Costco Kirkland Signature Butter Shortbread Cookies Review

My absolute favorite time of the year is Christmas and nothing says Christmas more than buttery shortbread cookies! Homemade shortbread is amazing but what about a convenient store-bought version like these Costco Kirkland Signature All Butter Shortbread Cookies? Are they actually made with real butter or just full of unhealthy oils?

Image of a container of Costco Kirkland Signature Butter Shortbread Cookies unopened sitting on a table.

Location in Store

These are located in the bakery section at Costco, right by the Kirkland Signature Ginger Cookies and the Kirkland Signature Christmas Fruit Cake. The item number is 1855174.

Image of a hand holding one Costco Kirkland Signature Butter Shortbread Cookie close to the camera.

Taste

If you like shortbread, you’ll enjoy these. They’re soft, buttery, melt in your mouth and delicious. I don’t even really love shortbread because I’m a chocolate fanatic but I have no problem eating one of these delicious cookies.

Image of a hand holding one Costco Kirkland Signature Butter Shortbead Cookie on it's side with a few bites taken out of it so you can see the center of the cookie.

The shortbread isn’t overly sweet and you can definitely taste that they use real butter. I’d describe them as buttery with a very faint hint of vanilla. They’re baked nicely; I’d say they’re just slightly on the dry side, but that’s typical for shortbread.  If these were covered in chocolate or icing it would be doing the cookies a disservice and ruin the delicious simplicity of the cookie.

Image of one Costco Kirkland Signature Butter Shortbread Cookie sitting on a plate.

Cost

Back in 2019 I paid $9.99 Canadian for a box of 24 Kirkland Signature Butter Shortbread Cookies. Today in 2024, I paid $15.99 Canadian for the same container of cookies. Prices sure have gone up.

Image of 24 Costco butter shortbread cookies sitting in a plastic container with the lid off.

Convenience

The best before date listed on the cookies is a week from when they were packaged. I find these shortbread cookies also freeze really well.

Image of the front label on the cookies showing ingredients, cost and best before date.

They’re a great base for decorating and are a perfect addition to any cookie tray. They pair well with coffee, tea or hot chocolate and I think kids would also really like them!

Nutrition

Calories

One cookie contains 260 calories, 16 grams of fat, 200 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, one gram of fibre, nine grams of sugar and two grams of protein. That’s not a lot of sugar for such a large cookie.

Ingredients

The ingredients list is short and sweet and I’m appreciative that Costco has used butter instead of margarine or lard in these cookies. The shortbread contains milk, wheat and may contain egg, tree nuts, peanuts, soy and sesame.

Image of the ingredients list for the cookies from the front label.

Scoring

Taste: 10/10

Cost: 7.5/10

Convenience: 10/10

Nutrition: 0/10

Overall

Must buy!

These are an awesome shortbread cookie if you can’t find the time or energy to make your own at home from scratch.

FAQ

How many calories in one cookie?

There are 260 calories in one shortbread cookie.

How many cookies do you get for $15.99 Canadian?

There are 24 cookies in the pack.

Are these a hard or soft shortbread?

They’re a softer shortbread with crispy, chewy edges and a soft center.

Have you tried the Costco Culinary Treasures Aioli? What did you think of it? Drop a comment below!


Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).

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7 thoughts on “Costco Kirkland Signature Butter Shortbread Cookies Review”

  1. I liked these for what they are but they aren’t shortbread in my books! They are far too sweet and not buttery enough. No one I know makes shortbread like this but my family is English, so maybe that’s why. I described these to a colleague as ‘if a sugar cookie sat next to a shortbread’ LOL
    But I think they would be fabulous as a basic sugar cookie to decorate as desired! We all liked them as a biscuit with tea at work in the afternoon. I’ll buy them again.

    Reply
  2. Sadly, the 2024 version isn’t as good as in previous years. As a self proclaimed shortbread aficionado 😋, I noticed the flavour was somewhat “off” and the texture too soft. Then, I read elsewhere, in a bid to save money, apparently Costco is now making the cookies, sold in Canada, with USA butter. Which tastes different to our Canadian butter. And that’s one heckuva price increase!
    I won’t be buying them again, for oh so many reasons 😉. My homemade whipped shortbread recipe is yummy, easy and way less expensive!

    Reply
    • I recently asked one of the store bakers at one of the Ottawa Costco stores that very questions! The baker seemed to think they couldn’t get them anymore. He said the cookies would come pre-shaped, ‘raw’ & frozen & were then baked fresh in the store. Here’s an idea! Why doesn’t Costco boxes of these unbaked cookies n their frozen food section much like they sell boxes of croissant. I’m sure this item would be a big seller at Christmas time!

      Reply
    • I recently asked one of the store bakers at one of the Ottawa Costco stores that very questions! The baker seemed to think they couldn’t get them anymore. He said the cookies would come pre-shaped, ‘raw’ & frozen & were then baked fresh in the store. Here’s an idea! Why doesn’t Costco sell boxes of these unbaked cookies in their frozen food section much like they sell boxes of croissant. I’m sure this item would be a big seller at Christmas time!

      Reply

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