Bright, buttery, and wonderfully unfussy, these orange shortbread cookies are proof that simple baking can still feel a little magical. With just 7 basic ingredients, you’ll get cookies that bake up crisp at the edges, tender and melt-in-your-mouth in the center, and bursting with fresh orange flavor. The citrus keeps things lively, the shortbread stays classic, and the end result is the kind of cookie that even my picky toddlers approve!
Like any good shortbread recipes, I always recommend chilling the dough for at least an hour, allowing the flour to hydrate and all the flavor to meld together. You can even make it the night before and let it chill overnight for an easy morning bake. This recipe makes 2 dozen and you can scale up or down easily.
Trang’s Recipe Highlights
- FLAVOR: These orange shortbread cookies are buttery with a bright, clean, fragrant orange finish.
- TEXTURE: Crispy at the edges with a melt-in-your-mouth perfection.
- EASE: This recipe is pretty much a classic shortbread with orange zest added! To keep things super simple, I didn’t even bother with a glaze, like the one on my lemon shortbread, but it would be a nice touch if you want a bit of extra flavor and sweetness.
Key ingredients
You’ll need just 7 ingredients to make this orange shortbread cookie recipe. As always, for the full list of ingredients with quantities and step-by-step instructions, skip straight to the recipe card.
- Fresh orange zest is the star here so use a lot of it for a powerful punch of flavor. I used zest from 2 large Cara Cara oranges. Any type of orange should work.
- Butter is the foundation of this recipe. While I typically use generic Kirkland brand unsalted butter for all my shortbread recipes, and they all taste just fine, I would encourage you to use a higher quality butter for a simple recipe such as this for even better flavor.
- Cornstarch gives shortbread cookies a subtle melt-in-your-mouth texture. You can skip it if you don’t have any without needing to make adjustments to the other ingredients.
Ideal butter temperature
Typically, room temperature butter is ideal. And the advice is that when you press your finger on the butter, there should be an indentation on it. However, that does not always guarantee that the inside of the butter block is room temperature. The best way to soften butter is to cut it into thinner pats.
Sometimes, I can’t be bothered to cut up the butter and compensate for it by letting my butter warm up on the counter for hours before I start making the dough. At this point, my butter is much softer than “just room temperature.” I actually find this extra soft butter easier to beat, the flour incorporates into the butter quicker, and you’ll less likely encounter the issue of “crumbly” dough, which some readers run into mostly with my matcha shortbread and chocolate espresso shortbread.
One disadvantage is that you will end up with a much softer dough that is slightly harder to handle when you try to roll it into a log, but still manageable. Also, it will require a longer chill time before baking.
Hungry for more?
Orange Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Equipment
- Microplane Grater/Zester
Ingredients
- 8 oz (227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅔ cup (135 g) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoon orange zest, from 2 large oranges
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (2 g) kosher salt
- 2 ¼ cup (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon (18 g) cornstarch
- Extra granulated sugar for topping
Instructions
- Cream wet ingredients together – Add softened butter, sugar, orange zest, vanilla and salt to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is thoroughly incorporated and creamy.8 oz unsalted butter, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, 4 teaspoon orange zest, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Add dry ingredients – Sift flour and cornstarch into another mixing bowl and whisk to distribute evenly. Add the mixture into the stand mixer bowl with the creamed butter. Stir to combine, then increase the mixer speed and beat until no trace of flour remains and the dough is formed.2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- Form the logs – Place 2 long pieces of plastic wrap flat on the countertop. Divide cookie dough into 2 equal portions. Roll each portion on top of the plastic wrap into a log about 6” in length. Wrap it up and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before baking. You shouldn’t need additional flour for rolling but you can use some flour if necessary.
- Slice the cookies – Use a sharp knife to slice each cookie dough log into 12 cookies about ½” thick. Rewrap in the same plastic and place them into the freezer for about 15 minutes, while the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven – Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- Bake – Place 12 cookies on a large lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top and bake 1 batch at a time for about 23 minutes, until the edges on the cookies are golden brown.Extra granulated sugar for topping
- Cool – Remove the baking sheet from the oven, but allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet to finish baking from the residual heat for 5-10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Storing baked cookies: store your orange shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to a week.
- Storing cookie dough: I typically like to prep the dough the night before to make ahead. Unbaked shortbread dough can be kept refrigerated for 3-4 days, or slice and freeze for 3-6 months.
- Baking frozen dough: no need to thaw frozen cookie dough, you can bake directly from the freezer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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