No Chill Skor Shortbread Meltaway Cookies
These Skor Shortbread Meltaway Cookies are light, buttery, and filled with crunchy toffee bits in every bite and don’t require any chill time. With just a handful of simple ingredients, they come together easily and make a great addition to holiday cookie trays or an afternoon treat with coffee.
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Two classic treats in one delicious cookie! Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread meets crunchy Skor toffee bits for the perfect mix of rich, caramel sweetness and delicate, crumbly texture. Every bite is packed with that irresistible toffee crunch, and the best part? You don’t need to be a pro baker to make them. You don’t need to be a pro baker for these delicious Gingersnaps, Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies, Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies or these Vegan Funfetti Cookies. They are all super easy!
This is a one-bowl, no-fuss recipe that comes together in minutes—no chilling, no complicated steps, just mix, scoop, and bake. Perfect for holiday cookie trays, afternoon snacks, or when you just need a little something sweet. Easy to make, impossible to resist!
Star Ingredients
- Butter – The backbone to any good shortbread. Be sure to use unsalted butter and bring it to room temperature. It should be firm to the touch, but when you press it with your thumb, it should easily make a dent. Melted butter or butter that is too soft will cause these cookies to spread too thin. The temperature of the butter is key. Room temperature only is necessary.
- Pastry Flour – Less heavy than all-purpose it produces a lighter, flakier crumb that melts in your mouth.
- Powdered Sugar – Finely processed sugar that adds sweetness.
- Cornstarch – Helps to give a little more rise to the cookies but also makes them super tender. The key to these cookies melting away!
- Skor Bits – You can usually find these where you will find chocolate chips or in most bulk food stores. If you have trouble, you can also crush Skor chocolate bars and add a little chocolate to the mix.
What Is A Good Skor Toffee Bit Substitute
The Skor pieces in this recipe can easily be substituted with hard butterscotch candy pieces. When I don’t have toffee bits on hand, I make these cookies with chocolate chips for an equally delicious Meltaway Cookie.
What Is A Meltaway Cookie
This is a question I have been asked many times when I bring these cookies to a party. That is until they taste them and it becomes crystal clear. A meltaway cookie is similar to a shortbread cookie that uses no eggs or liquid. But a meltaway cookie has cornstarch added to it. This magic ingredient that makes all the difference is what gives these cookies that soft, velvety, meltaway texture.
Step-By-Step Made Simple
If You Don’t Eat Them All…
Store the cool baked cookies in a tightly sealed container on the counter for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
You can also freeze the dough and bake it when you are ready. To do this, I wrap the prepared cookie batter in plastic wrap tightly before freezing. Unbaked cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before baking.
No Chill Skor Shortbread Meltaway Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup powdered sugar (2.4 oz)
- 1 ¾ cup pastry flour (8.8 oz)
- ½ cup corn starch (3 oz)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup Skor bits or toffee bits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl beat butter and vanilla together until creamy.
- In a separate bowl add the icing sugar, flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine.
- Gradually stir the flour mixture into the butter batter. Add the Skor bits to the bowl and mix till evenly distributed. If your dough is sticky place cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for a half hour to firm up.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll level tablespoons full of batter into balls and place them on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cookies begin to turn golden on the bottom. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 2 minutes so they won't break apart and then transfer to a cooling rack. Do not let them cool completely on the pan or they will stick.
Video
Nutrition
Notes
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Wish I could give 3.5 stars! Yummy cookies, but similar to other comments…mine didn’t flatten. Used pure butter, softened overnight at room temp. Not sure what happened, but we’re still gobbling them up no problem!
Thanks for the feedback, I have heard this from a few readers so will recipe test it again. There has been some changes to butter these days with more fillers being added so I definitely will be revisiting this week.
I rolled this dough into a log for sliced cookies and refrigerated it for a couple hours. Worked great!
These are great. Delicious! But mine did not spread at all? I wonder why? I used top notch ingredients but they ended up as yummy melt away skor balls! 🙂
Hi Anne, this is strange? Was the butter at room temperature? When measuring the flour did you level the cup off?
This is a good name for these cookies….they melt in your mouth. Made exactly as directed, got 38 cookies.
I have never made shortbread cookies in my life! But this recipe is absolutely amazing I can’t believe how well the cookies turned out they look and taste amazing thankyou for this recipe would not change anything about them! THIS RECIPE IS A MUST TRY!
This is a family favourite so I am thrilled you love them as much as we do!
Have made this recipe for years especially for Christmas baking but wanted to confirm an ingredient amount and found your recipe. Thank you for sharing the allergy information since a friend does have allergies to nuts. Luckily I do always check ingredients before serving something new to them. They are so popular with all who try them I am always asked for the recipe.
Hi Sharon, So happy you stumbled about this recipe and it was what you were looking for!
I have made these cookies probably a dozen times, and they always spread, even after letting them chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. My butter is room temperature and everything is measured correctly. They taste great but look nothing like the picture unfortunately.
Hi Paula, I am going to place bets it is your butter. Either you are using margarine or a spread instead of butter or your room temperature is warmer than a standard 73°F. The butter should not be a blend of any sort and should be just soft enough to press your thumb into with some resistance. If it is too soft or not real butter this would 100% be the reason they would have spread. Hope that helps!
Hi, using regular pure butter, not margarine or any combo. And I leave the butter on the counter overnight so it should be the proper temp.
I always use real butter and it’s always room temp, so I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. The recipe just seems very finicky. But I’ll keep trying, thanks!
Hi Paula,
I would suggest a few things. First, check the texture of your butter. it should still be a little cool and slightly firm but just soft enough easily put an indentation in it but not squishy. If that makes sense. If your butter is too soft this will cause the cookies to spread very thin. You can also pop the cookie dough in the fridge for half an hour before baking to help firm it up but starting with the right texture butter is always best. Hope that helps.
Made as described. Level tablespoon make almost 38 cookies. About one inch balls. Need to correct that. But, they’re great!
Hi Ron, I updated the recipe and nutrition. I must have used a 1 instead of a 3 for 38. Sorry about that!
Is it possible to use this recipe with a cookie cutter?
Tried as listed and was amazing!
Hi Susi, These cookies spread and are soft so I would not recommend using a cookie cutter but if you want a good cookie cutter recipe check out my grandma’s shortbread https://thedeliciousspoon.com/shortbread-cookies/ or these Valentine’s cookie which you can cut into any shape you want and don’t need to stack. You can just cut, bake and decorate with icing https://thedeliciousspoon.com/valentine-cookies/. But I am thrilled you like them just as they are!
I’m just trying out this recipe now and will report back with the results. I’ve never made a cookie with cornstarch and pastry flour, so this is new to me.
Just wanted to post a quick comment on the amount, as I’m pretty sure there is an error somewhere.
You say this recipe makes 18 cookies but you use heaping teaspoons of dough, rolled into balls. I’m assuming this should say tablespoons because I used a 1.25 tablespoon cookie scoop and was easily able to get 26 cookies out of this recipe.
Hi Tyler, I should be more accurate in my measurements for this recipe. For those who follow me know I am not a gadget girl so when I measure a teaspoon of dough I mean the kind out of a drawer which is now I realize not very accurate so thanks for calling this out for me. I will change this to say a level tablespoon and be sure the measure this more accurately next time I make these.
Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it.
I followed the recipe to a T but they didn’t flatten out at all. They stayed in the balls??? Any ideas of what went wrong?
Hi Carla, One of two things is the cause of this usually. Too much flour was used or the dough was chilled for too long. I use pastry flour for all of my cookies which has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour making them lighter and fluffier. If you don’t have cake flour on hand, you can substitute 1 cup of pastry flour for 1 scant (slightly underfilled) cup of all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons of corn starch. Also, when measuring the flour it is important to level it out across the top of the cup to ensure a more accurate measurement. I am not sure if these reasons resonate with your process but hope this was helpful.
These turned out SO GOOD! One too to prevent too much spreading is to pop them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before baking. I will definitely be adding these to my favourites.
Yes, when I find the dough super sticky I usually pop them in the fridge for a few minutes too! I will try and add this suggestion to the recipe instructions so thanks for the idea!
This recipe is bullshit. I followed it to a T, and the cookies all melded together in the oven. Probably should have chilled before baking. Very disappointed.
Hi Ara,
I am sorry your cookies did not turn out and would love to help solve the mystery as I have made these cookies probably made these cookies 100 times in the past and never once had this happen. Can I ask did you use all the flour and was the butter softened and not melted? There are three reasons cookies will spread out too much. When there is not enough flour used and when the butter is already melted and not just softened and when the raw cookies are too big before baking so when they spread they spread into each other. If you want to give them a try again please let me know if you run into the same trouble even after double-checking these few things.
I have made these many times and rarely do they not flatten and fall apart. I LOVE them though and they’re a favorite when they work.
Do you think they would work baked in a pan and cut into squares after?
Are you using a teaspoon worth or larger? They should not spread that much. You could use a pan but you shouldn’t have to. Instead, I would chill the dough for about 15 minutes before rolling into teaspoon size balls. I have updated the recipe to recommend chilling the dough prior to baking.
Same thing happened to me. I think it is the pastry flour? The flour is there but they spread and flattened and fell apart on touch even after letting them cool down.
Hi Simmi, Yesterday I made this recipe once again exactly as written and they turned out perfect. I tried to think of ways things are going wrong for you and others and am convinced that your butter is too soft. And they need to be removed from the pan before they cool down completely or the candy will cool and attach to the sheet pan and then they will break apart when you try and move them. They are delicate cookies but when cooled not more delicate than any other cookie.
I weighed the flour, icing sugar and cornstarch so that I can update the recipe card with the exact measurements but if the butter is too soft they will spread thin. When the butter is too soft this will happen with any cookie. The butter should be room temperature and if you are in a hot place that means firm but soft enough to indent with your thumb when pressed but not so much that your thumb goes straight thru the butter. And definitely do not soften the butter in the microwave. Just leave it on the counter for an hour or a few hours depending on the temperature of your house to soften.
I hope that helps. I will update the recipe card with the weighted measurements as well.
Alisa
What is the difference between pastry flour and AP flour? Will cake flour work?
Hi Barbara,
Pastry flour is a lighter flour with less protein content than all-purpose flour. You can still use AP flour for this recipe just take out 2 tbsp of AP for every cup needed and replace the 2 tbsp with cornstarch. Or if you have cake flour on hand just add an extra 2 tbsp of cake flour for every cup of pastry flour needed. Here is an article I found that you can keep on hand for reference. I love cheat sheets like this! https://www.mybluprint.com/article/use-pastry-flour