Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

9 Comments

5 from 3 votes
24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chilling Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
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Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies are crumbly, buttery cookies with chocolate chunks in every bite. Easy classic shortbread recipe with only 4 ingredients!

Can’t decide between Shortbread Cookies or Chocolate Chip Cookies? With this twist on a classic Christmas Cookie you can have both in one bite!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies in stack

CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Forget Butter Cookies or Classic Shortbread, these are about to be your new favorite cookie for Christmas! These shortbread cookies with a chocolatey twist are so easy you could make them by hand if you wanted. A hand mixer or stand mixer makes creaming the butter and sugar super quick, but a whisk or wooden spoon work just as well.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies start with our 3 ingredient shortbread recipe and load them up with mini chocolate chips. Flour, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and chocolate are all you need to make delicious, melt-in-your-mouth buttery chocolate chip cookies.

Unlike our original shortbread cookies, these cookies are chilled before baking so they hold together. You can cut them into rounds, use cookie cutters, or a cookie press to shape them. Cut them into bars for perfect Cookie Dippers!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies rolled log of shortbread dough

Drizzle your baked cookies with Chocolate Ganache or dip them halfway in melted chocolate after they are cooled. Upgrade Santa’s cookie tray with Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies along with a cup of Hot Cocoa topped with Whipped Cream! Try baking Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies with a Salted Caramel on top of each cookie dough round for an extra special cookie recipe!

MORE HOLIDAY COOKIE CLASSICS:

Tips for Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

  • You can make these rolled, shaped Shortbread Cookies. Simply roll out the dough on floured surface after it has chilled and use cookie cutters in whatever shapes you like.
  • These classic Shortbread Cookies are meant to be a pale golden cookie recipe. Bake only until the edges very lightly brown. They will set and firm up as they cool.
  • Bring all your ingredients to room temperature. Not only does it prevent over-mixing to have soft butter, but starting with the ingredients at the same temperature ensures even baking.
  • You can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days before baking like normal. Freeze the dough for up to 3 months and bake from frozen or thaw overnight first.

top-down view of Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies in stack

VARIATIONS ON CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD COOKIES

  • Chocolate: Make Double Chocolate Shortbread Cookies by replacing ¼ cup all-purpose flour with ¼ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder in your shortbread dough. Dutch-process cocoa powder is a richer, chocolate flavor that won’t make your cookies too sweet.
  • Chocolate Chips: Use regular sized chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or different flavors of chocolate instead of mini chocolate chips. Try white chocolate chips, mini M&Ms, or toffee bits too!
  • Nuts: You can add up to ½ cup chopped nuts like peanuts, walnuts, almonds, or pecans to your cookie dough. Don’t overstuff your cookies though, you want a good balance of dry and wet ingredients so they stay together.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies on baking sheet before cooking

  • Salted Cookies: Add another level of flavor to Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies with salt. You can use salted butter instead of unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon salt to the flour, or sprinkle with sea salt before baking.
  • Brown Sugar: Instead of granulated white sugar, use brown sugar or a mixture of granulated sugar and brown sugar. The molasses in brown sugar will make your cookies a little less crumbly and little more rich.

MORE CHOCOLATE CHIP RECIPES

HOW TO STORE CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD COOKIES

  • Serve: Allow Shortbread Cookies to cool completely on wire racks before serving so they hold their shape and set. Keep covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
  • Store: Store Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies in an airtight container or flat in a storage bag so they don’t break. Use parchment paper between layers so they don’t stick and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
  • Freeze: Once cookies have cooled, place wire rack or baking sheet in the freezer for 1 hour to freeze. Transfer frozen Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies to a sealed container and freeze for up to 4 months. Thaw uncovered at room temperature to avoid moisture collection.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies in stack

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Dinner, then Dessert

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies are crumbly, buttery cookies with chocolate chunks in every bite. Easy classic shortbread recipe with only 4 ingredients!
Yield 24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
top-down view of Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies in stack
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
  • Add butter and sugar to a stand mixer and cream on high speed for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
  • Lower speed to the lowest setting and add in the flour slowly until just combined.
  • Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  • Roll the mixture into a 2 inch wide log and wrap with plastic wrap.
  • Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Cut into ½ thick slices and bake for 20 minutes.
  • Cool completely before removing from baking sheet.

Nutrition

Calories: 150kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 41mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 239IU | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg

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Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Well, something happened. I made them EXACTLY as you say. Put in fridge overnight. Sliced them. Baked at 325. They are maybe 1/8” high? All spread out and barely able to pick up whole. A total failure! They look as though much too much butter, but I put 2 sticks as you say. I’ve made from another recipe which I couldn’t find so used yours. Guess I’ll keep searching!
    Happy to send a picture.

    Reply

  3. These are the perfect bakery-looking cookie. Easy to make with the best buttery taste! Thanks again Sabrina. YUMMY!

    Reply

    1. Oh no! It sounds like there was too much flour. Did you make sure to spoon in the flour into your measuring cup and level off vs just scooping it?

      Reply