Chocolate Shortbread Cookies Recipe
These chocolate shortbread cookies are extra delicious if you’re a chocolate lover. They’re made with black cocoa for an ultra-rich chocolate shortbread cookie, and then they’re stuffed with dark chocolate chunks.
Hello, tall glass of milk! Meet your new best friend.
What you’re going to love about this recipe
- The chocolate cookie dough is rich dark chocolate with the deep dark flavor of an oreo cookie and the shortbread’s buttery texture.
- You can mix in chocolate chips or chunks if you want, or you can bake this up without any mix-ins.
- The cookie dough freezes well, so you don’t have to bake a huge batch. You can freeze the dough and have cookies on demand all year long.
What you’ll need
- Unsalted Butter. Use European-style unsalted butter, which has more butterfat content than American butter.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar. Superfine sugar is a good choice because it melts into the butter more quickly.
- Salt. Always use Kosher or fine sea salt for baking.
- Egg yolks. Egg yolks help to refine this dough and give it a more tender crumb.
- Vanilla.
- All-purpose flour.
- Cocoa powder. Cocoa powder will replace some of the flour in a traditional shortbread cookie. Use whatever cocoa powder you like. I’ve chosen the Dutch process or alkalized darker cocoa powder. The flavor is similar to Oreos.
First of all: Why Are They Called Shortbread?
Shortbread or short dough gets its name from the interaction that the high butter ratio has on the flour’s gluten proteins.
The high amount of butter in this dough prevents gluten from forming long bonds, as you might see in bread, and keeps the crumb tight and “short.”
The result is a crispy, crumbly dough. This butter-to-flour ratio makes a shortbread cookie so delicious.
The butter heats up and lightly toasts the flour and sugar during baking, giving this cookie a buttery, savory flavor with just a hint of sweetness. The flour merely holds all of the butterfat molecules in place, so they don’t run off the baking sheet.
Good job, butter and flour! 🏆
Which Cocoa Powder?
Chocolate shortbread involves replacing some of the flour in traditional butter shortbread with cocoa powder. This shortbread cookie recipe calls for dark or black cocoa powder. However, you can substitute any unsweetened cocoa powder.
Cocoa powder has a chemical composition different from flour. You may not realize how much flavor variety there is in cocoa powders.
You’re probably familiar with Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. It’s a pretty standard and super easy-to-find cocoa powder. Hershey’s cocoa has a well-rounded flavor and is suitable for most baking applications.
Hershey’s also has a Special Dark variety of double-processed cocoa powder, yielding a darker flavor. It’s more like the flavor of an Oreo cookie.
My favorite Cocoa Powders
I encourage you to try different cocoa powders and find your signature chocolate shortbread cookies.
Using a different cocoa powder than most people are used to tasting gives your cookies that extra special something that leaves everyone wondering what you did to get that unique flavor!
PRO-TIPs for Making Chocolate Shortbread
- Butter and eggs should always be at room temperature before baking.
- Blend the butter with the sugar for a long time so that the sugar dissolves. However, don’t introduce a lot of air into the butter. Excess air will cause the cookies to spread.
- A stand mixer with a paddle attachment makes shortbread easy to work on.
- Make sure you have plastic wrap to wrap and chill the dough.
- Chill the dough overnight, if possible.
- Use parchment paper to line your cookie sheets.
Let’s Get Baking
- Set all your ingredients out, and make sure the butter and flour are at room temperature.
- Start by sifting together the dry ingredients. I usually add them to a medium bowl and then give them a quick stir with a whisk.
- Add the butter to your stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, and cream it until it is creamy and the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the sugar. Beat until light in color for about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and the vanilla. Beat again
- Scrape down the sides and beat one more time.
- Add all of the dry mixture in at once.
- Turn the mixer on low. Beat very slowly until the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Scrape all of the mixtures onto the countertop and then press it together.
- Divide the dough into four equal portions and make four eight-inch logs, which can be round or rectangular.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least four hours and up to overnight.
When You’re Ready to Bake
This chocolate shortbread recipe is easy to slice and bake. If you have more cookie dough than you want to bake you can freeze it for several months, or even longer.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Slice each log of cookie dough into approximately 12 slices. They should be slightly fatter than a quarter inch.
- Bake the cookies for 14 to 18 minutes. Watch closely as oven temperatures vary.
Frequently Asked Questions
When you touch the edges, they should feel firm and crispy. The middle of the cookies will still feel slightly soft but should feel like they have a crust on them. They will crisp up as they cool.
Because the cookies are dark, you can’t see if they are browned. I use this “feel” test to determine whether they are done.
Hungry for more cookie recipes?
- Persimmon Cookies
- The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pecan Shortbread Cookies
- Molasses Sugar Cookies
- Milk Bar’s Compost Cookies
- Homemade Oreos
- Parmesan Shortbread
- Shortbread Dipped in Chocolate
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Chocolate Shortbread
Equipment
- Stand Mixer (affiliate link)
- parchment paper (affiliate link)
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt (affiliate link)
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup black cocoa powder
Optional Mix-In
- 5 ounces bittersweet Chocolate, chips or chopped
Instructions
- Set all of your ingredients out, make sure the butter and flour are at room temperature.
- Start by sifting together the dry ingredients. I usually add my dry ingredients to a medium bowl and then give them a quick stir with a whisk.3 cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup black cocoa powder
- Add the butter, sugar, the salt to your stand mixer, fixed with a paddle attachment. Beat the butter and sugar until it is soft and creamy.1 ¾ cup unsalted butter, 1 ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp kosher salt
- Add the egg yolks one at a time.3 egg yolks
- Add the vanilla. Beat again and then scrape down the sides and beat one more time.1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Add all of the dry ingredients in at once. Turn the mixer on low. Beat very slowly until the mixture becomes crumbly.3 cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup black cocoa powder
- OPTIONAL: Mix in chocolate chips here, if you are using them.5 ounces bittersweet Chocolate
- Scrape all of the cookie dough onto the countertop and then press it together. Divide the dough into four equal portions and make four eight-inch logs. The logs can be round or rectangular.
- Wrap each log in plastic wrap and chill for at least four hours and up to overnight.
When You're Ready to Bake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Slice each log of cookie dough into approximately 12 slices. They will be a little bit fatter than a quarter inch.
- Bake the cookies for 14 to 18 minutes. Watch closely as oven temperatures vary.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, rest for 2 minutes. Then cool on a cooling rack until they are room temperature.
- Store in an airtight container.
Laura’s Tips + Notes
- Unsalted Butter. Use European-style unsalted butter, which has a higher butterfat content than American butter.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar. Superfine sugar is a good choice here because it melts into the butter more quickly.
- Salt. Always use Kosher or fine sea salt for baking.
- Egg yolks. Egg yolks help to refine this dough and give it a more tender crumb.
- Vanilla. Use a high-quality vanilla extract.
- All-purpose flour. You can also use gluten-free flour in this recipe. I’ve had good success with King Aurthurs One-to One (affiliate link)
- Cocoa powder. Cocoa powder will be replacing some of the flour that would be in a traditional shortbread cookie. Use whatever cocoa powder you like. I’ve chosen dutch process or alkalized darker cocoa powder. The flavor is similar to Oreos.
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