Holiday Shortbread Balls (Melting Moments)

Name: Holiday Shortbread Balls
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup butter; 1/3 cup powdered sugar; 3/4 cup cornstarch; 1 cup all purpose flour (spooned, not scooped); ½ teaspoon vanilla; Pinch of salt; 2 Tablespoons butter; 1 cup powdered sugar; ½ teaspoon vanilla; 3 Tablespoons cream (adjust as needed); Sprinkles or other decoration (optional)

By Inger Dec 15, 2023 Christmas, Cookies & Candies, Cooking & Recipes 11 Comments

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Lightly sweet and melt-in-the-mouth, Melting Moments Cookies get a makeover, with pretty holiday sprinkles on top!

It was an old cookie recipe of my mother’s. She made it every Christmas—high rounded cookies topped with pink and green buttercream and a single silver ball.

A classic shortbread cookie (but shaped instead into Shortbread Balls), Melting Moments are buttery and delicious. And they do melt in your mouth!

While Mom always did the standard frosting, I decided to decorate them differently for a change. I’d seen some pretty holiday sprinkles at Michaels which seemed destined for the top of white buttercream.

So today I share with you, my homage to Christmas past.

Recipe History

As probably true for many others, most of my mother’s recipes are unsorted, cut from magazines, or handwritten on index cards and stuffed into old church cookbooks and the like.

And so I resorted to the Wisconsin Electric (now WE Energies) historic cookie books which are always a treasure trove of historic recipes. Available online now, I found the recipe in the 1962 cookbook–complete with the pink and green frosting!

Created in the late 1920s to promote the use of electric appliances, they’ve been published more or less annually since then–and people still line up around the block at distribution events!

Image source: 1962 Wisconsin Electric “Cooky” Book on website

Now in reviewing this, Mom had made a change herself, I discovered. The originals were flavored with almond and hers were vanilla. Of course, I went with hers.

Why You’ll Love This!

Easy. Mix up a few ingredients, roll into balls and bake for a special treat. How easy is that!

Pretty. I love all of the festive sprinkles out today. They make it so easy to create a pretty cookie without advanced, umm without any decorating skills.

Tasty. Shortbread is meltingly delicious all on its own. Add frosting and it’s even more special!

What You’ll Need

Ingredient Notes

Butter. This adds richness and flavor to the cookies and the icing.
Powdered sugar. This adds sweetness to both the dough and the icing.
Cornstarch. This provides the “melting” quality to the cookies.
All-purpose flour. This is the main ingredient in the cookie dough.
Vanilla. Vanilla adds flavor to the cookies and icing.
Salt. Salt is a flavor enhancer.
Cream. This is used to thin the icing. You can use milk or water instead.
Sprinkles. Optional, for decorating.

Special Tools

No special tools required!

Step by Step Directions

Cream butter with sugar and vanilla.

Combine flour, cornstarch and salt, then mix into butter mixture.

Form into 1 inch balls (chill briefly if needed for workability). Refrigerate balls until chilled.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 375 F for 10 minutes. Cool.

To make frosting, melt butter, then cream with sugar and vanilla. Add cream adjusting if needed to make a spreadable consistency.

Frost cooled cookies and decorate if desired.

How to Serve

Melting Moments would be a delicious dessert or snack, especially with coffee or milk. And don’t forget to consider tea, which would align with the cookie’s Celtic shortbread roots!

Or course they’d also look lovely on a holiday cookie tray!

Now, if you’d like some other cookie tray suggestions that are fun and easy, I can recommend Coconut Dream Bars, Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies or Pecan Pie Cookies.

And if you’re pulling out all the stops for a gorgeous presentation, take a look at my Stained Glass Cookies, Holiday Embossed Gingerbread Cookies or British Brandy Snaps.

Now recently one of my readers mentioned giving away vacuum packed cookie collections for the holidays. Isn’t that maybe the most awesome presentation ever!

Leftovers

Store in a sealed cookie tin or other container at room temperature up to a few weeks.

Tips & FAQs

If you’re in a hurry, you can use a cookie scoop to form the cookies. Just be aware that they won’t be quite as nicely rounded after baking.

Icing is sometimes made without butter, so omitting it is an option for the glaze. But I find that adding a little butter can provide a big flavor boost, so I like to include it.