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.
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.
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
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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.
Related recipes
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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!
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Easter Cutout Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- mini bunny cookie cutter
- circle cookie cutter
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.
- 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.
- 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
First Published: April 12 2019. Last Updated: March 1, 2024. Updated for additional information and better reader experience.
Rosamonde Simone @ KetoBotyToneAvis
My kids love it. These bunny cookies are so delicious. Thank you for sharing it.
saltandserenity
I need to get some natural food colouring. The colours are really lovely. The adorasble quotient on these little bunny cookies is sky high!!