Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Shortbread cookies are a classic for a reason! They’re crisp, buttery, and have just the right amount of sweetness. They’re great for dessert or for an afternoon pick-me-up with coffee or tea. (Or, you know, breakfast. Or midnight. Zero judgement here.). One thing is for sure: you’re pretty much going to want to make these Chocolate Chip Shortbread cookies immediately.
This Chocolate Chip Shortbread is a classic shortbread cookie, improved by dark chocolate and a sprinkle of fleur de sel! The buttery-crisp-salty-sweet bites get me every time! Also amazing is that you can roll this dough out and cut it to whatever shape you like! As Easter is on the way, I had no choice. They had to be adorable bunny butts! 😀
These cookies are super simple to make, requiring no special ingredients or equipment. I do use silpats to line my pans because the cookies don’t brown as quickly (I hate it when cookies overbrown!) and because I can wash and use them again and again. If you don’t have any and you’re in the market for some, you can find them online [here].
My bunny cookies are each about 2″x4″, and they were done in about 14 minutes. Keep an eye on your cookies, since cookie size/shape/oven temp will all impact how fast or slow your cookies bake up!
You can also freeze the dough if you’d like. Just thaw it out whenever a craving strikes! For me, the craving for sweets is constant, so it’s good to have reserves on-hand. 😉
If you’re looking to add frosting to your cookies like I did, check out my [vanilla bean buttercream] and [cream cheese frosting] recipes! I just did the tiny bunny tails with a tiny swirl of cream cheese frosting. I literally only needed about a quarter cup of frosting (maybe less) for the whole batch!
So while I made these shortbread cookies Easter-y, they’re definitely an “everyday” cookie, and a real crowd-pleaser! I already can’t wait to make them again. 🙂
Other Posts you may like:
Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies with Buttercream
Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Bailey’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature (3 sticks)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- pinch salt
- 6 oz dark chocolate, chopped fine (<1/4") (I used 60% cacao)
- fleur de sel, optional (or sea salt)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add sugar and vanilla extract and continue beating until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl again.
- Add flour and salt, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate with a spatula.
- Form the dough into a ball, kneading gently on your counter if necessary. Divide the dough into two discs and wrap in plastic. Chill 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment or silpats (see note). Set aside.
- Working with one disc of dough at a time (leaving the second disc in the refrigerator while you work on the first), roll the dough out to about 1/4" thick on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut out shapes as desired, and place cut-outs on the prepared baking sheets 1-2" apart. Sprinkle cut-outs with salt, if desired. Chill the dough on the baking sheets 15 minutes.
- After the dough cut-outs have chilled, bake 12-15 minutes (see note), or until just starting to firm up and look lightly golden at the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack.Enjoy!