7 Best And 4 Worst Store-Bought Shortbread Cookies To Buy

Shortbread is the one store-bought cookie that makes you feel fancy even if you're just snarfing them down straight from the bag. The buttery richness and sandy crumb are a timeless mix that elevates these mass-produced bakes beyond the realm of the common cookie. Sure, you could fill your afternoon tea tray with Oreos and Teddy Grahams, and maybe your guests would find it amusing. But with store-bought shortbread, you can easily fool them into thinking you know a thing or two about being classy. No need to tell them they're eating Keebler cookies baked by tree elves; that can be your fun little secret.

Some store-bought shortbread options are of a higher caliber than their biscuit brethren, an important distinction to make when shelling out your hard-earned cash for a superior cookie. We loaded up my finest dessert tray (read: plastic party plate) with a selection of shortbread purchased at a variety of retailers to find out which deserve a higher status, and which are better off kept at a lower station. It may seem like an easy recipe to conquer, but not every biscuit is perfect shortbread worthy of the Ted Lasso pink box treatment. While some of these cookies soar, some of them come up incredibly — ahem — short.

With its signature 365 by Whole Foods Market label offering boxes of Butter Shortbread, Whole Foods elbows its way onto the shortbread scene. This is no ordinary knock-off; it's a white-label stand-in that rings up at the same price or more as the national brands. Either Whole Foods is exhibiting a whole lot of nerve by putting itself in the same box as the big guys, or the upper-end retailer knows it has a sleeper shortbread on its hands and isn't willing to lose out when shoppers make the discovery. Which could it possibly be?

The Sleeper Shortbread Theory proves true! 365 by Whole Foods Market provides tasty buttery rounds with fine snap and a crisp crumb. As the name makes no excuses for, there is real butter in the dough, along with cane sugar, flour, and sea salt. It's another simple amalgamation of wholesome ingredients that results in fantastic and finely made shortbread. This box may be closer to the top of the pricing chart, but for discerning shoppers who favor Whole Foods products, 365 is handily available in Whole Foods stores and on Amazon to make shortbread shopping a sweet and easy endeavor.

You can really get your hopes up by trying a shortbread cookie branded as a Happy Belly snack. This Amazon label announces in no uncertain terms that your belly will be made happy by whatever's waiting in the box. Who wouldn't be on the edge of their seat to find out if there's truth in such unsubtle advertising? With a cool 20 cookies knocking around in the package, there's plenty of happiness to be had, if there's any to be had at all. So ... is there?

Nah. It turns out it's not just the price that's been discounted here, but the flavor, too. These sorrowful shortbread rounds run sorely short on buttery goodness, leaving nothing more than a sugar cookie behind. You might crumble some up and add sugar and authentic butter to make an easy pie crust or a crumble to top ice cream if you're looking for a cheap and easy solution to your greater baking needs. But if you're looking to fill your cookie jar with a joyful shortbread experience, you'd best look elsewhere and spend a little more. Even having them zoomed right to your doorstep via Amazon's magical wonder vans won't make the prospect enticing enough to repeat.

No need to blow your whole paycheck on upmarket cookies when Great Value Pecan Shortbread is on the block to offer a lower-priced alternative. At under $3, Walmart gives treat lovers an outlet for their consumption that aims to taste indulgent without being pricey. The tricky bit about Great Value items is that they always taste a little pale compared to the originals they're based on, like food that's been run through a photocopier. Is it possible the in-store brand can rise above its tendency to dilute the deliciousness and offer a shortbread that slaps instead?

Actually, it is possible, and Great Value does it with aplomb. For a bargain-priced slider of shortbread, these cookies come across as plenty flavorful even without actual butter as part of the equation. Perhaps the inclusion of eggs and whey adds richness that would ordinarily be more butter-based. The pecans bring just the right level of crunch to the party without dominating these discs, and who doesn't love a guest ingredient that knows how to stay in its lane? Even if you have more money to spend on your shortbread, Great Value will show you a good time for half the price.

Few cookies carry as sophisticated a name and as polished a pedigree as Lorna Doone. This high-quality shortbread, named for a character in a novel from the 1800s, was the subject of a class-action lawsuit accusing producer Mondelez of misleading the public into thinking the company's butter-less cookies are authentic shortbread. The suit was ultimately dismissed, leaving Lorna Doone in the upper echelon of shortbread instead of being designated a shortbread-like copycat cookie. It's a top-shelf purchase, right down to its position in the cookie aisle; it was literally an overhead reach to grab a box. Now that's prime placement.

But does it belong in such high regard, even as one of the higher-priced options on the list? If you're going to pay $7 or more for shortbread, it had better be a supremely sweet product. Lorna Doone aims high but hits somewhere in the middle, with a nice sandy texture but a flavor that favors wheat over butter. The square-shaped biscuits stamped with the cookie's name makes a nice bite-sized bit, but hopes for a richer experience based on the price and presentation were dashed. And the fact that each four-cookie serving comes wrapped in its own non-biodegradable mylar packet is a disappointment no shortbread could ever overcome.

Of course, the Keebler elves would get in on the shortbread business; what self-respecting tree-based bakery would let such an opportunity slip out of its limbs? Keebler Sandies bring shortbread to the family snack circuit, offering a cartoonish mascot to bridge the gap between the fineness of an upper-crust sweet crisp and the snackability of the whole Keebler cookie line. It's not snazzy like Fudge Stripe Cookies or filled with fun frosting like E.L. Fudge sandwiches. But its head-down humility belies a beautiful shortbread variant that belongs near the top of your shopping list.

Even if the elves in the tree are a food-manufacturing fable, the flavor of these classic Keebler cookies is no fairy tale. Crunch and crumble factor highly into the density, a feeling of sturdiness that keeps the butter flavor firmly in place as you chew. And when you dip them in coffee with a little cocoa stirred in, they emerge tasting like a chocolate birthday cake. They hold up well, too, resisting the urge to fall apart before you can get your next bite. Keebler Sandies may seem like an easily overlooked option, but there's no looking past the enjoyability of this sublime shortbread.

The best thing about Murray Sugar Free Shortbread Cookies, aside from the attempt at providing premium cookies without sugar, is their shape, a fun spritz-like flower form with a hole in the middle that calls to mind holiday treat collections. In a world of square and circular shortbread, Murray clips the edges and tweaks the contours to create a clever, nostalgic biscuit that catches the eye. But does it catch the tongue as well?

Somewhat yes ... but mostly no. The texture of these donut-like delights is harder than expected, as if the dough has been compacted into a mold rather than shot out of a spritz pump. And the flavor has a touch of citrus that seems more orange than lemon, which is a nice touch. It isn't lacking in sweetness, thanks to four different alternative sweeteners; it's just missing character. The overall impact of a sugarless shortbread cookie is that of an experiment that's so close to working, it just needs a few more test runs before it's ready for the world. Maybe Murray jumped the gun and made its attempt to satisfy the sugar-free eaters looking for sensational shortbread.

Using real butter in shortbread rather than oil is what makes the difference between authenticity and not-thenticity, an aspect of Pepperidge Farms Dublin Shortbread. The clever cookie company even features a curl of fresh butter in the photo on the front of the bag. It may be enough to fool looky-loos and distracted shoppers into thinking these cookies are the real shortbread deal, but anyone with a tongue for detail might think twice before picking up an almost-$5 bag containing a dozen cookies.

Well, think twice if you must, but if you're looking for peak shortbread moments, pick up a package and toss it in your cart. These tender biscuits are just about the most finessed version of shortbread on the list. The rustic shape of each ridged biscuit suggests they're handcrafted, though it's easy to imagine a giant contraption cranking them out with rugged edges. Still, having them on your cookie platter would give the impression of a home baked cookie. And if they're just a pantry snack waiting for your shortbread urge to surface, then leave the platter in the China cabinet and eat them straight out of the bag.

From the Scottish tartan packaging to the royal stamp on the label, Walker's Pure Butter Shortbread Fingers tick every box for discerning snackers who know shortbread from Shinola. The fact that you have to stand on your tiptoes at the grocery store to get your hands on a package says a great deal about the esteem in which Walker's is held. But everyone knows you can make a package pretty to disguise a gift that's best returned. Maybe Walker's is just dressed up nicely to throw interference in its shortbread long game.

The truth is so much better than these silly shortbread assumptions! Walker's sticks close to tradition all the way through, from the fundamental recipe of sugar, butter, flour, plus salt (that's literally everything listed on the label) to the sturdy rectangular-shaped sticks of the cookies to the fork-poked holes in the top that make each biscuit look like it was created with loving care. The company also includes an inner cellophane wrapper to help your top-level cookies last longer, giving your treat budget a well-deserved stretch. Buying them less frequently may cut into Walker's profits, but don't let that spoil your shortbread celebration.

You shouldn't be prohibited from enjoying shortbread cookies just because you're watching your sugar intake. Voortman gets it and does its part to present a sugar-free version of classic shortbread that gives cautious eaters the opportunity to enjoy tempting sweets with confidence. It's a thoughtful approach to an otherwise simple recipe that leans heavily on sugar for its charms. But is it possible to remove a core component and end up with a shortbread that doesn't disappoint?

Unfortunately, not in Voortman's case. There's a generous portion doled out in each cookie, nearly the size of a CD, with piped ridges lending a crusty homemade feel that's sure to get your tongue excited. But the lack of flavor that comes from the first bite, the second bite and all bites after that is like a snacker's wild goose chase. You keep chomping down again and again, thinking surely what you're hoping for is just around the corner. But it isn't. Before you know it, you've eaten a whole compact disc-sized cookie without tasting anything but disappointment. The label lists maltitol and acesulfame K as substitute sweeteners, and there's even real egg in the formula, though vegetable oil stands in for butter. Somehow, none of this is enough to keep you from feeling shortchanged by this inferior shortbread.

A grain-free shortbread cookie that gives restrictive eaters a chance to enjoy a high-end treat sounds like an invitation to Dullsville. How can you remove the grain from a flour-based bake and expect to have a qualified success? Haven't the folks at Siete Foods heard that wheat flour is the basis of all beautiful baked goods? Apparently, they apply this no-grain philosophy to all of their creations, reinventing heritage Mexican recipes for the modern snacker. What could possibly be the result of this kind of culinary tinkering result in?

The short(bread) answer: one of the best cookies on the list! These single-bite morsels add cinnamon spice to the usual butter-and-flour mixture with a blend of almond, cassava, chickpea, arrowroot and tapioca flour for a premium cookie everyone can enjoy. Imagine a shortbread biscuit and a snickerdoodle got married and had a baby — this cookie would be the result, the most flavorful elements of both wrapped up in an adorable coin-sized package. At about $5 for 20 or so cookies, it's a prime purchase that may give shoppers a taste of hesitancy. But if specialty treats are necessary to maintain your dietary requirements, Siete Mexican Shortbread is a worthy way to spend your snack money.

Adding lemon to a shortbread cookie is like adding lime to a coconut: Things are bound to get shaken up. With floral zing tossed into its butter thing, Signature Select Lemon Shortbread reaches high for a more flavorful take on the base recipe. Though lemon shortbread cookies aren't exactly a groundbreaking step in the world of packaged treats, they do provide a lowkey upgrade that feels different without being aggressive about it. It's like wearing tube socks with stripes instead of plain-old white tube socks; the difference is notable without going overboard.

So how does Signature Select add distinctive zest to its shortbread selection? Rather than just tossing in a teaspoon of lemon extract, these clever bakers coat the bottom with lemon-flavored candy melts. Each circular cookie also bears an embossed lemon design, imparting a touch of three-dimensional flair that feels refined. And this is from a Safeway and Albertsons store label product—although the company has a legacy of setting a high bar for signature brand creations. With its lemon shortbread cookies, it brings about one of your best bets for flavor-filled enjoyment.

Store-bought shortbread cookies are a relatively restricted list, so I focused on just the straight-up shortbread rather than including one-offs like Keebler Fudge Stripes, which are sometimes lumped in with the purer shortbread creations. I looked for a selection that gave flavor variations that stayed true to the base recipe, using additions like pecans or lemon flavoring. I also aimed for a variety of alternate recipes featuring sugar- and grain-free options; these are usually higher priced and I thought they deserved a taste test to see if they lived up to their price points.

I did a straightforward test to sample the flavor, texture, and overall enjoyability of each shortbread cookie as a stand-alone snack. If I liked what I tasted, I did a second test by dipping the cookie in coffee to see if the experience was repeated, enhanced, or downgraded. With all cookies, I gauged the quality of the ingredients and called out artificial sweeteners and additives that are food-safe but could have an impact on how the shortbread essence comes across. By the end of the experience, I was stuffed with shortbread to the point of napping ... but boy, were the dreams sweet.