📌 Easter Egg Shortbread with Strawberry Jam

Posted 29 March 2026 by: Admin #Various

Prep Time

35 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes

Total Time

50 minutes

Servings

4 servings

People see ‘Easter shortbread’ and imagine two hours of baking, flour up to their elbows, and disappointing results. The truth: it’s a dough with no butter to soften, no chilling time, featuring cream cheese inside. Twenty minutes of prep, and the oven does the rest.

Final result — Melting Easter egg-shaped shortbreads, filled with a generous layer of strawberry jam — hard to eat just one.

Placed on a board, they look polished — almost too polished for how simple they are. The dough is a creamy beige, the edges turning a light caramel gold when they come out of the oven. Breaking one between your fingers, it resists for a half-second then gives way cleanly — sandy but not crumbly. And that shiny, bright red strawberry jam glowing through the top biscuit’s opening. The kitchen smells like vanilla and lemon long after the tray is out of the oven.

Why you’ll love this recipe

✓No butter to manage : The recipe uses olive oil instead. No waiting, no temperature to monitor. You pour, you mix, you roll out.

✓A truly forgiving dough : The cream cheese makes it supple and easy to handle. It doesn’t stick, and it doesn’t shrink under the cookie cutter. Even on the first attempt, it holds up.

✓Effortlessly impressive : The egg shape plus the filling visible through the cut-out circle — people will think you spent your whole afternoon on them. You didn’t spend your afternoon on them.

✓The filling is interchangeable : Strawberry jam here, but raspberry, apricot, or hazelnut spread work just as well. The biscuity base accepts everything.

Ingredient Notes

Ingredients

Everything you need for these festive little shortbreads: simple pantry ingredients, good strawberry jam, and cream cheese.

Cream cheese (250 g) : This is what changes everything compared to a classic shortbread. It adds softness and makes rolling easier. Standard Saint-Môret or Philadelphia works perfectly. Avoid liquid style curd cheese — too wet, the dough will be impossible to work with.
Olive oil (80 g) : Yes, in a shortbread. It might sound weird. The result is lighter than with butter, less heavy on the palate. Use a mild oil, not too fruity, so as not to dominate the other flavors.
Icing sugar (70 g) : No granulated sugar here — icing sugar dissolves instantly and gives a finer texture to the dough. If you don’t have any on hand, pulse normal sugar for 30 seconds in a blender.
Strawberry jam (100 g) : Get a jam with chunks if possible. It holds better between the two biscuits and the taste is more present. A jam that is too liquid will overflow during assembly and soften the shortbread within hours.
Lemon juice (1 tbsp) : Small amount, big effect. It balances the sweetness and wakes up the cream cheese. Fresh if possible — for one tablespoon, the difference with bottled juice is minimal, so use what you have.

The dough, in two bowls

In the first bowl, the egg with the two sugars. Whisk until the mixture pales slightly. Then the cream cheese, milk, lemon, oil — all at once. In the second bowl, the flour and baking powder. Pour the liquid onto the dry ingredients and work just enough so the dough is homogeneous. To the touch, it’s supple and slightly sticky, like fresh playdough that’s just been opened. As soon as it’s uniform, stop. Over-kneading a shortbread dough makes it tough after baking.

The cookie cutter trick

A light dusting of flour on the work surface, no more. Roll out to about 3 mm — not too thin (the biscuits would break when moving), and not too thick (they wouldn’t cook well in the center). Use the egg-shaped cutter to make clean cuts in the cold dough. For half of the pieces, cut a small circle in the center — this is what will allow the jam to show once assembled. Anything round and about 3 cm will do: a wide bottle cap, a small cutter, even a marker cap.

In the oven — and the apartment’s scent changes

180 °C fan oven. 12 to 15 minutes, no more. The biscuits will rise slightly and take on a light golden hue, like wet sand drying. Keep an eye on the last few minutes: they continue to harden as they cool, so if you wait until they are deep gold in the oven, they will be too dry on the tray. Once the edges start to color clearly, it’s time to take the tray out. And let them cool completely before handling — a lukewarm shortbread breaks.

Assembly: quick and easy

On the solid biscuits, place a teaspoon of jam. Don’t be too generous — it will spread under the weight of the top biscuit. Place the windowed biscuit on top, press gently with your palm. The jam rises slightly into the opening, shiny and bright red. A light dusting of sifted icing sugar on top if you want the final effect. They keep for two days in an airtight container — but in reality, they never last that long.

Tips & Tricks

Don’t work the dough more than necessary. As soon as it’s smooth and uniform, put the bowl down. Gluten developing in an over-worked dough creates hard shortbread, not melt-in-the-mouth ones.
Really wait until the biscuits are completely cold before filling. Lukewarm biscuit + jam = soggy biscuit in twenty minutes. It’s a rule, not a suggestion.
You can bake the biscuits the day before and assemble them on the big day. Unfilled, they stay crunchy much longer. Ideal for stress-free prep.

Close-up — The heart of the biscuit: shiny strawberry jam and cream cheese — a simple but irresistible filling.

FAQs

How long do these shortbreads keep?

Two days in an airtight box at room temperature, but it’s best to fill them at the last moment. Unfilled, the biscuits easily last 4 to 5 days in a well-sealed box. Once assembled, the jam starts to soften the dough after 24 hours.

I don’t have an egg-shaped cutter — what can I use instead?

Any oval cutter or a template cut out of thick cardboard will do. For the center circle, a marker cap, a wide bottle cap, or the rim of a liqueur glass work very well.

My dough is too sticky and impossible to roll out, what should I do?

Add one tablespoon of flour at a time until you reach a manageable consistency. The texture of cream cheese varies by brand and can make the dough wetter. A light layer of plastic wrap underneath and on top during rolling also helps a lot.

Can I prepare the dough in advance?

Yes, the dough keeps for 24 hours in the refrigerator well-wrapped. Take it out 15 minutes before rolling so it becomes flexible again. You can also bake the biscuits the day before and fill them the same day — this is actually the best way to organize.

Can I freeze these shortbreads?

Unfilled biscuits freeze very well for up to a month. Layer them flat on a tray, freeze for 2 hours, then transfer to an airtight bag. Thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before filling. Avoid freezing the biscuits once assembled with jam.

Can I replace the cream cheese?

Ricotta (well-drained) is the best substitute — it gives a slightly grainier but equally good texture. Thick Greek yogurt also works. Avoid thin alternatives that destabilize the dough.