Grandma Rachel’s Shortbread Cookies: A Christmas Tradition
Some traditions are loud. Big tables. Full houses. Laughter that spills into the next room.
And some traditions are quiet—careful, measured, held together by memory and love.
Grandma Rachel’s shortbread cookies are one of those quiet Christmas traditions.
That alone might not sound remarkable—until you know this: my Mom is blind.
Baking Grandma Rachel’s Shortbread Cookies by Memory and Feel
She bakes the way she moves through life now—by repetition, by memory, by instinct.
Her measuring spoons are color-coded so she knows which is which. A blue tablespoon. A pink teaspoon. Her cookbook is magnified through a CNIB viewer, the words blown up to four or five inches tall so she can read them. Each step takes time. Each movement requires intention.
Learn more about the CNIB here.
She carefully cuts maraschino cherries into tiny pieces and places them on each cookie, one by one, after shaping the dough and setting it on the baking sheet. It’s slow. It’s painstaking. It would be easier not to.
But she does it anyway.
Why Christmas Baking Traditions Matter
Because tradition matters to her.
And so much of tradition has changed.
The loss of my Dad reshaped everything. Christmas looks different now—split across households, quieter, missing the familiar pull of her incredible Christmas dinners that once brought everyone home. The roles she held for so long have shifted. Some traditions had to be let go.
But this one?
This one stayed.
So she bakes.
She gives.
She loves.
These shortbread cookies are not just cookies. They are muscle memory. They are devotion. They are proof that love adapts when circumstances change—that even when sight is lost, care is not. That even when roles shift, purpose remains.
Grandma Rachel’s Shortbread Cookie Recipe (Shared Word for Word)
I recently called my Mom and asked her for her shortbread cookie recipe—the best shortbread I’ve ever tasted. Not because I was afraid of losing it, but because recipes like this deserve to be shared. They deserve to live on beyond one kitchen, one family, one set of hands.
What follows is her recipe, word for word.
Not polished.
Not modernized.
Just as she makes it.
Grandma Rachel’s Shortbread
- 1 c icing sugar
- 2 c butter
- 3 c flour – add more if needed
- Tsp of vanilla
Work dough by hand, knead until it’s nice and smooth, tear pieces, roll into balls, and press by hand or roll it out and use cookie cutters, you can use parchment or waxed paper with the dough between to roll out
Top with sprinkles, maraschino cherries
Bake 9 minutes
Carrying Forward a Shortbread Cookie Christmas Tradition
Because this is how tradition survives—not by perfection, but by love, memory, and the quiet choice to keep showing up for those you love..
And if you make Grandma Rachel’s shortbread cookies this Christmas, know this:
You’re not just baking shortbread.
You’re carrying forward something tender.
Something human.
Something that matters.
Looking for another fun tradition for family? We do this every year! Winter bubbles – perfect for the cold weather.
Located just outside of Edmonton, Alberta and serving Camrose, Tofield, Sherwood Park, Red Deer, the Rockies and beyond, Carla Lehman Photography is a nationally accredited professional photographer providing full-service luxury photography for portraits, personal brands and entrepreneurs, equine and pet lovers.
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I have many of your mom’s recipe’s that I use often. She is a awesome cook! I won’t eat sweet & sour from a restaurant I will only have it from her recipe.
I love this so much – it’s her legacy – those recipes!