Delicious buttery stamped shortbread cookies with the perfect crumb topped with sugar. The most delicious and easy Christmas shortbread cookie! Made with just 4 simple ingredients.

When we first moved to our little country town I fell in love with a quaint little antique craft shop in the old train station on Main Street.

Near the register was a basket filled with homemade shortbread cookies. They looked amazing! So I bought a bag! (Sometimes impulse shopping is the BEST!)

I got out to my car and those buttery little gems were calling my name! (It was more of a high-pitched scream that couldn’t be ignored.) So I opened the bag and took a bite. OH. MY. GOSH! (Heavenly choirs sang!)

They were so buttery they melted in your mouth. The crumb was perfection! What was the secret that made those shortbread cookies better than others I had tasted in the past?

Rice Flour! Rice flour is the secret to making amazing shortbread cookies! You can find it at most markets. Bob’s Red Mill makes a great rice flour that I highly recommend for this recipe.

Let’s stop chatting and Let’s get baking…

How To Make Stamped Christmas Shortbread Cookies

Begin by preparing one 3-inch round cookie stamp and one 3-inch round cookie cutter. You can find cookie stamps at TJ Maxx and on Amazon. (I’ve included a link below in the recipe card) I bought mine on Amazon and love that they came with interchangeable stamps.

In a medium size bowl combine 1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup of rice flour. Use a wire whisk to combine the two flours together. It’s extremely important to whisk the flours together to skip the “sifting” process later in this recipe, or you can sift the two flours together and set aside.

TIP: Whisking is similar to sifting and helps remove any lumps that might be in the flour and adds air for a lighter dough during mixing.

Flour and rice flour combined in mixing bowl

In a large bowl, cream 2 sticks of softened salted butter with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Remember these are a “buttery” cookie and the reason this cookie melts in your mouth, There is no skimping on the buttah!

Add creamed butter mixture to flour mixture. Blend with a pastry blender until dough comes together.

Press into balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 15 minutes.

TIP: It’s important to chill the dough because of all the butter in this recipe. This will allow the cookies to keep their shape during baking.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place dough on a large piece of parchment paper, or you can use a dough disc lightly covered in flour. Roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness.

Dust cookie stamp with flour. Press cookie stamp into shortbread dough. Do NOT press all the way through the dough. You are just “stamping” the dough. Flour the cookie stamp after 2–3 stamps to prevent it from sticking to the dough.

Remove cookie stamp. Place the round cookie cutter over stamped dough and cut out stamped cookie.

Shortbread dough rolled out and cookies being cut out.

With the flat edge of a spatula, lift cookie onto prepared baking tray lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Repeat until all the dough is used up. You may need to roll out remaining dough 2 or 3 times.

*Please note that I had to quadruple this recipe for the amount cookies shown.

Sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar. Bake at 350° degrees for 20 minutes or until the edges are very lightly brown.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Stack and store the cookies in an airtight container.

You can freeze these cookies as well. Just make sure you place them in an airtight container, and you may want to place sheets of wax paper between the cookies, but it’s not necessary.

Stacked cookies in container for freezing

This recipe rivals that original shortbread cookie from my favorite antique store.

I made these last year for Christmas. I did quadruple the recipe, and it’s a good thing because my husband and kids couldn’t stop eating them. (Oh sure, I had my fair share too…but we’re not talking about me right now. Lol)

These cookies are buttery with the flakey layers you expect from a really good shortbread cookie! Not to mention stamping them is so fun, and a quick way to create a fun Holiday cookie.

Plate full of stamped shortbread cookies

Other Great Holiday Cookie Recipes

I hope you’ll give these amazing 4 ingredient Classic Stamped Shortbread cookies a try. I know your family will love them as much as ours does.

Remember you can follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for all my latest recipes!

Happy Nesting and Happy Holidays!

Yield: 12 cookies

Easy Stamped Christmas Shortbread Cookies

Name: Easy Stamped Christmas Shortbread Cookies
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour; 1/4 cup rice flour; 1 cup salted butter (softened); 1/2 cup powdered sugar/ icing sugar

Delicious buttery stamped shortbread cookies with the perfect crumb topped with sugar. The perfect and most deliciously easy Christmas shortbread cookie! Made with just 4 simple ingredients.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1 cup salted butter (softened)
1/2 cup powdered sugar/ icing sugar

Instructions

Prepare one 3 inch round cookie stamp and one 3 inch round cookie cutter.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper or silicone baking mats
In a medium bowl combine all-purpose flour and rice flour. Use a wire whisk to combine the two flours together or sift the flours together.
In a large bowl, cream softened salted butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
Add creamed butter to flour mixture and blend with a pastry blender until dough comes together. Form dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°
Place dough on a floured surface, or a large piece of parchment paper. Roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick.
Dust cookie stamp with flour and "press" onto dough. Do not press all the way through the dough. Remove cookie stamp. Place round cookie cutter over stamped dough and cut out stamped cookie.
With a flat edge spatula, lift cookie onto prepared baking tray. Repeat until all dough is used up, making sure to dust stamp after several uses to prevent it from sticking to dough. You may need to roll out remaining dough 2 or 3 times.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.