Walnut Cookies Recipe

These walnut cookies are buttery shortbread cookies made with powdered sugar, flour, a little walnut flour, and a raw walnut half pressed into the top of each one. You chill the shaped cookies for 30 minutes, bake them at 325°F for 14 to 16 minutes, and get 16 to 20 cookies with crisp golden edges and a tender, sandy middle.

In the UK you might call them walnut biscuits. Either way, the ground walnuts in the dough are what make them taste of walnut all the way through, not just on top. I bake them for Christmas tins and for afternoon coffee, and they keep for 5 days.

Walnut Shortbread Cookie Amounts and Oven Temperature

• Butter to flour: 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter to 1¾ cups (210 g) flour plus ¼ cup (25 g) walnut flour
• Sugar: ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar, sifted
• Topping: 16 to 20 raw walnut halves, one per cookie
• Chill: 30 minutes on the tray after shaping
• Bake: 325°F (165°C) for 14 to 16 minutes
• Total time: about 1 hour 5 minutes, with 20 minutes of hands on work

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Why Walnut Cookies Use Powdered Sugar and No Egg

This is a shortbread dough, so there is no egg and no baking powder. Nothing makes it puff, which is why the cookies keep their neat round shape and that fine, crumbly bite.

Powdered sugar matters here. It melts into the butter with no grit, and the small amount of cornstarch in it keeps the crumb tender. Granulated sugar would give you a crunchier, more spread out cookie. Use unsalted butter, European style if you can find it. The higher fat gives a richer flavor and a crisper edge.

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How to Grind Walnut Flour Without Making Walnut Butter

Store bought walnut flour works too. Put a small handful of walnuts, about 25 g, in a food processor with a spoonful of the flour from the recipe. Pulse in short 1 second bursts and stop as soon as it looks like coarse sand. The flour soaks up the oil the nuts release, so they grind fine instead of clumping.

Keep going too long and the walnuts turn into a damp paste. That extra oil makes greasy cookies that spread.

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Creaming the Butter for Walnut Cookie Dough

Cream the soft butter and sifted powdered sugar until smooth and pale, then stir in the vanilla. The butter should dent easily when you press it but should not look shiny or greasy. Cold butter leaves the dough crumbly, and melted butter makes the cookies spread.

Whisk the flour, walnut flour, and salt in a second bowl and add them to the butter a little at a time. Mix only until no dry streaks remain. The dough should feel soft, smooth, and hold together when you squeeze it.

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Shaping Discs and Pressing in the Walnut Halves

Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough, roll it into a smooth ball, and flatten it slightly into a thick disc on a parchment lined sheet. Press one raw walnut half gently into the center. Push just enough to make it stick, not so hard that you squash the disc. If the edges crack, pinch them back together with your fingers.

Use raw walnut halves, not toasted ones. They toast on top of the cookie while it bakes, and halves that are already toasted can turn dark and bitter before the cookies are done.

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Chilling and Baking Walnut Cookies at 325°F

Put the whole tray in the fridge for 30 minutes and heat the oven to 325°F while it chills. I have skipped the chill out of impatience, and the edges lost their clean shape. Cold butter holds the dough in place long enough for the outside to set.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes. They are done when the edges are just turning golden, the tops are still pale, and the walnut on top smells toasted. Trust the edges more than the timer. Let them sit on the sheet for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a rack. They crisp up as they cool. Dust with powdered sugar once cold, if you like.

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Walnut Flour vs Almond Flour in Walnut Shortbread

I have tested this recipe with both. Walnut flour gives a deeper, almost smoky finish and a slightly darker crumb. Almond flour is milder and lets the butter take over, so the cookie tastes closer to plain shortbread or my almond cookies. Swap them 1 for 1 by weight if that is what you have. For a cookie that tastes clearly of walnut, as in my maple walnut fudge, stay with walnut.

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Crumbly, Spreading or Pale Walnut Cookies

• Dough crumbles and will not roll: the butter was too cold. Knead it for a few seconds with warm hands until it holds.
• Dough is too sticky to shape: the butter was too warm. Chill the bowl for 15 minutes before rolling.
• Cookies spread and lost their shape: the chill was skipped or the walnut flour turned oily. Chill the tray the full 30 minutes.
• Bottoms are dark but tops are raw: the oven runs hot or the sheet is dark. Check with an oven thermometer and use a light colored pan.
• Smaller cookies than expected: balls rolled on the small side give more than 20 cookies. Start checking them a minute or two early.

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Keeping Walnut Cookies Crisp in Christmas Tins

Let them cool completely before you put a lid on them, because trapped steam softens the edges. Store them in an airtight tin or container with parchment between the layers for up to 5 days.

To get ahead for Christmas, freeze the unbaked dough balls without the walnut topping. When you are ready, flatten them, press in the walnut halves, and bake from cold, adding a minute or two if they are still frozen. I write the date and the bake time on the bag so there is no guessing later.

For a holiday cookie box, they sit well next to Christmas butter cookies and pistachio cookies. Any leftover walnuts can go into a candied walnut batch or a pan of walnut brownies.

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Ways to Serve and Change Up Walnut Cookies

Add a handful of mini chocolate chips to the dough for something closer to chocolate chip walnut cookies, or dip half of each cooled cookie in melted dark chocolate. On an autumn table, they go well with baked pears with walnuts or a slice of date and walnut loaf.

Can I use chopped walnuts instead of walnut flour?

Chopped walnuts make a chunkier, less even cookie and can tear the dough when you shape it. Grind them fine instead, about 25 g for the ¼ cup.