sharp knife for slicing the logs.I like a little crunch on the outside of my cookies, so I bring the cookie logs out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking to let the outside soften slightly.
- I add sanding sugar or sparkling sugar to a dish wide enough to fit the 9-inch log. Because these cookies have a sandy, crispy texture, the dough is a little dry. I gently press the sugar into and around the log. I do not cover the entire outside, just enough to give the cookies a little crunch.
- Slice the log into ⅛-inch cookies and place all the slices from one log onto one prepared pan. They do not spread, so you can place them fairly close together. I fit 23 slices on my first pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or just until the cookies are set to the touch. Move them to a cooling rack as soon as they come out of the oven.
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NUTRITION DISCLAIMER
I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.
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