Walnut Shortbread Cookies with Warm Spices
These walnut cookies use a buttery shortbread dough rather than an egg-white base. Finely chopped nuts give a tender, sandy texture, while a walnut half makes an easy finish. Keep the dough cool and let the baked cookies firm up on the tray before moving them.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 16–20 min
- Yield
- 20 cookies
- Note
- 30 min chilling
In this recipe
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Quantity | From Moayeri |
|---|---|---|
| Soft unsalted butter | 125 g | – |
| Icing sugar | 65 g | – |
| Plain flour | 180 g | – |
| Finely chopped walnuts | 70 g | Shop ingredient |
| Walnut halves | 20 small halves | Shop ingredient |
| Ground cinnamon | ½ tsp | Shop ingredient |
| Ground cardamom, optional | a pinch | Shop ingredient |
| Salt; vanilla extract | a pinch; ½ tsp | – |
Shop ingredients
Products used in this recipe. Follow the quantities above; optional additions are not essential.
Walnut without Shell
In stock
Dried Cardamom
In stock
Method
Make the dough
Beat butter and icing sugar just until smooth, not very fluffy. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, spices, salt and chopped walnuts until the mixture begins to clump.
Chill
Press the dough together gently without kneading. Flatten into a disc, cover and chill for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 170°C conventional or 150°C fan.
Shape and bake
Divide into 20 small balls, flatten to about 1 cm thick and press a walnut half into each. Space on lined trays and bake 16–20 minutes until the edges are pale gold.
Cool gently
Leave on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a rack. The cookies are fragile while hot and become crisp as they cool.
Helpful tips
- Chop walnuts finely with a knife; over-processing can turn them into paste.
- Use cool trays for each batch to limit spreading.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the dough crumbly?
Shortbread starts crumbly. Press it together with your hands; if still dry, add a teaspoon of milk, not a large splash.
Can I skip the topping?
Yes. Keep the chopped nuts in the dough and bake the cookies plain.