Who doesn't love a snack that's both sweet and salty? These Maple Bacon Shortbread cookies are just that - a perfect blend of flavors. The buttery texture of the shortbread cookie dough is enhanced with crumbled bacon bits, and then dipped in a brown sugar bacon maple glaze that's simply irresistible. This treat is the ultimate comfort food.

I adapted my favorite shortbread recipe and the combination was so divine that I can't wait to experiment with more maple bacon recipes that we can enjoy together!

Why you'll love them:

Delicious shortbread, super-fine crumb, and super crispy if you like them that way!
Easy to roll out dough - perfect for cutting shapes for your favorite cookie cutters, perhaps these cute leaves?
Delicious Autumn & winter-inspired flavors. Perfect for game day or your Christmas cookie box.

Tools:

Kitchen aid stand mixer or just a good old-fashioned bowl and hand mixer for mixing your dough
Parchment paper
Sifter for glaze
Rolling pin, try an embossed rolling pin to make them extra pretty!
Cookie cutters or stamps

Maple bacon shortbread ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened unsalted (225 grams)
½ cup confectioners' sugar (60 grams)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ cup corn starch (68 grams)
1 pinch salt
2 cups all-purpose flour (260 grams)
2 tablespoons bacon bits, store-bought, or home cooked and crumbled
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Brown Sugar Maple Bacon Glaze:

¾ cup confectioners’ sugar (90g), sifted
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons bacon bits, finely ground
1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Make a bacon sugar by grinding your brown sugar and bacon bits in a blender, food processor, or by hand with a mortar and pestle.
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, maple bacon brown sugar, and cup of powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and cornstarch until well blended. Sift flour mixture into your creamed butter, you will likely need to use your hands to form a ball. The dough will be somewhat soft.
Cover your dough with plastic or beeswax wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C).
Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ¼ inch thickness.
Cut into rectangles 1 ½x2 inches in size or cut into shapes using a cookie cutter.
Place cookies 1 inch apart on the lined cookie sheets
Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden at the edges.
Cool on wire racks, and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

For the glaze:

Sift confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. Combine and whisk all of the glaze ingredients together until it reaches a spreading consistency. You want a thick glaze, but not so thick that you can't easily spread it on your cookie. Add another teaspoon of milk if needed. Use a spoon or brush to add on your glaze. The glaze will harden at room temperature after several hours, or within 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Our tips for perfect shortbread:

We really love our shortbread here. You might have noticed our growing collection of uniqueshortbreads, like Rose Petal Cardamom Shortbread, Lemon Thyme Shortbread, Pine Needle Shortbread or Orange Rosemary Herbal Shortbread. Here are my top tips for a prefect result.

Choose high quality butter: with so few ingredients, choosing quality butter is essential.
Measure ingredients properly: I know not every home baker is going to want to weigh their ingredients. I blogged for years before even considering it! But, now that I weigh my ingredients, I never make a recipe without grams because just a little too much or too little of any one ingredient can really throw off a recipe. And if I'm going through all the trouble to bake, I want to make sure it comes out just as I expected. Here is a great kitchen scale I recommend.If you don't use a kitchen scale, spoon and level your flour for increased likelihood of accuracy.
Chill before baking...sometimes: This recipe has very specific ratios with less butter so that it doesn't bubble and spread, in my experience, the dough usually doesn't have to be chilled before baking. However, if I've over-handled it or kept it out too long, it still will become very soft and difficult to manage while rolling or cutting shapes. If your shortbread feels too soft, no need to worry. Just pop in the fridge for 20 minutes or so, or until you're ready to bake.
Bake until golden: Despite the recommended baking time, it's best to let the shortbread get slightly golden before removing it from the oven. This ensures they are fully crisp and will continue to harden as they chill for easy handling.

Maple Bacon Shortbread Cookie

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time:10

Cook Time:12

Ingredients

MAPLE BACON SHORTBREAD INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter softened unsalted (225 grams)
½ cup confectioners' sugar 60 grams
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ cup corn starch 68 grams
1 pinch salt
2 cups all-purpose flour 260 grams
2 tablespoons bacon bits store-bought, or home cooked and crumbled
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
BROWN SUGAR MAPLE BACON GLAZE:
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar 90g, sifted
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons bacon bits finely ground
1 Tablespoon 15ml milk, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Maple Bacon Shortbread
Make a bacon sugar by grinding your brown sugar and bacon bits in a blender, food processor, or by hand with a mortar and pestle.
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, maple bacon brown sugar, and cup of powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and cornstarch until well blended. Sift flour mixture into your creamed butter, you will likely need to use your hands to form a ball. The dough will be somewhat soft.
Cover your dough with plastic or beeswax wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C).
Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ¼ inch thickness.
Cut into rectangles 1 ½x2 inches in size or cut into shapes using a cookie cutter.
Place cookies 1 inch apart on the lined cookie sheets
Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden at the edges.
Cool on wire racks, and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Maple Brown Sugar Bacon Glaze
Sift confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. Combine and whisk all of the glaze ingredients together until it reaches a spreading consistency. You want a thick glaze, but not so thick that you can't easily spread it on your cookie. Add another teaspoon of milk if needed. Use a spoon or brush to add on your glaze. The glaze will harden at room temperature after several hours, or within 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bacon cookies, maple bacon recipes, maple bacon shortbread

Servings: cookies

Calories: 169kcal

Author: sarah

Maple Bacon Shortbread Cookies

Why you'll love them: