Bourbon Peach Sugar Cookie Shortcakes

A delicious summer peach shortcake dessert made with vanilla bean sugar cookies topped with sweetened mascarpone cheese and bourbon peaches. If classic strawberry shortcake is one of your favorite summer desserts, you’ll love today’s recipe using a soft sugar cookie instead of a biscuit. In place of whipped cream, the mascarpone cheese adds a creamy layer to these mini sugar cookie cakes, and the peaches are juicy and luscious with hints of bourbon and cardamom.

You might also love these mini strawberry shortcakes, high altitude strawberry shortcake layer cake, brown butter peach crumb bars, and peach lattice pie.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Perfect for a Make Ahead Dessert. One of things that’s so great about today’s peach shortcake is that you can prep everything ahead of time. Just keep the peaches and mascarpone ready to go in the fridge, and assemble with the baked sugar cookies when you’re ready to serve dessert.

Easy to Make. Even though you’ll be making the cookies, whipped mascarpone and peach topping, each element is easy to make and comes together quickly. You don’t even have to roll out and cut the cookie dough unless you want to, since I’ve included an option to simply smash the balls of cookie dough for a more casual look to your peach shortcake.

Versatile. If you want a non alcoholic treat, simply leave the bourbon out of the peaches. And if you want to top your sugar cookie shortcakes with blueberries or strawberries instead of peaches, go for it!

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Soft Sugar Cookies

• All-Purpose Flour. Provides structure and strength to the cookie dough.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens the cookies, while the fine texture of the powdered sugar makes a softer cookie than granulated sugar.
• Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness.
• Unsalted Butter. Adds flavor, moisture, richness and fat. As the water in the butter evaporates, the steam creates tiny flaky layers for a very tender cookie.
• Vanilla. Use vanilla bean paste for a beautiful vanilla flavor, or a good quality vanilla extract.
• Milk + Egg Yolk. Moistens the dough to bind it together, while the egg yolk tenderizes the cookie for a softer, chewier texture.

For these sugar cookie peach shortcakes, I used my original sugar cookie recipe, but note that I added an egg yolk to make the cookies a touch softer and chewier.

Mascarpone or Cream Cheese Frosting

• Mascarpone or Cream Cheese. You can use either, although mascarpone is a touch sweeter. I don’t recommend low fat cream cheese, which will taste watery.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens the mascarpone.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.

Bourbon Peaches

• Peaches. Both fresh and frozen peaches work well for the peach topping.
• Sugar. Use granulated sugar to add a touch of sweetness.
• Bourbon. Totally optional, but it adds another depth of flavor. I usually use Jim Beam for baking.
• Cardamom. Complements the flavor of the peaches.

Instructions

Bourbon Peaches

• Cut the peaches into 1/2 inch chunks. In a saucepan, combine the peaches, sugar, bourbon and cardamom. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, and simmer for a few minutes until the liquid becomes syrupy.
• Remove the pan from the heat, cool the peaches to room temperature, then refrigerate until needed.

Mascarpone Cheese

• In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the mascarpone or cream cheese with the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth and creamy.
• Keep the whipped mascarpone in an airtight container in the refrigerator until needed.

Sugar Cookies

• In a bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar and salt.
• Add the pieces of butter, and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is well incorporated with tiny pieces of butter remaining.

• In a small bowl, beat the vanilla, milk and egg yolk together with a fork. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, then use your hands to work everything together into a smooth, supple dough. (You can also make the dough with your food processor, if you prefer. See this sugar cookie post for tips.)

• Divide the dough into 16 equal portions. Roll each portion of dough into a ball, then smash each ball flat with your hands or the bottom of a small plate or glass, to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Chill the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, while you preheat the oven. If you want perfectly shaped cookies, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick, then use a cookie cutter to cut out your cookies. Re-roll the dough scraps and continue cutting cookies until you’ve used up all the dough.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes, just until the dough is baked through, and the bottoms of the cookies are a pale golden brown.
• Cool the cookies for several minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature until needed.

Assembly

• Keep everything stored separately and just assemble the shortcakes when you’re ready to serve them.
• Spread some of the mascarpone onto a cookie, and spoon the peaches on top of the mascarpone. Top with a second cookie, mascarpone and peaches.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this without the bourbon?

Yes, you can just leave it out, or add a splash of water instead if the peaches need more moisture while they’re simmering.

Are the cookies soft, cakey or chewy?

These are not cakey sugar cookies. They hold their shape, and are firm and buttery, but have a soft, chewy bite.

What did you sprinkle on top of the peach shortcakes?

I sprinkled each peach shortcake with a little pure ground vanilla as a finishing touch.

How far in advance can I make everything?

You can bake the cookies and store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. Make the mascarpone and peaches up to 2 days in advance.

How should I store the leftovers?

Keep everything stored separately, with the mascarpone and peaches refrigerated, and the cookies at room temperature. Assemble when you’re ready to serve the shortcakes.

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