Based on the popular television series, these Ted Lasso Biscuits will brighten the day of anybody lucky enough to receive a little pink box of them. These rectangular shortbread biscuits melt in your mouth and are downright addicting.
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Best Ever Shortbread Biscuits Recipe
Admittedly, my husband and I were late to the Ted Lasso scene (it can be found on Apple TV+). While most fans fell in love with it in 2020--when we all needed some good old fashioned heartwarming comedy--my husband didn't want to have to get another streaming channel. But I kept hearing about how everyone loved it, and suggested we start watching it too.
Well, it wasn't until I started my cancer treatment in 2021 that he finally agreed that we definitely needed some cheering up in our lives. And watching Ted Lasso did not disappoint! It brought so much joy to us when the nights felt really dark; especially when fall turned into winter and we felt extra cold, both literally and figuratively.
That winter, while still recovering from chemo, I set out to make Ted Lasso Biscuits, and over time, this is the recipe I developed. I clearly have a soft spot in my heart for this recipe. Originally, I wasn't sure I would share it, but in the end, it's just too delicious not to.
So let's talk about these shortbread biscuits. If you are American like me, you likely might be thinking: how special can a plain butter cookie be? Well, let me just say that one bite is all you need to understand. These cookies are remarkably nuanced in flavor (especially for only having a handful of ingredients in them) with a soft, yet crumbly texture. I'll go into more details about that.
My recipe calls for a bit of an unusual ingredient than most shortbread biscuit recipes call for: almond flour. Almond flour is my go-to secret ingredient in many baked goods. It adds more density to the biscuits, and more flavor.
The biscuit also hovers on the edge of salty. The added salt and the salt in the butter help bring this biscuit to a perfect balance of sweetness.
So, let's get to making it, shall we? The text below offers tons of tips and helpful notes, or you can scroll to the bottom to grab the recipe and get started!
More of a visual person? Check out the video of me making it below, located right above the recipe!
Ingredients Needed
Here is an overview of the ingredients needed for this recipe. I don't usually say this, but because there are so few ingredients in this, I am going to say that there can be no substitutions. If you make a substitute, then the recipe won't be the same, period. And I even have to be specific about the type and brand of butter, because I feel like with a recipe like this, any small tweak will directly change the final outcome. If you do make substitutions, I can't promise it will be quite as life-changing as this recipe is.
- salted Kerrygold butter (I really recommend sticking with this brand. If you can't find it, Plugra will be an equivalent but it must be salted)
- all-purpose flour
- almond flour (unfortunately, this cannot be swapped and still result in the same finished product, so if you have nut allergies I might suggest finding an alternative recipe)
- powdered sugar
- salt
- vanilla extract
Useful Tools to Make this Recipe
Here is a list of some of the primary tools I used in this recipe. You won't necessarily choose to use them all, but they are exactly what I used here. Any links may contain affiliate links.
- electric mixer
- 8" square baking pan
- parchment paper
- small offset spatula
- bread knife (for slicing the biscuits)
- kitchen basics: baking scale, spatula, measuring spoons, etc
The Little Pink Box
In the show, the biscuits are gifted in a little pink box. If you are planning on gifting these and want to package them up, I spent some time looking for the exact size based on what we see on the tv show, and I was not really successful. I did find an approximate size and style on Amazon, though I felt they were a little larger than the ones on the show.
For the photos you see on this recipe, I altered the box and made it a bit smaller to be closer in size to the ones on the tv show, because I wanted to make it look the same!
Behind the Scenes of the Development Process
In the show, when Rebecca, the owner of the soccer team, tries the biscuits, she takes one bite and seemingly melts in her chair with delight at the taste of them. I wanted to make a biscuit like that. A few simple changes to a classic shortbread cookie recipe brought me there.
This recipe began with a quick google search that led me to the "official" Ted Lasso biscuit recipe. I found it on Today, which is just a very plain shortbread cookie recipe. From there, I knew I needed to amp up the flavor, with both the addition of vanilla extract, almond flour and salted butter.
Truly, the butter is key. I tried it with a few different brands but unequivocally the salted Kerrygold butter is essential.
Almond flour introduces a subtle flavor enhancement in both taste and texture that helps create that melt-in-your-mouth bite.
And the additional salt in the recipe, along with the salt in the butter, is what makes these biscuits irresistible.
During development, I played around with the amount of almond flour, salt and the baking time and temperature to get it just right. See more below on baking times, as there is some room for preference in terms of how long to bake them. Of course, I will share what times I think results in the best biscuit.
How to Make Them
Once all the ingredients are gathered, a basic creaming method is used to make the biscuits.
It's important to take the necessary time to cream the butter very well, until it's light in color. An electric stand mixer or a handheld mixer works best. After the butter is creamed, the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt are added in, and whipped until they're also light and fluffy.
Because there is no chemical levener added in to this cookie, the only lifting this cookie gets comes from the creaming of the butter and sugar. While I would describe the cookie as dense, this creaming step adds the necessary lift so that it still feels light.
Once it's creamed, the almond flour and all-purpose flour are mixed in just until they are fully incorporated. Do not overmix at this stage, or they can become tough.
The batter is stiff. I find it's easiest to use a small offset spatula to smooth it into place in the baking pan. Take the time necessary to smooth the dough well into the pan to help remove any air gaps in the batter.
Preparing the Pan
To get evenly baked biscuits, it's best to bake this in a straight sided 8" metal pan. If you bake it in a 9" pan, the biscuits will be slightly thinner and might take less time to bake.
Preparing a parchment paper sling in the metal pan allows for easy removal of the baked biscuits. To do this, lightly butter the pan (so the parchment sticks to the pan) then cut a strip of parchment to fit inside of the pan. I sometimes lay in two strips, but this is optional.
How to Tell When the Biscuits are Done
The key to baking these biscuits is a lower oven temperature to help create that melt-in-your-mouth texture. I also find if you slightly underbake them--in terms of shortbread cookies--it creates a somewhat creamy biscuit. But when I say underbake, I still mean that the cookies are fully baked through, but just not as dry as a traditional shortbread cookie.
I find baking them for 45 minutes at 325ºF until the edges of the biscuits are golden brown to be ideal. This results in the best biscuit, with slightly creamier biscuits cut from the center, and more traditional drier biscuits towards the edges. If you prefer a more traditional, dried-out shortbread ,then I suggest baking them for another 10 minutes, until the top is very golden.
How to Cut the Biscuits
Some recipes call for scoring the biscuits before cutting them, but I find this step unnecessary. All you need to get clean cuts on the shortbread is a good bread knife and properly cooled shortbread.
The biscuits can be cut into whatever size you desired, but I found around 1" by 2.5" rectangle best.
To get it without a ruler I sliced one side of the biscuits into thirds. Then I sliced the opposite side into 8ths (by creating one slice down the middle, and then cutting each half in half, and then each of those halves in half).
Storage
If you thought the biscuits are good one day one, wait until you try them on day two or three! They get even better with age.
The biscuits will keep well for 3-5 days in a covered container at room temperature.
I haven't tried, but I bet they would freeze well too.
More Cookie Recipes
- Oat and Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Easy Anise Cookies (with GF option)
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie Crust
Full Recipe
Ted Lasso Biscuits
Based on the popular television series, these Ted Lasso Biscuits will brighten the day of anybody lucky enough to receive a little pink box of them. These rectangular shortbread biscuits melt in your mouth and are downright addicting. Because there are so few ingredients in this, I am going to say that there can be no substitutions. If you make a substitute, then the recipe won't be the same, full stop. And I even have to be specific about the type and brand of butter, because I feel like with a recipe like this, any small tweak will directly change the final outcome. If you do make substitutions, I can't promise it will be quite as life-changing as this recipe is.
- Prep Time: 00:15
- Cook Time: 00:45
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 24 biscuits
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Bake
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 grams) salted Kerrygold butter, softened, plus an extra teaspoon (see note)
- 1-½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) coarse kosher salt
- ¾ cup (90 grams) powdered sugar
- 1-½ cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (50 grams) fine almond flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Lightly butter a 8” square metal baking pan with a teaspoon of butter (or less). Cut a sheet of parchment the width of the pan and place it inside. This will help remove the biscuits when they’re done.
- Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bottom of the bowl and the beaters halfway through. Add salt, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract and cream for an additional 2 minutes. The butter should be very light in color, and fluffy.
- Add the all-purpose flour and almond flour and mix until fully combined, and then stop. Do not overmix.
- Transfer the biscuit dough to the prepared pan. Using a small offset spatula spread the mixture evenly into the pan, smoothing over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the edges of the shortbread are lightly golden, about 45-55 minutes (see note for guidance on bake time).
- Let cool at least 2 hours before removing from the pan.
- To remove, grab the parchment sling and evenly and carefully pull up to get the biscuits out.
- Place the biscuits on a cutting board. Using a bread knife, slice the biscuits and rectangles, approximately 1” x 2.5”
- Cookies will keep, covered in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3-5 days.
Notes
Have a question or looking for tips? The text written above the recipe is always a great first place to start! This Shortbread Biscuit Recipe was developed with love, and I always include loads of explanations, tips, step-by-step photos and technical advice shared before the recipe.
Weighing your flour is the most accurate way to measure. If you aren't going to weigh it, make sure to spoon it into the cup, and then level it off. If you scoop the flour out with the measuring cup and then level, it could change the outcome of the final product.
The extra butter called for is to butter the pan so that the parchment paper sticks. I call for butter instead of oil because it does melt and contribute some flavor, but it's not absolutely essential to use butter, and certainly don't use Kerrygold for this task. Any butter is fine. Or you can use a touch of neutral flavored baking spray.
I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt in my recipe development (for a variety of reasons). It has larger salt crystals than Morton's kosher salt and fine salt. What this means is that if you use something other than Diamond Crystal, typically you will need to slightly decrease the amount of salt use. However, ¼ teaspoon is such a small amount that I don't think it will make a significant difference in this recipe. If you want to be safer side and you don't use Diamond Crystal you can use a scant ¼ teaspoon of salt.
Recipe adapted from the "Official Ted Lasso Biscuit" found on Today.com
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Preethi
I tried this recipe.taste was too good.will try the chocolate short bread biscuits soon.thank you.
Judy
Can I sub almond flour with regular flour, and add almond extract?
Kelli Avila
Unfortunately, this cannot be swapped and still result in the same finished product. If you still did want to proceed, you'll have to do some experimentation. The almond flour doesn't add almond flavor, but a better texture and more moisture.
MomOfThree
I added some coconut and cinnamon. Baled several batches- some of them light and tender and some of them a litter darker. I preferred the darker ones. Great recipe and they taste just like I imagined they would!
Nabeela Tomko
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I made this last week and they were wonderful.
I want to make it again, this time a bigger batch to share with my family during Christmas. Unfortunately I bought the unsalted Kerry Gold Butter. Will that work or must it be salted?
Kelli Avila
It'll work just fine, just a little less "seasoned". You can add in an extra pinch of salt of you want!
Ruth
Would I double the ingredients to make in a 9"x13" pan, or are there subtle changes to the recipe? 😊
Kelli Avila
I haven't personally tried it---but my instinct says it might not bake up properly in the middle. You could try it! Do you just want to make a double batch or are you attempting this for another reason?
jane Howard
Omg, Kelli, I made these again yesterday, they are exquisite!! Very easy to make.
I was wondering what size of offset spatula you are using in these pictures to spread in the pan. I would love to get one.
Thanks so much,
Kelli Avila
Hi Jane! Here is a link to the spatula!
jane Howard
Thank you!!
Preethi
Hi mam
I am going to do this recipe but please let me know if powdered sugar is icing sugar which has Corn starch added.
Kelli Avila
Yes.
Bonnie
Sooooo good! I declared this year as “Cookie Year” in my house and make a new recipe every week. Made these today and all I can say is Wow! These are the best cookies I’ve made so far this year and will definitely be making them again.