Chocolate Shortbread Cookies are buttery and crisp with just 5 ingredients. Simple shortbread recipe with cocoa powder added for delicious chocolate taste.
If you love Shortbread Cookies and also love chocolate, then this is definitely the recipe for you. It’s the perfect, easy treat to make for Christmas.
CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
Shortbread Cookies are the ultimate, simple holiday treat. They have an easy and delicious base that you can build off of with different mix-ins and flavors. Which is why we’ve been experimenting with lots of different shortbread recipes this season. You can find Walnut Shortbread, Chocolate Chip Shortbread, Pistachio Cranberry Shortbread, and now this Chocolate Shortbread all on our blog.
Shortbread Cookies are the perfect melt-in-your-mouth treat. They’re buttery, rich, and sweet but not too sweet. Enjoy Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with a cup of coffee or Hot Chocolate in the morning for a sweet holiday breakfast. They’re also great for holiday parties, as an edible gift, or to leave out with a glass of milk for Santa if you have kids.
CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES AS A GIFT
Shortbread Cookies are a great holiday gift for your neighbors, friends, family, and coworkers. To package the Shortbread cookies either wrap them in clear cellophane with a holiday bow on top or put them in an old fashioned cookie tin. If you’re packaging them in a cookie tin, separate each layer of cookies with wax paper.
It’s easy for Shortbread Cookies to break in transit. If you’re planning to ship the cookies, make sure to package them carefully so they don’t crumble. Put plenty of cushioning at the bottom of the container so the cookies aren’t hitting anything hard. You can also wrap each cookie in plastic for extra safety.
MORE CLASSIC HOLIDAY COOKIE RECIPES
Brown Sugar Cookies Recipe
Butter Cookies
Molasses Cookies
Award Winning Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
TIPS FOR MAKING CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
- It’s important to use softened butter in the recipe. Let it sit out at room temperature for a few hours ahead of time so that the butter is nicely softened. Leaving the butter out in advance works much better than putting it in the microwave.
- Mix the butter, vanilla, and sugar on high speed until they’re all creamed together and fluffy. This should only take 1-2 minutes.
- Make sure to refrigerate the dough for at least a half hour. Refrigerating the dough helps the cookies to keep their shape and makes the butter cold, which helps the shortbread cook properly.
- Piercing the top of the cookie dough with a fork gives the Shortbread Cookies their signature look, and helps them to cook evenly throughout.
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VARIATIONS ON CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
- Chocolate chips: Make a Double Chocolate Shortbread Cookie by adding in chocolate chips. You can use semisweet, milk, dark, or white chocolate in the recipe. Another option is mixing in butterscotch or cinnamon chips for a contrasting flavor.
- Mix-ins: For different mix-ins try adding nuts, dried fruits, or other candies. Pecans, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, or cashews will add some nice crunch to the recipe. For fruit try cranberries, cherries, or dates. You can also mix in peppermints, toffee bits, or mini M&M’s.
- Gluten-free: To make Chocolate Shortbread Cookies gluten-free replace the regular flour with almond flour, oat flour or arrowroot flour.
- Flavors: For some flavor additions try mixing in almond extract, peppermint extract, or orange zest. You can also add seasonal spices like ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.
MORE CHOCOLATE COOKIE RECIPES
Hershey’s Kiss Cookies
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
Dark Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
HOW TO STORE CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
- Serve: You can keep Chocolate Shortbread Cookies at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Store them in an airtight container in the pantry. If you live in a humid area put a paper towel in the bottom of the container to soak up the moisture.
- Store: To keep the cookies fresh for up to 1 month, store them in the fridge. Put the cookies in a ziplock bag or other airtight container separated by parchment paper.
- Freeze: You can freeze Shortbread Cookies for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature then reheat them or eat them cool.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Add butter, vanilla, and powdered 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 and cocoa powder slowly until just combined.
- 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.
Nutrition
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Can I turn this into gluten free by switching out the flour for say..coconut flour?
Any gluten free flour that is 1:1 ratio to all purpose flour should work. Keep in mind that the flavor will be altered a bit.
These cookies are soo delicious. I added 1/3 cup of chopped up Hershey’s kisses to the recipe and my bf and I loved it. This recipe made 14 cookies for us
Sounds Amazing!
Delicious! Made the recipe exactly as written and the shortbread was wonderful! Will be adding to my collection.
Thank you Veronica and especially for the 5 star review 🙂
I made these for Christmas presents last year and people really enjoyed them. I chose this recipe over several others because I liked its simplicity, and the fact that the chef includes a lot of really useful tips, including using softened butter and refrigerating the dough, and why this makes a difference.
I did add chocolate and peppermint oil (note extract — it’s very strong, so just a few drops); people said the cookies reminded them of the Girl Scouts’ Thin Mints – which I think is a compliment!