5 Ingredient Funfetti Shortbread Bites

Published August 16, 2016. Updated December 2, 2018

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.

Crisp and buttery, rainbow speckled mini shortbread squares. These are fun to make and everyone always loves them! They keep really well, I like to freeze them and put some in my kids school lunch.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

The Funnest Shortbread Cookies!

I love these because they’re totally snack-able and indeed totally pop-able, they are perfectly portable, they are easy to make and only require FIVE ingredients.

They have a longer shelf life than most baked goods and they don’t require refrigeration, they are perfect for holidays (with their customizable sprinkles, you can even find single colors online and mix and match to get the color combo you want).
Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

They are the tiniest, cutest little cookies you’ll ever make, and of course they are 100% irresistibly delicious (think perfectly buttery, birthday-cake-like flavor, and crisp melt-in-your-mouth texture) !

So with all that said are you starting to see that you really need to make these Funfetti Shortbread Bites?? Do it. Everyone including yourself with thank you.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

How to Make Shortbread Bites

  • Butter and line a 13 by 9-inch baking dish.
  • Cream butte and sugar in an electric stand mixer until combined. Mix in almond extract.
  • Blend in flour then 2 1/2 Tbsp sprinkles.
  • Press dough into an even layer in prepared baking dish.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

  • Sprinkle remaining 1 Tbsp sprinkles over top and lightly press into dough. Chill dough in refrigerator 30 minutes. Preheat oven.
  • Lift dough from pan using parchment overhang on all sides. Cut into 1/2-inch squares.
  • Transfer about 1/3 of the cookies to an unbuttered baking sheet*** and scatter cookies out spacing cookies 1/2-inch apart.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

  • Bake in preheated oven 8 – 12 minutes.
  • Repeat process with remaining bites, adding them to a cool baking sheet. Cool completely then transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

More Shortbread Recipes to Try!

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

16 Quick & Easy 30 Minute Recipes! (plus weekly recipe updates)

4.53 from 23 votes

5 Ingredient Funfetti Shortbread Bites

Crisp and buttery, rainbow speckled mini shortbread squares. These are fun to make and everyone always loves them! They keep really well, I like to freeze them and put some in my kids school lunch. Yield: About 336 itty bitty bites.
Servings: 18
Prep20 minutes
Cook1 hour
Chill30 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Butter a 13 by 9-inch baking dish** and line with 2 sheets of parchment paper (one horizontally and one vertically. I also like to butter between parchment sheets so they stick) leaving a 1-inch over hang on all sides, set aside.
  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer cream together butter and sugar until well combined (not light and fluffy, just well blended). Mix in almond extract. 
  • With mixer set on low speed slowly add in flour and mix until combined (it will take a while and will appear dry and sandy at first but it will start to come together). Mix in 2 1/2 Tbsp of the sprinkles.
  •  Press dough into an even layer in prepared baking dish (I did it with my hands first then used the bottom of a flat measuring cup to help smooth it out). 
  • Sprinkle remaining 1 Tbsp sprinkles over top and lightly press into dough. Chill dough in refrigerator 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Lift dough from pan using parchment overhang on all sides. Cut into 1/2-inch squares using a large sharp knife***. 
  • Transfer about 1/3 of the cookies to an unbuttered baking sheet**** and scatter cookies out spacing cookies 1/2-inch apart.
  • Bake in preheated oven 8 - 12 minutes (keep remaining that aren't currently baking refrigerated). 
  • Repeat process with remaining bites, adding them to a cool baking sheet. Cool completely then transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature.

Notes

  • *Unsalted butter will work great too. Simply whisk in 1/2 tsp salt with the flour before adding if using unsalted butter.
  • **For slightly thicker bites a 9 by 9-inch pan can be used you just won't get quite as many cookies.
  • ***It works best to just cut long rows. Run large knife underneath cookies to help remove them from parchment as needed.
  • ****Don't line pan with parchment or silicone liners. The ungreased sheets give the cookies some traction so they'll spread less.
  • Recipe source: inspired by Land O Lakes
Nutrition Facts
5 Ingredient Funfetti Shortbread Bites
Amount Per Serving
Calories 198 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 6g38%
Cholesterol 26mg9%
Sodium 90mg4%
Potassium 21mg1%
Carbohydrates 24g8%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 315IU6%
Calcium 6mg1%
Iron 0.8mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

Categorized:

Leave a Comment

Rate this recipe




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

118 Comments

  • Alyssa

    I made these about a week or so ago and holy cow, were they yummy! I’m on a medication that makes me crave sugar something fierce so I’m always on the lookout for easy to make sweet treats. The only problem was I ended up eating them way too fast! :P So I’m literally making another batch right now! Just waiting for the dough to set so I can cut it. I would suggest putting the dough in the freezer instead of the refrigerator though. Just refrigerating it didn’t set the dough enough. It kept tearing and smushing whenever I tried to transfer from the parchment paper to the baking sheet so I popped it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes and that did the trick. So this time around I just put it in the freezer in the first place. Thanks for the super cute and super delicious recipe!

  • Jin

    My dough was super dry and sandy too, and only about a third of my dough ended up being squares. The rest I had to hand mould into balls. It also threw me off that the recipe called for salted butter, and the note to add salt for unsalted butter came later. I’ll attempt this combination again but with different proportions.

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      Sorry they didn’t turn out well for you! I wish I could be there to help determine the root of the problem :(. I’d try less flour if you do attempt again.

  • Marsha B.

    These are yummy!!! I will try them next time with vanilla instead of almond extract, just to see the difference, and also because I know people with tree nut allergies. I cut them 1″ instead 1/2″, since I didn’t want to have cookies that tiny for the adults I was making them for. I ended up with 164, and I only ate 3 before I put them away! They were perfect baked at 12 minutes.

  • Amanda

    I’m confused about a step in the directions. Why would I need to butter the baking dish if I’m going to put parchment down AND the cookies are baked on an unbuttered sheet? This step makes no sense to me at all.

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      You are using two different pans. One to form the large dough form you’ll lift out and cut into tiny cookies then the unbuttered baking sheet is to bake the cookies on.

  • Becky Schnarr

    Jaclyn,

    Can these be made ahead of time and frozen for about a week or would they dry out too much?

  • Deepthi Mohan

    Hey, this recipe sounds fun. Can they be mixed by hand? We’re in a student dorm, and we want to make these for a party. But we don’t have the equipment. And can we use normal baking sheets instead of parchment paper?

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      The dough is pretty thick but you could try kneading it by hand when you add the flour. And the parchment paper helps to be able to lift the chilled dough out and cut it.

      • Deepthi Mohan

        Thank you very much. We shall try it and let you know how it turns out :)

        • Deepthi Mohan

          Hey, I tried this recipe. The tiny cookies are so cute. I wish I could send a picture. It was fun to make and is really tasty. I mixed it by hand, it wasn’t too difficult.

          Thanks for a great recipe!!

  • Liz

    This looks like so much fun! I’m planning to freeze mini chocolate chips to use instead of sprinkles.