Best Tender and Buttery Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Why You Should Give This Recipe a Try
Shortbread is such an easy, simple treat that I am constantly making new varieties. While my past favorites include, Lavender & Lemon Shortbread, Traditional Irish Butter Shortbread, and Strawberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies, I realized I was missing one important flavor: chocolate! These Best Tender and Buttery Chocolate Shortbread Cookies are the perfect combination of a buttery, tender crumb and just the right amount of chocolate. You can prepare these sweet little treats in a variety of ways – in a shortbread mold, scored into shortbread wedges in a cake pan or, as I did here, as a cut out. Any way you shape them, they are simple and delicious chocolate cookies perfect for gift giving – even if the gift is for yourself.
Some of the best features of this recipe:
Texture: My favorite cookies are bakery butter cookies because of their soft texture. These tender cookies are just about the closest I have come to recreating that same melt-in-your-mouth crumb.
Flavor: Shortbread cookies are always bursting with butter and these are no different. The chocolate is just a lovely addition to an already delicious cookie.
No eggs: This is a great recipe when you want cookies, but realize you are out of eggs.
Versatile: Basic shortbread dough can be transformed into many flavors and shapes. I made these chocolate shortbread cookies with the intention of creating cutouts, but you can also create shortbread fingers, shortbread wedges, or molded shortbread. You can dip your cookies in melted chocolate, add sparkling sugar, or create sandwich cookies with jam. With a little imagination, these serve well as Christmas shortbread cookies.
As always Best Tender and Buttery Chocolate Shortbread Cookies are easy to make with no complicated cooking techniques, no special equipment, and with simple ingredients you can find in any grocery store – maybe even in your pantry!
Recipe Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Optional decoration for the chocolate hedgehogs (pictured here):
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Helpful Tools
- Microwave safe dish
- Fine mesh sieve
- Large mixing bowl
- Dry measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment/electric mixer
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Plastic wrap
- Baking sheet x 2
- Spatula
- Wire rack
- Cookie cutter (s)
Ingredient Notes
Butter: I never use unsalted butter, opting instead to use salted butter and eliminate any added salt.
Dry ingredients: Be sure to sift all of the dry ingredients to create a smooth dough. Cocoa in particular can be very lumpy.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Cut the butter into roughly tablespoon size pieces and add to a microwave safe dish. Heat until melted or nearly melted, about 30 seconds. Set aside.
2. Place a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl. Measure the flour and add it to the sieve, shaking it gently back and forth into the bowl.
3. Measure the cocoa powder and add it to the sieve. Sift the cocoa powder into the flour. Set aside.
4. Add the paddle attachment to a stand mixer.
5. Place the sieve over the bowl of the stand mixture. Measure in the confectioners sugar and sift it into the bowl.
6. Add the melted butter into the confectioners sugar and mix on low until completely combined.
7. Add the vanilla extract to the butter and sugar and mix very briefly until combined.
8. Slowly pour the flour and cocoa into the butter and sugar. Mix on low speed until completely combined.
9. Place a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface. Put the shortbread cookie dough on top and cover with another piece of parchment paper. (Save this paper to line the cookie sheets.)
10. Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick.
11. Place the rolled out dough and the parchment paper onto a sheet pan and place in the refrigerator. Let the dough chill for at least one hour. I often leave the dough in the fridge overnight, but I must then let it warm up slightly before I am able to use the cookie cutters.
12. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
13. Leave the cookie dough on the bottom piece of parchment paper. Cut the dough into the desired shapes.
14. Place the top sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Transfer the cut out cookies to the prepared pan. A spatula or a bench scraper can help you lift the dough up cleanly. NOTE: You can also use silicone mats.
15. Bake until set, about 12-15 minutes. If you are using two pans, be sure to rotate them midway through the baking time.
16. Re-roll the remaining dough and cut out as many shapes as possible. If the dough becomes to warm, return it to the fridge for a few minutes.
17. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
18. I made my hedgehog shortbread cookies by melting 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and spooning it onto the completely cooled cookie in the area of the hedgehog’s spines. I then pressed sliced almonds into the melted chocolate. I recommend decorating one cookie at a time so the chocolate won’t set before you add the nuts.
See the printable recipe card, below, for easy step-by-step directions for making Best Tender and Buttery Shortbread Cookies.
Storage
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. If it is particularly humid, you may want to place them in the refrigerator.
Tips & Tricks
Sifting your dry ingredients is very important. It is the best way of ensuring you have a smooth dough free of lumps.
While rolling dough on a lightly floured surface does help to limit the amount of sticking, I don’t like the added flour mixed with the chocolate color of the dough. Rolling the dough between sheets of parchment paper does usually help with the sticking, but if you are struggling, add just enough flour to the parchment paper to make the process easier.
I totally understand the temptation to roll and cut the dough right away, popping them immediately into the oven. Not chilling the dough, however, means that the cookies may spread in the oven, losing some of the shape. If you don’t have room in the fridge for the baking tray, you can form a flattened circle with the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap. You may need to let it sit out for a few minutes before you are able to roll it out.
If you aren’t into rolling and cutting out dough, you can also bake these in a cake pan. I use a 9-inch pan, spraying it with non-stick cooking spray and placing a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, also spraying the paper. Press the dough in evenly and then score lightly with a fork to create 8 triangles.
Cookies are probably my favorite thing to bake. I almost always have some on hand for a cozy little snack with some tea. Give some of these a try:
Easy Linzer Tart Cookies with Raspberry Filling
Soft Ginger Cookies with Cinnamon Marshmallow Buttercream
Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Salted Maple Frosting
Best Old Fashioned Soft & Chewy Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Best Tender and Buttery Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder baking cocoa
Optional Decorations for Chocolate Shortbread Hedgehogs
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Cut the butter into roughly tablespoon size pieces and add to a microwave safe dish. Heat until melted or nearly melted, about 30 seconds. Set aside.
- Place a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl. Measure the flour and add it to the sieve, shaking it gently back and forth into the bowl.
- Measure the cocoa powder and add it to the sieve. Sift the cocoa powder into the flour. Set aside.
- Add the paddle attachment to a stand mixer.
- Place the sieve over the bowl of the stand mixture. Measure in the confectioners sugar and sift it into the bowl.
- Add the melted butter into the confectioners sugar and mix on low until completely combined.
- Add the vanilla extract to the butter and sugar and mix very briefly until combined.
- Slowly pour the flour and cocoa into the butter and sugar. Mix on low speed until completely combined.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface. Put the shortbread cookie dough on top and cover with another piece of parchment paper. (Save this paper to line the cookie sheets.)
- Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick.
- Place the rolled out dough and the parchment paper onto a sheet pan and place in the refrigerator. Let the dough chill for at least one hour. I often leave the dough in the fridge overnight, but I must then let it warm up slightly before I am able to use the cookie cutters.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Leave the cookie dough on the bottom piece of parchment paper. Cut the dough into the desired shapes.
- Place the top sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Transfer the cut out cookies to the prepared pan. A spatula or a bench scraper can help you lift the dough up cleanly.
- Bake until set, about 12-15 minutes. If you are using two pans, be sure to rotate them midway through the baking time.
- Re-roll the remaining dough and cut out as many shapes as possible. If the dough becomes to warm, return it to the fridge for a few minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
To Decorate Chocolate Shortbread Hedgehogs
- I made my hedgehog shortbread cookies by melting 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and spooning it onto the completely cooled cookie in the area of the hedgehog's spines. I then pressed sliced almonds into the melted chocolate. I recommend decorating one cookie at a time so the chocolate won't set before you add the nuts.
