Rosemary Shortbread
Updated September 9, 2025
Lisa Nicklin for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted cold butter, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 to 2 teaspoons 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.
Made this recipe from another source, which was basically 1/2 of the above recipe, with 2 tsps of rosemary. Pressed in a pie pan like above. Was about half as thick as the picture. Did not add the honey, but it was sweet without. Super easy and delicious. next time will top with salt flakes.
I have been making rosemary shortbread for several years - it's one of my favorites!. Question: can I double the recipe and bake it in a 9x13" pan? Can have too much of a good thing!
I absolutely love this shortbread! I made it for my friend for Mother’s Day and she and her husband loved it too. So easy. Per notes I cut sugar to 1/2 C, 1 T of honey, and lemon zest, and I ended up using 2 T of rosemary.