Food Processor Rosemary Shortbread
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A food processor makes this rosemary shortbread recipe effortless. It literally takes five minutes to prepare.
But careful: these are addictive. They’ve got that sweet-salty dynamic, but also a hint of rosemary, a savory touch that might lead you to eat ten of them, as you would a cracker. Try not to do that.
If you’re like me, you won’t want to share these with anyone, but they do make a wonderful gift. According to Melissa Clark’s NY Times article in December 2005, these shortbread cookies are her all-occasion go-to gift:
“A friend’s birthday? A box of shortbread cookies wrapped in colored tissue. A colleague’s dinner party? A hostess gift of a vintage tin filled with shortbreads. The holidays? Many, many bright-hued bags filled with shortbread and tied with ribbons.”
Yesterday, feeling inspired, I fashioned a little package out of parchment paper and cooking twine. Then I tucked two squares inside, made a cute little tag, and wrapped it all up. Later that day, I opened the package and ate the treats. As I said, I didn’t want to share these with anyone.
This shortbread is perfect with a cup of tea in the afternoon, but is delightful any time of the day really. What’s more, it stay fresh for days (though it’ll likely be gone before showing any signs of age).
Holiday season is rapidly approaching — practice making this shortbread now, and you’ll be golden come December.
I love parchment paper. Have you ever tried to tape it, however? Nothing sticks to it. To make this package, I improvised with a hole punch and some cooking twine. Just fold up a piece of parchment paper to the size of your liking, punch holes in the sides, thread any sort of ribbon or string through the holes and make knots on one side. Ta-da! With some cute ribbon, these packages could be really darling.
With this recipe, you just have to be careful not to over pulse the dough. This is about what it should look like:
The dough is still very crumbly when you pat it into the pan.
Food Processor Rosemary Shortbread
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 16 pieces
Description
Source: Melissa Clark of the NY Times
Ingredients
- 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (134 g) granulated sugar
- 1 scant tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary (see photo above)
- 1 teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted cold butter, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 1/2 tsp. honey
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325ºF. In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, rosemary and salt. Add butter and honey, and pulse to fine crumbs. Pulse a few more times until some crumbs start to come together, but don’t overprocess. Dough should not be smooth.
- Press dough into an ungreased (or parchment paper-lined for easy removal) 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes for 9-inch pan, 45 to 50 minutes for 8-inch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cut into squares, bars or wedges while still warm.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
79 Comments on “Food Processor Rosemary Shortbread”
genius idea; very chic, too. if i was more ambitious, i’d set to making those as gift bags for my wedding. several other bloggers have baked rosemary shortbread, always with great reviews — i think it’s about time i try for myself.
cheers,
*heather*
Do you think this would work with thyme? I’m not overly fond of rosemary (so shoot me), but I love thyme.
Shortbread is a favourite around here, also love the cute little gift bags.
Extremely addictive, hauntingly good, insanely simple recipe — I’m converted for life!!!
Can’t wait to try the recipe, the bag is adorable! I use glassine bags in difference sizes (I find on photo supply websites) for baked goodies/candy especially frosted christmas cookies. The bags can be punched with holes for ribbons or folded over with stickers.
I tried these tonight using the cirus variation with lemon peel and they were so good!!! Definitly will make again!
I completely understand your reluctance to use (but mostly to clean) the food processor. This shortbread recipe looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try it! Great packaging too – a cute way to overcome tape’s reluctance to sticking to parchment paper!
Beautiful! I really like the new blog look too.
I have a highly addictive personality and can see myself really loving these. They look amazing. (as does the cute packaging)
I love the idea of this shortbread! It looks fantastic. And the little packages are absolutely adorable!
had some rosemary that wasn’t going to make it much longer and i thought of you, and these! so good! hope you and the fam are well!
I just found your website via OAMM…. love it. I have just printed nearly ten recipes to make in the next week…. and I’m going to adapt these little packages for homemade toffee for the kids daycare teachers…. thank you.
So much fun! This makes me happy. Thanks for writing in.
I don’t have a food processor. Or even an electric mixer.
Has anyone tried these mixed by hand?
Hi Jani — I’ve only made it in the food processor, but I’m sure you could do it by hand or with an electric mixer. People have been making shortbread and pie dough and all of these sorts of things for years prior to all of these inventions, right? I think the key with shortbread is not to overmix it, too, so doing it by hand might be a good method. Do you have a pastry cutter? If not, I think using the back of a fork to blend the butter into the flour will work just fine. Good luck!
Hi Jani, yes you can do it by hand dont overwork the dough, wash your hands in cold water, use your fingertips not the warm palms of your hands. I have done this with lavendar instead of rosemary its gorgeous!
My sweet friend made these for Christmas. They were the most beautiful thing I have tasted in a long time. I adore them.
Scdoring — So happy to hear this. This is one of my all-time favorite recipes as well. I just love it this time of year.
I’ve been on a rosemary kick lately, so when I saw this recipe I had to try it!
Luckily I had everything I needed on hand, and went to work on it right away. We enjoyed it last night after dinner and again tonight.
It has a wonderful herbal flavor without being overpowering and isn’t too sweet. I like my desserts just like that – full of flavor and not so sweet. Perfect!
I’ll definitely be making this again, and I’m sure I’ll try a few other varieties as well! Hubby asked me to pick up some vanilla ice cream for him to have with his shortcake tonight, but I think it’s just right all by itself! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
So happy you made this, Judy! Honestly, this rosemary shortbread is one of my all-time favorites, especially this time of year. I love giving it as gifts — the rosemary makes it a touch unusual, but the sweet-salty dynamic is adored by all. Love that your hubby wanted some ice cream with it…I could totally go for that! Thanks for writing in!
This was my Christmas Baking recipe this year! It was wonderful, and most people loved it once they gave it a try, from the mailman and neighbors to family and friends. Your pictures really helped me get the texture right. I baked it in individual tart pans, and long rectangular tart pans, so popping them out was a snap. Tips: Use 2 T less butter OR measure your flour using the scoop and tap method instead of the fluff and level way. Also when I precut the cookies in the pan as soon as I took them out of the oven, they easily broke apart later and didn’t shatter. Thanks so much, Alexandra, for sharing this recipe!
So happy to hear this Theresa! Thanks for the tips. Love the idea of using tart pans. Happy New Year!
oh my WORD. I will be making these. Rosemary is my favorite herb and I’ve loved it in sweet applications. I make rosemary raisin scones and a lemon tart with a rosemary crust.
Do it! These are one of my favorites.
I cannot even tell you how many times I have made this. It is one of my go to staples. Thanks!! I have it pinned on my Tried It, Love it board on pinterest because so many folks ask for the recipe. Love it so much, I am scared to try other flavor combos.
Makes me so happy! Wonderful to hear this. And I know, there is something so nice about butter + salt + rosemary 🙂
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but I have now made 2 pans in rapid succession – assuming after the first was a fail that I must have mis-measured something. So I made it again – following the recipe EXACTLY -making the citrus one so eliminating the rosemary and honey – and all I get is powder! The first one I barely processed, the second I processed more trying to get it to come together a tiny bit like the picture. I can’t prick it with a fork because it’s like sticking a fork in flour! I’m not a newbie baker, but have to admit I’m a frustrated one! I made sure the butter was very cold and weighed the flour and sugar to be sure they were right. What am I doing wrong??? Help!!!
Okay, I’m back. The Christmas miracle is that the shortbread I took out of the oven (#1) is to die for. Mind you, it looks NOTHING like yours Ali, but it tastes like I thought it would and it’s holding together (which I never thought it would)! Have you made it without the honey? Do you think that could be the difference? Now I have to try the one with the rosemary and honey to see if that’s the difference. But not tonight… 🙂
You might try a few drops of ice water as if you were making pie crust.
I made this as my “office gifts” for Christmas 2013 to rave reviews. I actually had someone say this year,”If you haven’t made my gift yet, I’d LOVE to have some more of that rosemary shortbread”!
It also tends to disappear around the house – even when labeled THESE ARE FOR GIFTS.
Love your site, and refer to it often. Thank you!
Elaine Snow
Birmingham
Hi Alexandra,
Love your recipes/blog.
Could you tell me how you made
the labels for the shortbreads?
thank you!
julie
Hi Julie,
I actually used some Photoshop trickery there. I might have the file somewhere — it was so long ago that I’ll have to look on an external hard drive — and if I find it, I will send it to you, and you can print it out. I just tried looking for the font on myfonts.com but I can’t remember which one I used now. I’ll report back!
i’ve made these for the past 2 christmases and can’t wait to make (and eat!) them again this year! thanks for the amazing, unique, incredibly delicious recipe! they’re truly dangerous.
So happy to hear this, Claire! Dangerous is right. I find these incredibly addictive and impossible to resist. So happy you like them, too 🙂
Can these be made ahead and stored in the freezer? I want to get a lot of baking done ahead of time (or at least I’m hoping I can!).
Also curious if these hold up well in the freezer! I’m in massive prep mode.
Yes, absolutely!
Hi Alexandra,
Like Lindsay, my dough looked absolutely like sand. Final product tasted excellent, but cannot understand why my dough looked so different. I am also wondering why granulated sugar. I have made shortbread for years and it is always with confectioners sugar. Do you think if I just added rosemary to my recipe it would be okay? I like using shortbread pans with designs and this sandy dough never would have worked in my pans. Also, do not see the variation for lemon rind which sounds wonderful. Thanks for a wonderful website full of the best recipes!
Hi Susan! I’m thinking the difference must be in the amount of flour. I’m probably using less flour, but since the measurements aren’t given in weight, it’s hard to know. Do you ever measure flour by weight? I always do now, but I didn’t when I first posted this recipe. Did you see the photo above with the crumbly dough in the food processor? Did that resemble your dough at all? Or was yours much drier?
If I were to make these again, I would use 256 g of flour, just an FYI. Also, I do think you could just add rosemary to your recipe and call it good 🙂 But maybe up the salt a touch? I don’t know how much salt your recipe calls for.
You can find the citrus variation in this post: https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/dining/arts/for-perfect-cookies-add-a-big-dollop-of-blithe-abandon.html
Thank you for the kind words!
How much lemon zest do you use?
I use the zest of nearly a whole lemon.
For anyone scrolling through the comments and wondering whether to make these… what is written above is 100% true.
These are the most dangerous of shortbreads I have ever eaten (I write while biting the corner off yet another square to ‘straighten it up’).
They are that indescribable perfect balance of savory and sweet with the slight surprise of rosemary.
Stop scrolling and make these… they are that good!
Oh Jess! Yay. So, so nice to read this. This is one of my oldest favorite recipes … I still remember the first time my mom made them for me. I thought I was going to eat the entire batch in one sitting. 💕💕💕💕
Ali, I have made these literally dozens of times, always with rosemary, after reading Melissa’s article. This is the absolute favorite which I take to every party. I make two changes: I substitute one-quarter of the wheat flour with rice flour and sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar. Please try it sometime. This is the easiest recipe in my baking repertoire and possibly the best. (I am a former pastry chef, so go figure …)
Pat, this is so interesting! Does the rice flour make them even sandier?? I love that textural trait of shortbread. Also, LOVE the idea of turbinado sugar on top. Will definitely give that a go. Thanks so much for writing!
What can I use instead of rosemary? Not a huge fan. Thanks
Thyme or lemon thyme is really nice. Or just lemon zest. Or nothing!
Made this recipe today for our annual street party Christmas get together and for work Christmas presses. I thought the scant tablespoon of rosemary was such a small amount. However, the flavour gets more intense with time. I live in Queensland Australia and it is hot here now. Went to our Street Xmas party and left the shortbread on the bench to cool in the air conditioning. Had some at the party a the rosemary flavour was just there. Had some 3 hours later when we came back home and it was way more noticeable. Absolutely lovely. Will be making this again that is for sure. Thank you very much for the recipe. It will be a regular whenI am looking for a lovely home made gift to give.
So nice to hear this, Karen! Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of this. I have never thought about the flavor getting stronger with time, but you are absolutely right, and it makes sense. Wishing you a happy happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
Hi Ali
Just before Christmas I made this recipe using fresh rosemary from our garden.
It tastes delicious.
But – the finished product was a bit chewy. Any idea why that might be?
Regards
Peter
Hi Peter! My only thought in regard to a chewy texture would be that it maybe was over processed. Did you use a food processor? And was the dough crumbly when you transferred it to the pan or was it a more cohesive dough?
Hi Ali
Yes – I used a food processor. It was a bit crumbly – but I guess that is really a subjective feeling – an ‘experience’ thing. So, I’m going to try again and ‘pulse less’.
I may also try using some lemon thyme from the garden – once it is big enough to cut.
I’m now off to make some naan bread again – yours is the only recipe I’ve ever found that is as good as the restaurant’s – if not better.
Thank you again for all your lovely recipes.
Sounds good, Peter! Good luck with the next trial. I love lemon thyme in this recipe — I remember the first time I had it in a cookie, and I was blown away. Such a nice surprise.
Great to hear about the naan, too. Thanks so much for your kind words 🙂