These Hawthorn Shortbread Cookies are melt-in-your-mouth tender, with a gorgeous pink glaze made from fresh hawthorn juice. I’ll show you how to turn wild hawthorn berries into a simple, delicious cookie that’s as pretty as it is unexpected.
Insanely tender and buttery, these delicate shortbread cookies have just the right amount of sweetness. The cookies are lightly flavored with lemon zest and vanilla, giving the hawthorn glaze plenty of room to shine. Made with fresh hawthorn juice, the glaze is bright and lightly tart, in a romantic shade of pink.
Throughout my years developing recipes with botanical and wild ingredients, this buttery shortbread base is one I come back to often because it’s so adaptable. It has that classic rich, crumbly texture you want from shortbread, while still being sturdy enough to hold a generous layer of glaze.
If you’ve been wondering what to make with hawthorn berries beyond syrup and jam, these cookies are a fun place to start. They’re simple to make, use just a handful of ingredients, and turn an unusual wild berry into something super approachable.
Recipe highlights
- Tender & buttery: Classic shortbread with a delicate, crumbly texture
- Bright & lightly tart: The unique flavor of wild hawthorn berries
- Naturally pink: Fresh hawthorn juice creates a gorgeous rosy glaze
- Simple ingredients: An easy shortbread base with a few basic pantry staples
- A use for hawthorn: Perfect if you’re wondering what to make with hawthorn berries!
- Great for beginners: An approachable introduction to baking with wild ingredients
Recipe overview
⏱️ Prep: ~30 mins (+ 1 hr chilling time) • Bake: 12-15 mins • Total: ~2 hrs
🍴 Yield: 20-24 cookies, depending on size
💪 Skill level: Beginner
😋 Flavor profile: Buttery, lightly lemon, with a lovely tartness. Pairs well with: Chamomile tea, London Fog latte, cold milk, espresso.
What do hawthorn berries taste like?
Delightfully tart and bright. Similar flavors they remind me of include: green apple, cranberry, and raspberry.
Making hawthorn juice
First things first: the star in this recipe is hawthorn juice, which you can make up to a week ahead. All you need to do is simmer fresh haws with some water until the berries burst and break down, then strain out the pulp and seeds. You’ll end up with a gorgeous bright red juice that’s slightly viscous, rich in pectin and Vitamin C.
For more information about wild hawthorn berries and how to extract their juice, see my guide on using hawthorn berries in desserts.
I highly recommend you make a cup or two of hawthorn juice, and save it to make things like hawthorn curd and apple hawthorn hand pies. You can also use it in drinks the way you’d use cranberry juice. It’s super good for you!
How to make hawthorn shortbread cookies
Find the full ingredients list and detailed recipe instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s a quick step-by-step overview of how to make this recipe:
- Make the cookie dough: Cream together the butter, salt, lemon zest, & vanilla until light and fluffy, then blend in the powdered sugar. Mix in the flour just until a soft dough forms.
- Roll the dough: Pat the dough into a rough disc and roll between two pieces of parchment paper to about ¼ inch thickness.
- Chill briefly: Chill for 15-30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Cut and chill again: Cut into shapes, place cookies at least an inch apart on lined baking sheets, then chill for another 30 minutes. This is important! It helps the cookies hold their shape during baking.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 325° F and bake just until the edges are set and barely golden. Cool completely.
- Make the hawthorn glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and hawthorn juice until smooth and pourable.
- Decorate: Drizzle/spoon the glaze over the cooled cookies. Decorate with edible flowers or sprinkles if you like!
Pro tips for perfect shortbread cookies
Don’t overmix the dough once the flour is added. Shortbread cookies are meant to be ultra tender, which means you don’t want to develop too much gluten when mixing.
Don’t skip the chill! In this recipe, I recommend chilling the dough twice – once before cutting the cookies, and once before baking. This is essential for getting clean, pretty shapes and preventing spreading during baking.
Bake just until the edges are set and lightly golden. Shortbread isn’t a “bake until golden brown” type of cookie. They should be set on the edges, lightly golden on the bottoms, and still pale on top.
Let the cookies cool completely before glazing. If your cookies are warm, the glaze will melt right off of them. You don’t want that!
Similar shortbread cookies
If you love super tender shortbread cookies with floral and botanical flavors, you might want to check out some of these recipes:
- Dandelion Cookies with Strawberry Glaze
- Candy Cap Shortbread Cookies
- Magnolia Cookies with Blood Orange Glaze
- Chamomile Shortbread Cookies
Storage
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Allow the glaze to set completely before stacking any cookies.
The unbaked shortbread cookies also freeze well for up to 2 months. Place shaped cookies in the freezer in a single layer until solid, then transfer them to a freezer bag. Bake straight from frozen, adding an extra minute or two to the bake time.
If you make these Hawthorn Shortbread Cookies, I’d love to hear how they turned out for you! Leave a comment and star rating below.
Hawthorn Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Hawthorn juice*
- 4 cups fresh hawthorn berries
- 2 cups water
- pinch of salt
Shortbread cookies
- 8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, very soft
- ½ teaspoon salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 ¾ cups (220 grams) all purpose flour
Hawthorn glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2-3 tablespoons hawthorn juice
Instructions
- Make the hawthorn juice: Combine cleaned hawthorn berries, pinch of salt, and water in a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmer and cook the berries, stirring often, until they burst and break down, about 15-20 minutes.Pour mixture through a jelly bag or colander lined with cheesecloth set over a large bowl and leave to drip for a while. Once the mixture has stopped dripping and is cool enough to handle, squeeze well to extract as much juice as possible. Discard fruit pulp & seeds. Pour hawthorn juice into a clean jar and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
- Make the cookie dough: Cream 8 oz very soft butter for a minute, until creamy and lump-free. Add the ½ tsp salt, zest of 1 lemon, and 1 tsp vanilla until light and fluffy, then blend in the ⅓ cup powdered sugar. Mix in 1 ¾ cups/220 grams flour just until a soft dough forms.
- Roll the dough: Pat the dough into a rough disc and roll between two pieces of parchment paper to about ¼ inch thickness. (Unless the dough is sticking to the parchment, don't add extra flour. Too much flour can make the cookies tough.)
- Chill briefly: Chill for 15-30 minutes in the refrigerator. This makes it easier to cut nice, clean shapes.
- Cut and chill again: Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, pastry wheel or sharp knife**. Gently move cookies to baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing them at least an inch apart. Chill shaped cookies in the refrigerator or freezer for another 30 minutes. This is important! It helps the cookies hold their shape during baking.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 325° F and bake just until the edges are set, about 12-15 minutes, depending on size. The bottoms should be lightly golden brown but the tops should still be pale. Cool completely.
- Make the hawthorn glaze: Whisk together 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1 tsp lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp hawthorn juice. Add more hawthorn juice as needed until you have a glaze that's smooth and pourable, but still thick enough that it won't run off the cookies.
- Decorate: Drizzle/spoon the glaze over the cooled cookies. Decorate with edible flowers or sprinkles if you like!
Notes
Did you try this recipe?
Be sure to leave a comment below!
