Peppermint Bark Shortbread Biscuits
This Christmas I’m celebrating the magic that is candy cane peppermint bark. Check out my candy cane peppermint chocolate bark recipe to hear the origin story of my love of the union of white chocolate and candy canes. Shortbread biscuits have a permanent place in my family’s Christmas celebrations, but this year I’ve dressed them up a bit in my peppermint bark shortbread biscuits. I’ve used a few chefy tricks and tweaked the traditional Scottish shortbread recipe so these Christmas shortbread biscuits come out of the oven patisserie-window worthy.
Equipment
- Biscuit trays (rimless preferred)
- Digital scales
- 7cm Round stainless steel cookie cutter
- Large rolling pin
- Baking paper
- cooling rack
- Fine mesh sieve
- Silicone spatula
- Offset spatula
- Bench scraper
- Heatproof microwave-safe bowl
- 16mm Rolling guides or 20 x 20mm hobby wood strips (optional)
- 2 x Silicone baking mats (optional)
- Stand mixer or electric hand mixer (optional)
- Electric spice grinder (optional)
- Tart rings, 7cm x 2cm (optional)
- Professional air mat (optional)
- Piping bag (optional)
- Heat gun or blow dryer
Ingredients
- 345 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 90 g granulated white sugar
- 75 g pure icing sugar
- 375 g all-purpose flour
- 120 g corn flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
- 320 g white chocolate
- 100 g candy canes
Instructions
Make the shortbread dough:
- Weigh 345g room temperature unsalted butter into a stand mixer bowl (or a large mixing bowl) and add 90g granulated white sugar and 75g pure icing sugar.
- Sift the pure icing sugar first so any hard lumps don’t end up in your dough.
- Mix on low with the paddle (or stir with a wooden spoon) just until combined and glossy—this isn’t a “cream until pale” situation.
Add the dry ingredients:
- In a separate bowl, sift together 375g all-purpose flour, 120g cornflour, and 1½ teaspoons table salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in three additions, mixing on low and scraping down the bowl between each.
- Stop when you’re just shy of fully incorporated, then tip the dough onto the bench and bring it together gently into a neat block.
Rest the dough:
- Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (overnight is even better for clean rolling and cutting).
Prep the candy canes:
- For the 220g of white chocolate topping (reserving 100g for piping), blitz candy canes into a fine dust, then measure out 30g for the topping.
- To allow for wastage, start with 45g candy canes while they’re still in their wrappers, unwrap, then blitz to a fine, sand-like consistency using an electric spice grinder (optional), mini food processor, high-speed blender, or a doubled-up Ziplock bag and rolling pin.
- For the décor pieces, keep the candy canes in their wrappers while you break them up, then snip the wrapper open over a container and seal until needed.
Roll the dough:
- Set up two 16mm rolling guides (or improvised guides) and roll the chilled dough between two or silicone mats (or sheets of baking paper) to an even 16mm thickness.
- Slide the rolled dough (still sandwiched) onto a biscuit tray and freeze for about 15 minutes until very firm.
Cut the biscuits:
- Lightly flour a 7cm round cookie cutter and cut the dough into rounds, moving quickly so the dough stays cold.
- Transfer each round to a lined biscuit tray, spacing them well apart so they don’t touch if they spread slightly.
Freeze before baking:
- Freeze the cut biscuits until very firm. This is what keeps the edges neat and the biscuits thick and tidy—exactly what you want for peppermint bark shortbread biscuits.
Bake:
- Preheat the oven to 165°C conventional or 155°C fan forced with the rack in the middle.
- Bake the frozen biscuits for 25–28 minutes (based on 16mm thickness and a 7cm round), until set and lightly golden.
- If using tart rings (optional), bake with the rings on and leave the biscuits in the rings to cool completely before releasing.
Cool completely:
- Cool the biscuits on the tray until fully set, then transfer to a cooling rack. Pop the biscuits into the fridge before frosting them.
Make the white chocolate topping:
- Melt 220g white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in short bursts on medium power, stirring well with a silicone spatula between each burst.
- Stop microwaving when it’s almost melted and let residual heat finish the melt as you stir.
- Let the melted chocolate sit for 5 minutes, stirring every minute or two, then stir in 30g candy cane dust.
- Plate-test a small spoonful: it should hold its shape but still spread smoothly.
Frost the biscuits:
- To frost, spoon a small mound of topping onto each fully cooled biscuit (fridge-cold is even better), then use the spatula to coax it out toward the edges.
- If you’re going for patisserie-perfect, aim for about 15g of topping per biscuit. It’s enough to spread into a neat circle with a clean border of shortbread still showing.
Pipe and finish:
- Melt the remaining 100g white chocolate for piping, transfer to a piping bag (or Ziplock), and drizzle over each biscuit.
- Before the drizzle sets, finish one biscuit at a time with the broken candy cane pieces so they actually stick.
Set:
- Leave the biscuits at cool room temperature (or briefly in the fridge) until the topping and piping are fully set.
Just before you cook with abandon…
Use pure icing sugar: In Australia, “pure icing sugar” is the one you want for peppermint bark shortbread biscuits. Don’t swap in soft icing mixture (the one with cornflour already added) because it changes the texture and can make the biscuit taste a bit flat and powdery.
Why use two sugars: The mix of 90g granulated white sugar and 75g pure icing sugar gives you that classic shortbread snap, but keeps the crumb tender. Granulated sugar brings structure and bite; icing sugar dissolves fast and keeps things finer and more delicate.
Cornflour is the quiet trick: The 120g cornflour softens the texture and helps limit spread in cut-out biscuits by weakening gluten structure, so the edges stay cleaner once baked.
Don’t “cream” like a cake: This isn’t the creaming method where you’re building air. Mix the 345g butter with the sugars just until combined and glossy, then stop. Overworking here heads you straight toward puffier biscuits and less of that tight shortbread bite.
Resting and chilling matters: A proper fridge rest makes the dough easier to roll cleanly, helps the cut edges stay sharp, and you’re far less likely to end up with cracked tops and ragged sides.
Candy cane humidity strategy: If you’re making these Christmas shortbread biscuits in Australian December humidity, don’t prep candy canes early. They start absorbing moisture the minute they’re unwrapped. Blitz the candy cane dust right before you melt the chocolate, and keep the chopped décor pieces sealed until the last minute.
Use real white chocolate: This isn’t the recipe for compound chocolate, melts, buttons, or chips. Your all-butter peppermint bark shortbread biscuits deserve proper baking chocolate so the topping sets cleanly and tastes like it should.
Getting the topping consistency right: The topping should be cool enough to hold its shape but still spreadable. Plate-test a teaspoon: if it stays put and spreads smoothly when nudged, you’re good. If it puddles, it’s too warm; if it drags and tears, it’s too cool. A blow dryer or heat gun can nudge the bowl back into the right zone.
Pop the biscuits into the fridge before frosting: Chilling the baked biscuits firms them up for handling and helps the topping set neatly without slumping.
Flexible shapes and bake times: This peppermint bark shortbread biscuits recipe is flexible—change the cutter shape or size if you like, but thickness is what drives bake time. The 25–28 minutes is based on biscuits rolled to 16mm and cut at around 6–7cm. Smaller or thinner biscuits will bake faster; larger or taller biscuits will take longer. Watch the surface: you want a dry, matte finish with the faintest hint of colour at the edges.
Can be frozen: These peppermint bark shortbread biscuits freeze well. You can freeze the cut out dough in an airtight container (layered with baking paper) for up to 2 months. Also the baked, unfrosted biscuits can be frozen, then thaw at room temperature before frosting and decorating. You can also freeze the fully decorated biscuits, but the candy cane pieces are more likely to turn a little tacky as they thaw, especially in humid weather.
Storage: Store peppermint bark shortbread biscuits in an airtight container with baking paper between layers. Humidity is the enemy here—candy cane will go sticky if left exposed—so keep the lid on and don’t leave them sitting out on a platter for half a day “just to look pretty.” In Australia, the biscuits can stay at room temperature for a day or two, if keeping longer store in the fridge for up to two weeks.