This recipe for Glazed Campari Shortbread Cookies has been a long time coming. I first started developing these babies months ago. I brought them to a friend's birthday party and they were a huge hit! However, I wasn't totally sold on them yet. something was missing and they weren't quite ready. So I kept testing, got super busy with other projects and then finally finalized the recipe. My goal was to roll them out for Negroni Week, that definitely didn't happen.
These Glazed Campari Shortbread Cookies were inspired by Negroni Week.
So, let's just say these Glazed Campari Shortbread Cookies were inspired by Negroni Week and next year we'll be ready to celebrate with cookies in hand. In the meantime, we can bake batch after batch of these bittersweet, melt in your mouth, pretty in pink shortbread cookies.
Shortbread Cookies are a baking basic that rely on simple ingredients.
- Start with a solid base. These cutie cookies begin with my simple Shortbread Cookie recipe. It's an easy slice and bake cookie shortbread cookie with rich buttery and warm vanilla notes. The perfect cookie base to begin with.
- Quality is key. A basic shortbread cookie recipe needs only flour, butter, sugar and salt. So the quality of ingredients really matter here.
- Butter makes it better. Using a high quality European style butter with a higher fat content will result in melt in your mouth, buttery cookies that are irresistible.
- Pure Vanilla flavor. Again, because the ingredients are minimal, the quality really comes through in a shortbread cookies. Using Pure Vanilla Extract will give these cookies that deep and comforting real vanilla flavor throughout.
I've been calling these Glazed Campari Shortbread Cookies adult orange creamsicle cookies since my first bite.
These creamy, buttery, vanilla
laced cookie base gets an unexpected pop of brightness and a dose of adulthood. It's such a fun twist on a basic. By adding just a few interesting ingredients, the whole spirit of a simple shortbread cookie transforms.
Basic shortbread cookies take on a bittersweet pink persona with a few fun ingredients.
- Fresh orange zest and juice give these shortbread cookies their creamsicle qualities. By adding fresh orange zest to the shortbread cookie dough, they are imbued with brightness. That vibrant flavor is carried through in the orange Campari glaze as well.
- Campari counteracts that nostalgic creamsicle spirit with a dose of adulthood. The pleasant, yet bracingly bittersweet bite of Campari glimmers in both the cookie dough and the glaze. The Campari adds a uniquely layered complexity to the otherwise simple shortbread cookies. It also gives the Glazed Campari Shortbread Cookies their signature sweet soft pink color.
- Sparkling sugar adds extra dazzle to the cookies by providing a crunchy sweetness against the smooth Campari glaze.
Even if it took me months to get this recipe up the blog, this recipe for Glazed Campari Shortbread Cookies was worth the wait. They are easy as can be, an absolutely gorgeous color and have a refined taste, reserved just for adults. Sorry kids, you can stick with my Mini Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes or my Lucky Charms Treat Smore's! But these Glazed Campari Shortbread Cookies for us adults. And we've earned them.
Recipe
Glazed Campari Shortbread Cookies
- Total Time: 38 minutes
- Yield: 40 cookies
Description
These pretty pink, Glazed Campari Shortbread Cookies are made with a creamy, buttery, vanilla laced cookie base. They're brightened up with a bit of orange zest, giving them a classic orange creamsicle flavor. That nostalgic spirit get a dose of adulthood with the bracingly bittersweet bite of Campari in both the cookie dough and the glaze & a crunch of sparkling sugar.
Ingredients
Units
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 medium orange (zested & juiced)
- 2 tablespoons Campari or similar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons Campari or similar
- 2-3 tablespoons sparkling sugar or Turbinado sugar
Instructions
Orange Campari Shortbread Cookies
- With the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on a medium high speed for about 5 minutes, until fluffy, airy and lighter in color. Be sure to stop your mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times so you are sure to incorporate all of the sugar into the butter.
- Add the Campari and vanilla extract and cream until blended.
- With the mixer on a low stir, slowly add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. You don’t want to over-mix here, only mix until things have just come together.
- Turn out the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Gently gather the dough together into a disk by gently patting, not kneading the dough, and pat to flatten the top. Once you have a round disk shape, use a knife or a bench knife to cut directly in half and set aside.
- Clean your work surface with a bench knife, then lay down a sheet of parchment paper. If you have a couple of empty paper towel rolls handy, have them available. Drop one of your dough halves on the parchment paper and use your hands to shape a rough log shape, roll into a smooth log until it is about 1 -1 1⁄2” in diameter (eyeball it to about the size of your empty paper towel roll).
- Wrap the parchment paper around your dough log, lengthwise. Then twist each end of the paper into pigtails in opposite directions (one towards you and one away from you) to form a locking mechanism. With each twist, the dough will compress and becomes smoothed out (think of it like a sausage in a casing). Roll from the center outward until you feel that you have a smooth, cylindrical log.
- Now you can get tricky (optionally) and stuff that dough log into an empty paper towel roll, it should be a snug fit but should slide in and out easily. *The idea behind the paper towel roll is that your dough is going to hold it’s cylindrical shape while it chills instead of having a flat bottom.
- Repeat with second log. Then refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour, if not 2. This allows the dough to set up and hold it’s round shape nicely when baking. *You can also freeze the dough at this point. Just remember to defrost it overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for about an hour before slicing and baking.
- Preheat oven to 325° F.
- Remove dough logs from the fridge and unroll on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, slice the log into 1⁄4” - 1⁄2” thick cookies. You should get about 16-20 cookies per log. Arrange them on a Silpat mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet in a 3 x 4 pattern, evenly spaced.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the bake. They should come out with a golden ring around the edge and be firm to the touch with just a bit of give in the center.
- Allow to cool either right on the trays or on a cooling rack.
Campari Orange Glaze
- Sift the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the Campari and 1 tablespoon or juice from the orange, 1 tablespoon at a time. Whisk until smooth. The glaze should run off of the whisk in a thick flowing ribbon. If the glaze is too thin, slowly whisk in more powdered sugar. If the glaze is too thick, slowly add more Campari or OJ.
- Gently dip the cookies halfway into the glaze, at an angle. Transfer to a cooling rack. Before the glaze has set, while it's still tacky, sprinkle with sparking or turbinado sugar.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Cookies
Liza Saragosa says
On a visual standpoint alone, these cookies are adorable! So easy to make and it makes the cutest gift. I froze them and baked them off the next day. I love this recipe and will make them again and again. Thank you Becky!
Becky Sue says
Yeah buddy! Thanks for the feedback. So glad they worked out for you. Now you've got me all fired up to bake these again ASAP!