The Perfect No-Spread Dough for Wooden Cookie Molds

By combining a specific balance of ingredients, this dough guarantees a crisp embossing and minimal spreading, while maintaining its soft, buttery shortbread texture. It is the perfect recipe to use with our premium wooden cookie molds or stamps.

The Ingredients (Weighed in Grams)

For the most accurate results and a perfectly balanced dough, always use a digital kitchen scale.

400 gr All-purpose flour 
50 gr Cornstarch
200 gr Unsalted butter (minimum 82% fat)
150 gr Powdered sugar
50 gr Egg (1 medium egg)
2 gr Fine salt
3 gr Vanilla Extract (or flavour of choice)

How to Prepare Your Basic Dough for Molded Cookies

Blending the Butter and Sugar Base

Start by bringing your unsalted butter to room temperature and slowly stir it to achieve a creamy consistency. Do not beat air into your butter.

Combine it with the powdered sugar on your countertop or in a large mixing bowl. Using your (washed) hands or a spatula, stir the ingredients together very slowly and gently until a smooth, uniform paste forms.

It is essential to avoid whipping or beating the mixture; keeping air out of the butter base ensures your final embossed cookies will not puff up or lose their intricate shapes in the oven.

Blending in the Eggs and Liquid Flavouring

Once the sugar and butter are smoothly combined, add the vanilla extract and your weighed medium egg. Continue stirring gently until the liquids are fully incorporated and the mixture has a rich, creamy consistency. Taking your time during these first two steps creates the stable foundation needed for crisp, beautiful details later on.

Note: How you combine the butter, sugar, and egg doesn't matter that much. You can adjust the order as desired. The most important thing is that you end up with a homogeneous, smooth mass.

Combining the Ingredients Without Kneading

In a separate bowl, whisk your all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and salt together to create a perfectly uniform blend without lumps. If needed, sift the flour mixture to get rid of any remaining small lumps of flour.

Chill Your Dough

Shape your finished dough into a clean, rectangular block or a smooth cylinder. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to rest. It is highly recommended to leave the dough in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight. This longer resting period allows the ingredients to fully combine and become a more homogeneous whole. This creates a perfectly stable dough that is easy to handle and shape with wooden cookie molds, yielding better baking results. 

Molding and Shaping Your Embossed Shortbread Cookies

When you are ready to prepare your shortbread cookies, remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and let it soften slightly. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to an even thickness of 7mm to 10mm, depending on the depth of your chosen design. Cut your dough to approximately the size of the molds you are going to use.

Dust your premium wooden cookie mold generously with flour. Gently press the dough into the finest details of the artwork first—there is no need to press hard. Flip the mold and dough over, and press firmly against your kitchen surface to complete the embossed impression. Carefully lift the mold to release the formed cookie, then trim the edges with a matching cookie cutter, a knife, or a pastry wheel.

Freezing Your Embossed Shortbread Cookies

Carefully transfer your beautifully shaped shortbread cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If needed, use a little flour to ensure the cookies do not stick, and handle them with care. A bench scraper works perfectly for this.

Place the entire tray into the freezer and let the formed cookies freeze completely solid. I prefer to do this overnight, but for a minimum of 2 hours if you are in a hurry. Allowing the cookies to freeze deeply overnight ensures the intricate pattern on the surface not only hardens from the cold but also dries slightly—similar to how a springerle cookie does—preventing the embossed images from melting immediately once they meet the heat of the oven. 

Baking Your Embossed Shortbread Cookies 

After freezing, transfer the solid cookies directly onto a fresh, room-temperature baking sheet. Place them immediately into a preheated oven at 170°C (340°F) straight out of the freezer and bake for roughly 15-20 minutes. Remove the cookies once you are happy with the color. Let your cookies cool completely. 

Tip: It helps to place your baking sheet high in the oven, close to the top heat. This ensures that the outside of the embossing sets quickly before the butter starts to melt. This often improves the sharpness of the embossing after baking.

A second tip: Use an oven thermometer; the average oven is very unreliable in indicating the actual temperature inside.

While tempting to eat straight away, these cookies are actually at their absolute best after 24 hours, once the rich butter and vanilla flavors have fully matured. To keep them perfectly crisp, store your creations in a container at room temperature. Now, simply share, serve, and enjoy your beautiful home-baked embossed cookies!