Shortbread V. Sugar Cookies

The shortbread cookies I've had have always been heavier, denser cookies and definitely not as a sweet as sugar cookies.

The primary difference between sugar cookies and shortbread is leavening. Real shortbreads don't have any, which yields a more dense cookie.

A shortbread traditionally contains butter, sugar, flour and sometimes vanilla. If it contains a leavening, it's no longer a "real" shortbread.

Scottish Shortbread

6 oz. plain flour
2oz. caster sugar (granulated)
1 oz. icing sugar (powdered)
2 oz. rice flour
5 oz. butter
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 280°F. In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and the butter. Sift in the flours and salt: work by hand to a stiff dough. Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Form either into a round or into fingers and prick with a fork. Bake in the oven until light golden brown, around 30 - 40 minutes.

Isn't shortbread more dense? The sugar cookies I make are quite a bit lighter than your typical shortbread, that seems to be the difference to me.

Shortbread has more butter. Usually a lot more butter. Yum.

What Christy said. They both use flour, butter, and sugar, but sugar cookies have leavening (eggs and baking powder/soda), which makes them puff a little and makes them lighter.

Sugar cookies are... well... sugarier in taste... proportionally speaking, they have much more sugar than shortbread... in my recipes anyway.

The main difference though, is that sugar cookie dough is like cookie dough. It has egg, and baking soda, and sometimes crème of tartar to keep them stiff for cut-outs. The texture of the cooked cookie is really different than the dough.

Shortbread is pretty much the same cooked as raw... just a bit more stuck together. It's butter, flour and sugar, wadded up and formed... if you eat it before you cook it, it tastes pretty much like the shortbread you're going to get when it's done... slightly wetter... but very slightly.

I like them both, but I'd never settle for one if I was craving the other. To me they're similar in color only!

short bread cookies are made with real butter as opposed to the shortening that sugar cookies use. they are a lot richer in the cookie taste and texture. I love short bread cookies. have to really be careful and not buy many at a time lol.

A final product is influenced by not just the ingredients but also character of each and what proportions are used. More butter and less flour yields a crispier product for example.

I also prefer short bread.

I will decorate sugar cookies, but not actually eat them.