Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies
- By Amy Dong
- Updated Jan. 30, 2024
These Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies are exploding with the goodness of real butter in every bite. They’re the perfect melt-in-your-mouth, sweet treat for any occasion!
In This Article
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Video: Watch Us Make Shortbread
Why This Recipe Stands Out
Here’s why we love this Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies recipe:
- Simple Ingredients: These cookies take just 4 simple kitchen staples that you probably already have on hand.
- Extra Buttery: One thing that sets homemade shortbread cookies apart from store bought is the perfect taste of real butter in every bite.
- Chocolate: If you’ve checked out our many chocolate recipes, you’ll know we have a weakness. So, the addition of chocolate in this recipe is an instant plus!
- Easy: Shortbread cookies are so easy to make. They’re a great option for beginners.
- Valentine’s Day: This is one of our favorite Valentine’s Day recipes when we use heart cutouts, but they also make amazing Christmas cookies.
Key Recipe Ingredients
- Butter – Two cups of cold butter makes these shortbread cookies extra-buttery.
- Brown Sugar – We find that light brown sugar makes these cookies the perfect texture.
- Flour – Just simple all-purpose flour works perfectly in this recipe.
- Chocolate – We use semi-sweet chocolate for the perfect balance of sweet and bitter. Feel free to use chips or baking melts. Check out these easy tips for melting chocolate!
Substitutions And Variations
This shortbread cookie recipe is the perfect base for tons of variations. Check out some of our favorites:
- Chocolate: Try swapping the semi-sweet chocolate for dark, milk, or white chocolate. You could even add a drizzle of this 4-Ingredient Salted Caramel Sauce if you’re feeling extra fancy.
- Toppings: We think a sprinkle of sea salt, toasted coconut flakes, sprinkles, crushed pistachios, or crushed almonds would be an amazing addition to this recipe.
- Shapes: For Valentine’s Day, we like using a heart-shaped cookie cutter for our shortbread cookies, but you can totally use whatever shape you want depending on the time of year!
Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
- Mix butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then, add 3 1/2 cups of flour and mix.
- Knead in remaining flour until dough forms into a ball (shortbread dough in photo above shows sprinkles, but you can leave them out).
- Form dough into a ball, wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll out dough to 1/2 in. thick, and cut desired shapes.
- Place cookies 2 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheet. Poke holes in cookies with a fork.
- Bake cookies at 325F for 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely before dipped in melted chocolate. Enjoy!
For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.
How To Prep Ahead
Although these Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies are just about as easy as it gets, we have a few strategies to make them even easier:
- Make the Dough in Advance: Feel free to knead the dough up to 2 days in advance and keep it in the fridge wrapped tightly until you’re ready to bake. You’ll just want to give it some time to warm to let it soften enough to roll.
- Freeze Unbaked Cookies: To make baking day super simple, you could always freeze the cut out cookies in a singly layer on a baking tray until they’re hard. Then, transfer them to an airtight container. Just take them out and bake like normal when you’re ready.
- Freeze Baked Cookies: These cookies also freeze well after they’ve been baked! Just make sure they’re completely cooled before you store them. You can even freeze them with the chocolate on and they’ll stay good for around 3 months.
Commonly Asked Questions
These shortbread cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for up to 2 months.
If your shortbread cookies start to melt and expand too much while baking, you may not have chilled the dough long enough. Another thing that could cause this is if the dough was a little too wet. Aim for a soft, workable, but not sticky dough.
The main difference between these two kinds of cookies is the ratios of ingredients. Shortbread cookies tend to have more butter than sugar cookies. Plus, unlike sugar cookies, they don’t have eggs in them.
We like light brown sugar in shortbread cookies, because it creates the perfect texture. Brown sugar helps to make the cookies softer and chewier. Choosing light brown sugar over dark balances the chewier texture with the more classic, crisp texture of shortbread cookies, creating the perfect crisp, soft, and chewy treat. Also, the little hint of molasses adds great flavor.
Did you make this?
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Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups butter, cold and cut into pieces
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed tightly
- 4 ½ cups all purpose flour, divided
- Semi-sweet chocolate for dipping, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter and brown sugar. Using paddle attachment, mix until fluffy and light. Add 3 1/2 cups of the flour and mix until combined.
- On a large board, sprinkle 1/2 cup flour. Knead dough by hand for 5 minutes, adding the remaining 1/2 cup flour as needed to make a soft dough. The dough should end up soft and pliable, yet not sticky. You may or may not need to use up all the flour, depending on how your dough feels.
- Form a ball, wrap tightly, and chill for about 30 minutes. Roll dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Either cut into 3×1 rectangular strips, triangles, or use cookie cutter for shapes. Place each cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Poke cookies with fork to design.
- Bake 15-20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. If your shapes are smaller, bake less time. Bake longer for bigger shapes.
- Cool completely on wire rack. If desired, melt chocolate and drizzle or dip to your heart’s content!
Notes
- Depending on the size of your cookie cutters, the baking times may vary slightly. You’ll know the cookies are done when the edges turn golden.
- Feel free to add sprinkles into the dough or use dark chocolate/milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet.
- Have extra chocolate left over? Try making these Chocolate Covered Strawberries.
Nutrition (per serving)
More To Bake And Eat
- Perfect Oatmeal Cookies – These oatmeal cookies are soft, chewy, and perfect for passing around at family gatherings and holidays.
- Andes Mint Cookies – Minty, chocolatey, and chewy, these Andes Mint Cookies are an irresistible treat that freezes wonderfully!
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies – Not only do these cookies feature quite possibly the best combo ever – chocolate and peanut butter- they’re also gluten-free!
- Lemon Pudding Cookies – These vibrant white chocolate chip lemon cookies are the perfect summer treat. We can’t get enough of the lemon glaze!
- 3-Ingredient Buttery Shortbread Cookies – This is another super simple shortbread cookie recipe that we love. It only takes 3 ingredients!