This 4-Ingredient Shortbread So Good, It’s Beloved by Royalty

The very best shortbread cookies are just flour, sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt. So it should be no surprise that Queen Victoria’s favorite shortbread recipe is just that simple and makes for a stunning crisp, buttery cookie.

When I read in Cooking and the Crown by Tom Parker Bowles that the Queen ate these cookies everyday, I knew I had to try them right away. These cookies are perfect for afternoon tea and would make a lovely treat to share with friends or neighbors.

How To Make Balmoral Shortbread

In Cooking and the Crown, Parker Bowles shares this particular shortbread recipe as Balmoral Shortbread and as an adaptation on shortbread that was enjoyed by both Queen Victoria and Edward VII.

It starts with creaming softened unsalted butter and granulated sugar together. A hand mixer or a stand mixer makes quick work of mixing the dough.

Next, you’ll add a pinch of salt and the all-purpose flour in increments. Parker Bowles notes that it is important to not overmix the dough once the flour is added to avoid a tough cookie after baking. You’ll roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness and then stamp it out into two-inch round cookies. After cutting out the rounds, move them to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet for chilling and then baking.

As with most shortbread cookies, you’ll have to “dock” the surface with a fork to ensure they bake evenly. Parker Bowles describes doing this “in a domino pattern with three rows of three dots” which is apparently how it is done in Buckingham Palace.

After docking, sprinkle the cookies with a bit more granulated sugar and refrigerate them for 20 minutes. This is a perfect amount of time to preheat the oven.

The cookies are baked until slightly puffed and then cooled to crispness on a cooling rack. The finished shortbread is sublime—buttery and not too sweet, with the perfect crispy texture. Despite their thin size, these cookies are surprisingly sturdy.

While my family enjoyed them as an after-school snack with tea, the recipe made a lot. We had enough leftovers to pack up a container to share with our neighbors, too, which is how I knew these cookies would make a perfect treat for sharing.

GET THE COOKBOOK: Cooking and the Crown by Tom Parker Bowles