Buttery smooth shortbread makes a perfect canvas for the subtle warmth and juicy brightness of pink peppercorns. These pink peppercorn shortbread cookies combine delicate texture with beautifully bold flavor.

pink peppercorn shortbread cookies arranged on a platter have a pale golden color and sparkly sugar finish

When I was growing up, shortbread was strictly a seasonal cookie. My mom would bake batches of satisfyingly square shortbread (my Nana's recipe!) every year around the holidays. They were given as gifts, donated to bake sales, and enjoyed at our family celebrations.

Dense? Yes. Buttery? Yes. Salty? For dessert? Absolutely YES.

These pink peppercorn shortbread cookies are a spicy little riff on the classic. I use a higher proportion of butter for extra richness, and swap out some of the granulated sugar in favor of powdered sugar, giving these cookies a smoother, more delicate bite.

If you have never cooked with pink peppercorns before, this recipe is an excellent entry point! You'll get to know their subtle spice and faintly fruity pink peppercorn scent as you work with this special ingredient.

While I still don't have Nana's shortbread any time of year except for the holiday season, making a batch of these pink peppercorn shortbread cookies is an easy way to sprinkle a bit of shortbread love throughout the year.

ingredients for pink peppercorn shortbread cookies

pink peppercorn shortbread cookies

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Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 21 cookies 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 ¾ sticks salted butter, softened
⅓ cup granulated sugar, plus a bit more for sprinkling
⅓ cup powdered sugar
2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons crushed pink peppercorns, plus a bit more for sprinkling
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or extract)
Flaky salt, as desired for sprinkling

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350℉ and cream the softened butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar together in a large mixing bowl until it is creamy and smooth. This step is what gives your shortbread its delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture instead of a crunchy, crumbly one!
Add the vanilla paste or extract and continue whipping until smooth.
Mix all-purpose flour and crushed pink peppercorns together in another bow. You're just looking to coat the peppercorns in flour here, and help any large clumps to separate so that they distribute evenly throughout the dough.
Pour the flour mixture into the bowl with the butter mixture.
Stir, or continue using your electric mixer on low speed, until the ingredients come together. Take note that this shortbread dough will not come together in a ball like other cookie doughs; instead, you're looking for a clumpy, sandy texture here.
Pour the shortbread dough into a 9"x9" square pan.
Press the dough firmly using a wide, flat spatula, moving from one area to the next. Compress the dough as much as you can here, exerting as much pressure down on the head of the spatula as you can. Keep going until all areas of the dough are pressed and make sure to get along the edges too!
Sprinkle the surface of your shortbread with a light coating of pink peppercorn flakes, flaky salt if you like, and a shower of granulated sugar for crunch and sparkle.
Bake in the preheated oven until the shortbread is lightly golden around the edges, about 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it sit undisturbed for 2 minutes.
Use a thin knife to slice the shortbread into squares or bars as desired. It is important to slice while the cookies are still very warm, as the butter will set up as they cool and be more difficult to get clean cuts. After slicing, let your shortbread cool for another 15 minutes in the pan.
Remove your pink peppercorn shortbread cookies from the pan and arrange on a wire cooling rack to cool completely. If the shortbread still feels soft and difficult to handle, just wait a bit longer before moving it. Enjoy!