• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Mug Cake Recipes
  • Military Care Packages
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Mug Cake Recipes
  • Military Care Packages
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Shortbread

    Easter Cutout Shortbread Cookies

    By Wendy Sondov · Published: Apr 12, 2019 · Modified: Mar 13, 2024 · This post may contain affiliate links · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Jump to Recipe

    Easter Cutout Shortbread Cookies are a lightly sweet, buttery shortbread that melts in your mouth. Pastel colored dough and edible glitter transform plain cookies into a sparkling spring time treat.

    Pastel colored shortbread cookies with rabbit silhouette cutout centers.

    Why you'll love this recipe

    • This delicious buttery dough is easy to work with and holds its shape while baking with no spreading.
    • The pretty pastel colors come from natural food coloring.
    • Homemade shortbread cookies are a sweet treat that stays fresh for a long time.

    These buttery shortbread cookies get their multi-colored puzzle look from a mini bunny cookie cutter (about 1.75” from ear tip to cotton tail).

    The bunnies are cut out from cookie centers and then swapped into the center of a differently colored cookie. Beautifully decorative cookies with no royal icing required!

    This cutout shortbread has an exceptional flaky, buttery texture that comes from using grated butter. Grated butter incorporates well with the other ingredients and helps lift and form flaky layers.

    When chilled as instructed in the recipe, this cookie dough is smooth, easy to work with and maintains its crisp edge while baking.

    Cookie cutters and rolled out dough for cutting out cookies and rabbit silhouettes.

    Instructions

    This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.

    1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine grated, cold butter, sugar, salt, and flour until a grainy mixture forms. Mix in the egg and vanilla to form a pliable dough.
    2. Divide the dough into 4 portions and color each portion a different color using powdered or gel food coloring. Shape each dough portion into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Let the dough chill 1 hour to overnight.
    3. Roll out the shortbread dough and cut out 3" circles. Cut bunny shapes out of the center of each circle. Insert the bunny shapes into the cut out of differently colored cookies.
    4. After baking, brush with edible glitter for a magical touch.

    Storage

    Store cut-out shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

    Stack of pastel colored cookies with two blue foil wrapped chocolate eggs.

    Tips

    • Using grated butter is important for the texture of these cookies, creating lift and forming flaky layers.
    • The lovely soft pastel colors of these cookies comes from natural food coloring powders.

    Would you like to save this?

    We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later! Plus, you’ll get more great recipes and tips from us each week!

               Pink= ½ teaspoon pink

               Purple= ¼ teaspoon blue and ¼ teaspoon pink

               Green = ¼ teaspoon blue and ¼ teaspoon yellow

               Yellow= ½ teaspoon yellow

    • For the best results, don’t skip the chilling of the dough in the fridge and freezer. Chilling make the dough the right consistency for rolling cutting and manipulating the cut pieces. Chilled cookies spread less in the oven.
    • Edible glitter is optional, but magical.
    • Make this easy cutout shortbread with any of your favorite cookie cutters. Changing the cut shapes would turn this into a great Christmas time cookie recipe.
    Closeup of bunny silhouettes inset onto contrasting colored shortbread cookies.

    Related recipes

    For another Easter treat, try crunchy lemon Bunny Cookies with colorful candy melt decorations.

    White Chocolate Bark for Easter! This treat is quick, easy, and SO pretty! Great for Mother's Day, bridal showers, and weddings too!

    Chocolate Shortbread Cookies are perfect treats for chocolate lovers! These luscious chocolate cookies are double dipped in dark and white chocolate for beauty and deliciousness.

    Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies have incredible chocolate and coffee flavor. This is a cookie for mocha fans.

    For a different flavor, try Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies with the nutty flavor of oatmeal and the buttery flavor of shortbread. You will love this melt in your mouth cookie!

    Vanilla Bean Shortbread is crunchy, buttery and full of vanilla bean speckles and warm vanilla flavor.

    Spiced Chocolate Shortbread is a chocolate cookie spiced with cinnamon and cayenne pepper.

    Pastel colored  shortbread cookies with contrasting bunny centers on a plate.

    Ready to bake? Join the free membership group to get new recipes and a newsletter delivered to your inbox! You can also stay in touch on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’d love to stay in touch!

    Pastel colored shortbread cookies with rabbit silhouette cutout centers

    Easter Cutout Shortbread Cookies

    This lightly sweet, cutout shortbread melts in your mouth. Pastel colored dough and edible glitter transform plain cookies into a sparkling spring time treat perfect for any special occasion.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American, European
    Prep Time: 1 hour hour
    Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Chill time: 1 hour hour
    Total Time: 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes
    Servings: 36
    Calories: 186kcal
    Author: Wendy Sondov
    Adapted From: Imperial Sugar

    Equipment

    • Rolling Pin
    • mini bunny cookie cutter
    • circle cookie cutter
    • baking sheet

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups unsalted butter cold
    • 2 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 5 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 4 natural food coloring powders or gel food coloring (I used Color Kitchen brand natural food coloring in pink, blue, and yellow)
    • Edible glitter optional

    Instructions

    • Use a box grater to grate the cold butter into the bowl of an electric mixer.
    • Add sugar, salt, and flour. Mix on low speed until a course, grainy mixture forms.
    • Mix in egg and vanilla to form dough.
    • Divide dough into 4 even portions.
    • Color each shortbread cookie dough portion a different color.
    • Form each colored portion into a ball and then flatten slightly into a disc.
    • Wrap each dough disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour- overnight.
    • When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
    • Roll one colored dough disk to ¼” thickness between two sheets of parchment or wax paper.
    • Cut out cookie circles. Place the cookie circles on a prepared baking sheet and place in refrigerator to firm while the other colors of dough are prepared.
    • Repeat with all four dough colors, rolling to ¼” thickness, cutting out circles, and placing the circles on the baking sheet in the refrigerator.
    • Remove the cookie sheet from the refrigerator and use a small bunny cookie cutter to cut a bunny shape out of the center of each cookie.
    • Arrange the cookie circles about 1” apart on the prepared baking sheets.
    • Gently insert the bunny cutouts into the center of differently colored cookie circles. If at any time the shapes become too soft to handle easily, place the cookie sheet into the freezer briefly to firm the dough.
    • To add edible glitter: Use a fingertip or small brush to dampen the top of each cookie with water, then sprinkle with edible glitter.
    • Bake cookies for about 12-16 minutes or until bottom edge is just beginning to turn golden and the cookies are firm to the touch.
    • Remove from the oven. Cool the baked cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
    • Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

    Notes

    • This recipe calls for grated butter which is important for the texture of these cookies. Grated butter incorporates well with the other ingredients and helps lift and form flaky layers.
    • The lovely soft pastel colors of these cookies comes from natural food coloring powders.
               Pink= ½ teaspoon pink
               Purple= ¼ teaspoon blue and ¼ teaspoon pink
               Green = ¼ teaspoon blue and ¼ teaspoon yellow
               Yellow= ½ teaspoon yellow
    • Don’t skip the chilling of the dough in the fridge and freezer. Chilling make the dough the right consistency for rolling cutting and manipulating the cut pieces. Chilled cookies spread less in the oven.
    • Edible glitter is optional, but magical.
    Packing tips
    • The slightly more crumbly texture of these cookies is made more sturdy for shipping by wrapping pairs of cookies in plastic wrap.
    • Stack the cookie bundles in a column in a freezer weight zip lock bag. Remove as much air from the bag as possible before sealing.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 36mg | Potassium: 23mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 322IU | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @TheMondayBox or tag #themondaybox!

    First Published: April 12 2019. Last Updated: March 1, 2024. Updated for additional information and better reader experience.

    Pink cookie with yellow bunny center sparkling with edible glitter.

    You might also like:

    Thumbprint cookies coated in sprinkles with chocolate hearts in the centers.Strawberry Shortbread Cookies Scottish Shortbread Ball shaped cookies with white icing and pastel nonpareil sprinkles.Italian Easter Cookies (Taralli Dolci Di Pasqua)
    « Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
    Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies »
    • Share
    • Tweet

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Rosamonde Simone @ KetoBotyToneAvis

      August 05, 2019 at 4:01 am

      My kids love it. These bunny cookies are so delicious. Thank you for sharing it.

      Reply
    2. saltandserenity

      April 17, 2019 at 4:30 pm

      I need to get some natural food colouring. The colours are really lovely. The adorasble quotient on these little bunny cookies is sky high!!

      Reply
    5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    I'm Wendy, a baker, care package maker, and smile creator. On The Monday Box you’ll find care package inspiration and recipes for delicious treats that make it easy for you to share home baked love. Let’s spread happiness, one cookie at a time!

    More about me →

    Brunch favorites

    • Ball shaped cookies with white icing and pastel nonpareil sprinkles.
      Italian Easter Cookies (Taralli Dolci Di Pasqua)
    • Orange Creamsicle Bars
    • Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes
      Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes
    • Closeup of sliced Italian Lemon Pound Cake
      Italian Lemon Pound Cake
    • Pastel colored cookies with crackled tops.
      Flourless Soft Almond Cookies (Pasticcini di Mandorle)
    • Bob Evans Cherry Bread Recipe

    Super easy mug cakes

    • Microwave Peach Cobbler
    • 3-2-1 Molten Lava Cake
      Lava Cake in a Mug
    • Chocolate cake in a mug topped with cherries and almonds.
      Black Forest Mug Cake
    • Orange Mug Cake in a white mug topped with orange marmalade.
      Orange Mug Cake
    • Piña Colada Mug Cake
    • Closeup of pineapple slice and maraschino cherry on top of vanilla mug cake.
      Pineapple Upside Down Mug Cake

    Most Popular

    • Closeup of raisin biscuit squares with golden crust speckled with raisins.
      Golden Raisin Biscuit Cookies
    • Sliced loaf of honey cake on a white platter.
      Honey Applesauce Cake
    • Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies- melt-in-your-mouth buttery shortbread made even better with added espresso and chocolate! | The Monday Box
      Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
    • Chocolate frosted mug cake a bowls of mix-ins
      Cake Mix Mug Cake

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    About

    Contact

    Privacy Policy

    Disclaimer

    As Seen On

    Copyright © 2012 - 2025 The Monday Box, All Rights Reserved.

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.