High altitude tested, sweet and spicy gingerbread shortbread cookie sticks, drizzled with tart lemon icing. These buttery gingerbread shortbread cookies are a wonderful addition to a Christmas cookie box. And they’re perfect for serving with hot coffee or tea anytime during the winter holidays.
You might also love these recipes for classic almond shortbread cookies, hazelnut shortbread cookies, and maple walnut shortbread.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. The cookie dough comes together in minutes in your food processor, and then you simply press it into a pan before baking.
Ginger + Lemon. One of my favorite flavor pairings in the winter is spicy ginger with tart lemon. They balance each other perfectly, and the lemon icing drizzle is really the perfect finishing touch on these shortbread cookies.
Versatile Presentation. I love making shortbread in different shapes, and the long cookie sticks are such a fun way to present these gingerbread cookies. You could also cut them into diamonds (see my almond shortbread cookies), wedges (see my maple walnut shortbread) or bars (see my hazelnut shortbread). You can even roll out the dough and cut cookies in any shape you like (see my vanilla shortbread cookies for baking tips).
High Altitude Tested. While today’s recipe will work at any altitude since it doesn’t contain any leavening, I develop and test all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Shortbread
- Flour. Use all-purpose flour to give the dough structure and strength.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens the shortbread, while the fine texture makes a more tender cookie than if you used granulated sugar.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the almond.
- Spices. A blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and allspice adds warmth and coziness.
- Butter. A key ingredient in shortbread! The butter is what makes this shortbread tender and rich, with a buttery, crumbly texture.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Milk. You’ll need just a little milk to help moisten the dough and bind it together.
- Molasses. Gingerbread usually contains molasses, which adds flavor as well as moisture to the dough.
Icing
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the icing.
- Meringue Powder. Helps the icing to set and stay hard, rather than soft and sticky.
- Lemon Juice. Thins the icing to a drizzly consistency.
Instructions
Make, Cut and Chill the Dough
- In your food processor, measure the flour, powdered sugar, salt and spices. Pulse several times until well combined.
- With the processor running, drop the butter down the chute, a tablespoon at a time, and process the mixture until moist and crumbly.
- Add the vanilla extract, milk and molasses, and process just until the dough comes together into a dough ball.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and gather any dry floury bits together, shaping the dough into a disk, and lightly dusting it with a little extra flour.
- Lightly brush a 9-inch square baking pan with a little soft butter, then line the pan with parchment paper. The butter will help keep the paper from sliding around, and the paper will allow you to easily remove the baked shortbread.
- Press the dough into the pan in an even layer. Then cut the dough into “sticks” – this is easiest to do with a bench scraper. Be sure to dip the bench scraper in flour in between cuts. First cut the dough in half, then cut each half into 12 sticks, for a total of 24 cookie sticks that are 3/4 inch wide and 4 1/2 inches long.
- Use a toothpick, skewer or cake tester to prick the dough all over – this is called “docking the dough”, and helps prevent it from puffing up as it bakes.
- Refrigerate the shortbread for 30 minutes.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 300 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the chilled shortbread for about 35 minutes, until the top looks golden brown and baked through.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and immediately use your bench scraper to cut the shortbread again. Cool completely in the pan before removing the shortbread.
Icing
- Set the cookie sticks on a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the icing ingredients until smooth and drizzly. Drizzle the lemon icing over the cookies, and let it set for about 30-60 minutes.
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
How should I store gingerbread shortbread?
Store the baked shortbread in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
Are shortbread cookies soft or crunchy?
Shortbread cookies are certainly not crunchy like biscotti, but they are firm, with a crumbly, buttery texture that’s absolutely wonderful.
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Gingerbread Shortbread Cookie Sticks
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Food Processor or Pastry Cutter
Ingredients
Shortbread
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¾ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tbsp light or dark molasses
Icing
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp meringue powder
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
Make, Cut and Chill the Dough
- In your food processor, measure the flour, powdered sugar, salt and spices. Pulse several times until well combined.
- With the processor running, drop the butter down the chute, a tablespoon at a time, and process the mixture until moist and crumbly.
- Add the vanilla extract, milk and molasses, and process just until the dough comes together into a dough ball.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and gather any dry floury bits together, shaping the dough into a disk, and lightly dusting it with a little extra flour.
- Lightly brush a 9-inch square baking pan with a little soft butter, then line the pan with parchment paper. The butter will help keep the paper from sliding around, and the paper will allow you to easily remove the baked shortbread.
- Press the dough into the pan in an even layer. Then cut the dough into "sticks" – this is easiest to do with a bench scraper. Be sure to dip the bench scraper in flour in between cuts. First cut the dough in half, then cut each half into 12 sticks, for a total of 24 cookie sticks that are 3/4 inch wide and 4 1/2 inches long.
- Use a toothpick, skewer or cake tester to prick the dough all over – this is called "docking the dough", and helps prevent it from puffing up as it bakes.
- Refrigerate the shortbread for 30 minutes.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 300 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the chilled shortbread for about 35 minutes, until the top looks golden brown and baked through.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and immediately use your bench scraper to cut the shortbread again. Cool completely in the pan before removing the shortbread.
Icing
- Set the cookie sticks on a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the icing ingredients until smooth and drizzly. Drizzle the lemon icing over the cookies, and let it set for about 30-60 minutes.
- Store the baked shortbread in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
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