5 from 1 vote

Simple yet rich in flavor, brown sugar shortbread cookies are made with only 3 ingredients including brown sugar, butter and flour. They are easy to make and the perfect sweet treat with a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture!

Brown sugar shortbread cookies in a green Christmas tree dish.

For more shortbread cookies, try these cranberry shortbread cookies or chocolate shortbread cookies.

If you love simple shortbread cookies, these brown sugar shortbread cookies are perfect to add to your baking list! Just like with my brown sugar cookies, they have a sweet, caramelized taste but with only 3 ingredients.

Similar to my favorite Italian butter cookies, they have the best buttery texture but the addition of brown sugar to classic shortbread adds additional moisture and taste. Use cookie cutters or slice and bake, this easy cookie is both delicious with a cup of coffee or on a holiday cookie tray.

Why You’ll Love This Easy Brown Sugar Shortbread

Simple: Check your pantry and fridge, you probably already have these 3 ingredients – butter, brown sugar and flour!
Crowd pleasing: Your friends and family will love it when you add this brown sugar shortbread cookies recipe to holiday cookie platters or give as a gift!
Year round: Not just holiday cookies, change the shape or how you decorate them for any occasion.
Make ahead: Make the dough ahead of time and freeze until ready to bake! Always have some on hand for snacks or to enjoy with a cup of coffee!

Only 3 Simple Ingredients

Butter: A quality butter is important in an eggless cookie. It binds dough together and adds irresistible flavor.
All purpose flour: Use a flour with at least 11% protein for the best cookie structure.
Brown sugar: Light brown sugar produces a tender brown sugar shortbread with depth of flavor.

Substitutions and Variations

Unsalted butter: If you only have unsalted butter, that is okay to use in this brown sugar shortbread recipe just add ¼ teaspoon salt to the dough.
Brown sugar cinnamon cookies: Add up to 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon with the flour, similar to these cinnamon shortbread cookies.
Chocolate: Add chocolate chips like these chocolate chip whipped shortbread cookies. You could also drizzle or dip the cookies into melted chocolate like I do with chocolate hazelnut shortbread cookies.
Nutty: Add in some chopped nuts like I do in these chocolate almond shortbread cookies.
Extract: Add up to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, almond extract or maple extract.
Zest: You could also add the zest of one lemon like I do in these lemon shortbread cookies.
Stamped cookies: Follow the instructions for my stamped shortbread cookies!

How to Make Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

To start, cream butter and sugar in a large bowl or using a stand mixer beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Sift the flour into the bowl and beat on low until almost combined.

Move the shortbread dough to a flat surface and gently knead to form a compact ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out with medium cookie cutters. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheets. While the oven is preheating, chill the cookies.

Cut out the cooking and place on the baking sheet.

Bake cookies until the edges are golden brown around the edges. Cool brown sugar shortbread cookies then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

baking tips

Make dough by hand: I prefer to use a stand mixer or electric hand mixer when making the dough, but you can use a wooden spoon to cream it for about 3 minutes until fluffy.
Quality butter. Do not use margarine in brown sugar shortbread! A quality butter will add the best buttery texture.
Light brown sugar vs. dark brown sugar: Either brown sugar can be used. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses so your brown sugar cookies will be softer with a richer flavor.
Chill your dough: This dough is chilled twice. Once before cutting into shapes and then once again while waiting for the oven to preheat. A cold brown sugar shortbread cookie dough keeps its shape better and results in the best buttery, crumbly texture.

Make Ahead, Storing and Freezing

Make ahead: To make ahead shortbread cookie dough, divide dough into 2-3 even portions, wrap in plastic wrap and then store in the refrigerator up to 2 days before baking. You can also store in a freezer safe bag for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then cut and bake as directed.

Store baked cookies: After cooling completely, place brown sugar shortbread cookies in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to a week.

Freeze baked shortbread cookies: Place shortbreads in a freeze safe bag and freeze for up to two months. Thaw and enjoy.

Five brown sugar shortbread cookies stacked.

Recipe FAQs

Why add brown sugar to cookies?

Brown sugar contains molasses which gives cookies a slight caramel flavor as well as the moisture content leads to a softer, chewier cookie. Brown sugar also adds a darker color to the cookie making them different looking than a cookie made only with white sugar.

Is shortbread better with white or brown sugar?

A traditional Scottish shortbread cookie is often just made with caster sugar (or superfine sugar), butter and flour. For a softer, more tender cookie, though, these cookies use brown sugar. You can also use powdered sugar in a shortbread recipe for a melt in your mouth texture.

What is the difference between shortbread and sugar cookies?

Shortbread cookies contain a higher fat content which creates a crumbly, buttery melt-in-your-mouth texture while sugar cookies contain more sugar and other ingredients such as eggs and leavening ingredients.

No! If you don’t have any cookie cutters or don’t have time to roll and cut out cookies, just roll it into a ¼ inch thick rectangle then cut it into squares. Poke holes in the dough and bake. You can also just slice and bake it which just might be the easiest option!

More Cookies Recipes To Try

Soft, sandy, and full of warm brown sugar flavor, these 3-ingredient cookies are as effortless as they are irresistible — if you bake them, let me know how you liked them!