Rosemary Shortbread
Updated Sept. 10, 2025
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2cups all-purpose flour
- ⅔cup granulated sugar
- 1tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1cup (2 sticks) unsalted cold butter, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 to 2teaspoons rosemary, chestnut or other dark, full-flavored honey (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, rosemary and salt. Add butter, and honey if desired, and pulse to fine crumbs. Pulse a few more times until some crumbs start to come together, but don't overprocess. Dough should not be smooth.
- Step 2
Press dough into an ungreased 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan or 9-inch pie pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes for 9-inch pan, 45 to 50 minutes for 8-inch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cut into squares, bars or wedges while still warm.
Private Notes
Comments
Wow! Just made two batches of these. One with the recipe as written and a second with finely diced preserved lemon about (1 tablespoon) instead of rosemary. Gilded the rosemary version with a sprinkle of smoked Maldon sea salt flakes. Used a 15" x 5" oblong tart pan with removable sides resulting in 36 perfect slices per batch. Plan on keeping those that survive kitchen marauders in a tin to serve after dinner with soft blue cheese. Thank you for a winner.
These were absolutely perfect. I will be making these again and again. Make sure to cut while they're warm, but then take them out of the pan once they've cooled. Otherwise they'll crumble.
Made almost exactly per the ingredient list (used 2 tsp maple syrup instead of 1-2 tsp honey), and followed suggestion in the headnote to add vanilla extract. They were perfect! Buttery, a little salty, with wonderful texture and a perfectly balanced and clear rosemary flavor.
One crucial tweak needed: Grease the pan and/or use parchment paper. These stuck when using an ungreased pan as directed.
I did not use any honey and kept the same amount of sugar. I processed the rosemary leaves along with the flour and sugar, without bothering to chop them first. Added the butter, pulsed it, added a big handful of pistachios, pulsed till they were roughly chopped, then the juice of half a lemon and pulsed just enough to bring the dough together slightly. Used parchment to line the 9x9 pan, pressed it in, poked with a bamboo skewer & baked. Check it after 35, went to 45. Perfect!
This has been the most popular thing I have every cooked. I regularly share the recipe. Here is my 10 minute prep method: 1. Pulse rosemary and 1 c. salted nuts w/o peanuts in food processor. Remove. 2. Add flour, sugar (1/2 c.), salt and butter, pulse as directed. No honey used. 3. Return rosemary and nuts to mix, pulse a bit. 4. Put into 9x13 pan, flatten with a drinking glass. 5. Cook about 35 minutes (check). Sprinkle with coarse salt and when done.
Rosemary and Toasted Caraway option (adapted from a Bon Appétit recipe) - 1 tsp toasted caraway seeds (toast in dry skillet 1-2 mins), - 2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary plus whole leaves - 1 egg beaten Once in the pan, brush with egg, sprinkle with course sanding sugar and top with rosemary leaves Maybe reduce the sugar in the recipe (as others have done — to 1/2 cup? To accommodate extra sugar on top. Sophisticated, pretty and delicious!