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5 Ingredient Funfetti Shortbread Bites

Published August 16, 2016. Updated June 18, 2024

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5 Ingredient Shortbread Bites are the easiest festive snack! Crisp and buttery, rainbow-speckled mini shortbread squares. These are fun to make and everyone always loves them! They keep really well, I like to freeze them and put some in my kid’s school lunch.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking ClassyThe Cutest 5 Ingredient Shortbread Bites!

I love these because they’re totally snack-able and indeed totally pop-able, they are perfectly portable, they are easy to make, and only require FIVE ingredients.

They have a longer shelf life than most baked goods and they don’t require refrigeration, they are perfect for holidays (with their customizable sprinkles, you can even find single colors online and mix and match to get the color combo you want).
Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

They are the tiniest, cutest little cookies you’ll ever make, and of course, they are 100% irresistibly delicious (think perfectly buttery, birthday cake-like flavor, and crisp melt-in-your-mouth texture)!

So with all that said are you starting to see that you really need to make these Funfetti Shortbread Bites?? Do it. Everyone including yourself will thank you.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

How to Make 5 Ingredient Shortbread Bites

  • Butter and line a 13 by 9-inch baking dish.
  • Cream butter and sugar in an electric stand mixer until combined. Mix in almond extract.
  • Blend in flour then 2 1/2 Tbsp sprinkles.
  • Press dough into an even layer in the prepared baking dish.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

  • Sprinkle remaining 1 Tbsp sprinkles over top and lightly press into dough. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Preheat oven.
  • Lift dough from the pan using a parchment overhang on all sides. Cut into 1/2-inch squares.
  • Transfer about 1/3 of the cookies to an unbuttered baking sheet*** and scatter cookies out spacing cookies 1/2-inch apart.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

  • Bake in preheated oven for 8 – 12 minutes.
  • Repeat the process with the remaining bites, adding them to a cool baking sheet. Cool completely then transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature.

Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

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Funfetti Shortbread Bites | Cooking Classy

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5 Ingredient Funfetti Shortbread Bites

Crisp and buttery, rainbow speckled mini shortbread squares. These are fun to make and everyone always loves them! They keep really well, I like to freeze them and put some in my kids school lunch. Yield: About 336 itty bitty bites.
Servings: 18
Prep20 minutes
Cook1 hour
Chill30 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Butter a 13 by 9-inch baking dish** and line with 2 sheets of parchment paper (one horizontally and one vertically. I also like to butter between parchment sheets so they stick) leaving a 1-inch over hang on all sides, set aside.
  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer cream together butter and sugar until well combined (not light and fluffy, just well blended). Mix in almond extract. 
  • With mixer set on low speed slowly add in flour and mix until combined (it will take a while and will appear dry and sandy at first but it will start to come together). Mix in 2 1/2 Tbsp of the sprinkles.
  •  Press dough into an even layer in prepared baking dish (I did it with my hands first then used the bottom of a flat measuring cup to help smooth it out). 
  • Sprinkle remaining 1 Tbsp sprinkles over top and lightly press into dough. Chill dough in refrigerator 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Lift dough from pan using parchment overhang on all sides. Cut into 1/2-inch squares using a large sharp knife***. 
  • Transfer about 1/3 of the cookies to an unbuttered baking sheet**** and scatter cookies out spacing cookies 1/2-inch apart.
  • Bake in preheated oven 8 - 12 minutes (keep remaining that aren't currently baking refrigerated). 
  • Repeat process with remaining bites, adding them to a cool baking sheet. Cool completely then transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature.

Notes

  • *Unsalted butter will work great too. Simply whisk in 1/2 tsp salt with the flour before adding if using unsalted butter.
  • **For slightly thicker bites a 9 by 9-inch pan can be used you just won't get quite as many cookies.
  • ***It works best to just cut long rows. Run large knife underneath cookies to help remove them from parchment as needed.
  • ****Don't line pan with parchment or silicone liners. The ungreased sheets give the cookies some traction so they'll spread less.
  • Recipe source: inspired by Land O Lakes
Nutrition Facts
5 Ingredient Funfetti Shortbread Bites
Amount Per Serving
Calories 198 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 6g38%
Cholesterol 26mg9%
Sodium 90mg4%
Potassium 21mg1%
Carbohydrates 24g8%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 315IU6%
Calcium 6mg1%
Iron 0.8mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Shortbread
Author: Jaclyn

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123 Comments

  • Kathy O’Hara

    Today was the third time I made these. I used a hand mixer on low speed. Mixing the ingredients together takes about 15 minutes, until it comes to a uniform texture that is moist, not sandy. It won’t form a ball of dough, but when you pour it into the x 9×13 pan and spread it evenly, you have to press, press, press with your palm and then with the side of a smooth glass or jar for a smooth, even top. After cooling in the refrigerator, they cut easily for placing on the baking sheet.
    It’s very difficult to stop eating them, though!

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      This recipe is better for rolling. Scooped and rolled they would stay domed and not spread out even.

  • Kristen

    I’m so confused about the comments saying the dough texture is too dry. It’s a drier dough than I’m used to, but it’s prefect for making these small bites. I see two potential areas where these commenters might be hitting a wall with the dry dough.
    1. Trust the process. When she says the dough will eventually come together, she means it! Keep your mixer going. Maybe stop to scrape down the sides and bottom once or twice, but give it adequate time to come together. Once it’s mostly combined into a dough consistency, I found it helpful to remove the bowl from my stand mixer and, in the bowl, use my hands to gently press the dough together into one mass before moving the dough to the baking dish.
    2. Make sure you aren’t scooping your flour with your measuring cup. Spoon and level to ensure you aren’t adding more flour than intended. Better yet, use a kitchen scale for consistent results. I find that 300-320 grams of flour produces the best outcome for me.

    If you’ve followed the above advice and it still doesn’t come together (hard to believe, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt!), try adding one teaspoon of milk or cold water. But try to avoid this if you can – if the dough is too moist it will somewhat flatten as it bakes.

  • Annie

    Crumbly dry mess of a dough.
    If it tastes fine, I’d make it with maybe 1-2 TBS less flour so it will be more manageable.
    I’ve made simple shortbread / butter cookies before and none were this crumbly.

  • Tracy Isaacs

    This recipe is so easy to make. I love the buttery flavour and the slight hint of almond extract. These would be perfect to give as Christmas gifts or for bake sales. Not overly sweet, yet they melt in your mouth. Somehow, these may not last long as snacks as they are moreish.

  • Gayle

    Was really following directions carefully due to all the comments here about texture issues. Didn’t help. And was a lot of work getting dough ready to go into the frig. Even tried the freezer trick as well. But it came out at the “lift parchment paper” stage a crumbly mess. So I saved something of this recipe by working hard to roll into balls and smashing down with a fork criss-cross and extending the bake time. Taste fine but too much fuss for what you get, sorry to say.

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