Each spring, when magnolia blossoms begin to unfurl, I find myself going completely all-in. These fleeting edible flowers inspire some of my favorite seasonal treats, and this year, many of them have started with a simple homemade magnolia powder made from gently dried petals. It’s what gives these Glazed Magnolia Shortbread Cookies their delicate floral flavor.
These cookies are ultra buttery with a tender yet dense crumb, and rich with a subtle, cardamom-like warmth from the magnolia. The bright blood orange glaze adds the perfect lift without overpowering the magnolia flavor, while lending a soft blush of color that feels almost too pretty to eat.
👉 This recipe is inspired by a beloved shortbread from Tartine Bakery. It’s a recipe I’ve been adapting and reinventing for nearly two decades! You’ll see variations of it all over my blog, from Chamomile Cookies to Chocolate Shortbread.
Why you’ll love these cookies
- Tender, rich, and super buttery with a classic crumbly shortbread texture
- Lovely subtle spice flavor from dried magnolia flowers
- Pretty pink glaze naturally colored by blood orange juice
- Easy to make with only a handful of ingredients
- A fun, simple way to use edible magnolia petals
Recipe overview
⏱️ Prep: ~15 mins • Chill: 30 mins • Bake: 13-15 mins • Total: ~1 hr
🍴 Yield: About 16 cookies, depending on size
💪 Skill level: Beginner
😋 Flavor notes: Ginger, cardamom, rose, blood orange. Pairs well with: Black coffee, chai, vanilla lattes, whipped cream.
A quick note on magnolia powder
Magnolia powder is a key ingredient in this recipe. It’s not something you’ll find in stores, so you’ll need to make it yourself.
To make it, start by harvesting as many magnolia flowers as you can get your hands on. Rinse them gently, pat them dry, and air dry or dehydrate until completely crisp. You can then crumble them into a powder using a mortar & pestle, food processor, or spice grinder. For more information, see my guide on foraging and cooking with magnolia flowers.
How to make magnolia shortbread cookies
True to traditional shortbread, these cookies rely on a simple, luxurious ratio of mostly butter and flour. I make a ton of shortbread cookies in my house, and I rarely glaze them, but for these I couldn’t resist giving them a shiny pink frosting to represent the color of magnolia flowers! Feel free to try them without the glaze if you prefer.
You can find the full ingredients list and detailed recipe instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but here’s a quick step-by-step overview of how to make this recipe:
- Cream the butter. Beat the butter for a minute or two, until it’s super soft and creamy and lump-free, like thick whipped cream.
- Add the powdered sugar & salt. Beat in sifted powdered sugar and salt, mixing until well combined.
- Fold in dry ingredients. Fold the flour and magnolia powder in gently, just until incorporated. The mixture may be a little bit dry. You can gently knead any loose flour in with your hands until it all comes together. Pat the dough into a rough disc shape.
- Roll. Place cookie dough between two pieces of parchment and roll it out until it’s about ½ inch thick.
- Cut out shapes. Use cookie cutters, a biscuit cutter, or a pastry wheel to cut into any desired shapes. Place cookies about an inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Chill. This part is really important! Chill the dough for 20-30 minutes, until solid.
- Bake. Preheat the oven to 325° F and bake cookies until just lightly golden on the bottoms and the tops give a little resistance when pressed, about 13-15 minutes. Let cookies cool completely.
- Glaze & decorate. Whisk the glaze ingredients together in a large bowl. Dip cooled cookies in the glaze, tilting to allow excess glaze to drip off. Alternatively, you could pour the glaze into a piping bag and drizzle it on the cookies. Decorate your glazed magnolia shortbread cookies however you like!
👉 If you don’t have flower-shaped cookie cutters — or simply want to change up the look — no problem at all. This dough is wonderfully versatile and can be shaped into circles, squares, classic shortbread fingers, or any design you like. For inspiration, take a look at my Chamomile Shortbread Cookies for frilly square shapes, my Candy Cap Cookies for simple rounds, or my Chocolate Shortbread for traditional fingers (which is also the easiest shaping method).
Baker’s tips for pro shortbread cookies
Make sure your butter is super soft (but not melty). Soft, fluffy butter with no lumps is what you’re going for. Think of it being the texture of mayonnaise or whipped cream.
Sift your powdered sugar. Again, this will help to prevent lumps. No butter lumps, no sugar lumps, just smooth dense shortbread dough.
Mix flour in gently. Shortbread is meant to be tender, crumbly, and delicate. We don’t want to over-work the gluten. Fold the flour in gently and don’t over-mix.
Don’t skip the chill! Chilling the shaped cookies before baking is absolutely essential to create strong shapes with sharp edges.
Bake lightly. Shortbread is meant to stay pale and tender, not golden brown like many other baked goods. Bake at a low temperature (325° F) and check them often so they don’t over-bake.
Variations & substitutions
Pump up the magnolia: By all means, if you’ve been on a magnolia kick like I have, use more magnolia in these cookies. You can add one or two tablespoons of magnolia syrup to the dough, pulse fresh petals with the powdered sugar before creaming it with the butter, or use magnolia sugar in the dough instead of regular granulated sugar. Flex those creative muscles!
Shape options: Flowers, circles, squares, fingers – shape these cookies however you like. See my tip above under “how to make magnolia cookies” for more info.
Glaze options: I glazed my magnolia cookies with blood orange for two reasons. First, blood orange juice makes a gorgeous pink glaze and I love how that color is a shout-out to the magnolia flowers within the shortbread. Second, its flavor is the perfect complement to the ginger-cardamom aroma of the flowers, but doesn’t overpower them. (I used the same flavor combo in these cinnamon rolls.)
However, I highly encourage you to finish these cookies any way you like. You could go without the glaze entirely and they’d still be lovely. Here are some other options:
- Use milk in place of the blood orange juice for a classic white glaze
- Add a few drops of food coloring to a classic milk glaze
- Substitute the blood orange for another citrus juice (maybe Meyer lemon glaze?)
- Use berry juice or freeze-dried berries to make a raspberry or strawberry glaze
Decoration options: Do anything that makes you happy! I used cherry and plum blossoms because they’re edible, they’re pink, and they look super cute. You could also crumble dried magnolia blossoms on top, use sprinkles, other edible flowers, or drizzles of white chocolate.
Storage & make ahead options
Store magnolia cookies at room temperature. To keep them moist and soft, it’s best to store the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
To freeze the dough: Cut and shape the cookies and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in the freezer. Once frozen solid, move cookies to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen (they may take an extra minute or two to bake).
To freeze baked cookies: Make sure you let the baked cookies cool completely before storing. Store in a freezer bag for up to 2 months and thaw at room temperature.
💡I recommend not glazing and decorating your cookies until the day you’re serving them so they look their best.
More edible flower recipes:
- Magnolia Flower Moscow Mule
- Lemon Fennel Pollen Sugar Cookies
- Vanilla Lilac Snickerdoodles
- Chamomile Shortbread Cookies
- Magnolia Flower Syrup
If you make these Magnolia Shortbread Cookies, I’d love to hear what you think. Please leave a comment & star rating. Thank you so much!
Magnolia Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie cutters/biscuit cutter/pastry wheel optional
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, soft
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 teaspoons dried magnolia powder**
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
Blood Orange Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh blood orange juice
- 1 teaspoon dried magnolia powder
Instructions
- Cream the butter. Beat the 8 oz unsalted butter for a minute or two, until it’s super soft, creamy, and lump-free, like thick whipped cream.
- Add the salt & powdered sugar. Beat in ⅓ cup sifted powdered sugar and ½ tsp salt, mixing until well combined.
- Fold in dry ingredients. Fold the 1 ¾ cups flour and 2 teaspoons magnolia powder in gently, just until incorporated. The mixture may be a little bit dry. You can gently knead any loose flour in with your hands until it all comes together, but avoid vigorous mixing or over-mixing here.
- Roll. Place cookie dough between two pieces of parchment and roll it out until it’s about ½ inch thick. (Don't roll the dough out on a floured surface, we don't want to add any extra flour to these cookies! A silicone mat is another great option.)
- Cut out shapes. Use cookie cutters, a biscuit cutter, or a pastry wheel to cut into any desired shapes. You can re-roll the dough to continue cutting shapes up to 2 more times, but after that it will start to get a bit tough.Place cookies about an inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Chill. This part is really important so the cookies hold their shapes! Chill the dough for 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator or freezer, until cookies are solid.
- Preheat the oven to 325° F
- Bake. Bake cookies until just lightly golden on the bottoms and the tops give a little resistance when pressed, about 13-15 minutes (for flower shapes). Adjust time as needed depending on size and shape of cookies. Let cookies cool completely.
- Glaze & decorate. Whisk the glaze ingredients together in a large bowl. Start with just 2 tbsp blood orange juice. You want a glaze that's thick but pourable. If you need to thicken the glaze, add more sifted powdered sugar, about 1 tbsp at a time. If you need to thin the glaze, add a little more juice, about ½ tsp at a time.Dip cooled cookies in the glaze, tilting to allow excess glaze to drip off. Alternatively, you could pour the glaze into a piping bag and drizzle it on the cookies or simply spoon it over them. Decorate glazed cookies however you like!
Notes
Did you try this recipe?
Be sure to leave a comment below!
