These easy chocolate chip shortbread cookies are buttery, tender, soft, and crumbly, along with pops of delicious gooey dark chocolate chips. With an easy and make-ahead recipe, you just have to try these holiday cookies for Christmas!
I'm not going to lie—it took a few attempts to nail the perfect shortbread cookie recipe down. But once I did (with my rose shortbread version), I got the tastiest possible cookie recipe for Christmas.
I promise it brings the bakery right into your kitchen. The best part about these chocolate holiday cookies is that you’ll have all the ingredients at home! And they are perfect for your Holiday cookie box!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
✨ Easy shortbread cookies, you can whip up in no time with no fancy ingredients or complicated steps.
✨ Buttery, crisp, and with a melt-in-your-mouth texture, these are the cookies you dream of!
✨ Perfect for fuss-free and stress-free Holiday baking, gifting, and cookie exchange!
✨ The cookie dough is freezer-friendly, so making these chocolate shortbread cookies anytime is a breeze!
Recipe Ingredients
The list of ingredients for shortbread and chocolate cookies is incredibly short. So, you want the chocolate and spices to be of the best quality.
Flour: All-purpose flour gives the flakiest texture, but whole wheat flour can also work in this recipe.
Chocolate: I used mini dark chocolate chips, but feel free to add in whatever type of chocolate speaks to your palate. Or, you can cut up a slab of baking chocolate to make shortbread chocolate chunk cookies.
Just remember, you don’t want very chunky pieces for this shortbread cookie recipe, so cut the chocolate into small pieces.
Icing sugar: Mix 2 tbsp cornstarch with 1 cup of powdered sugar and use that instead, if you don't have icing sugar handy.
Sea salt: It’s optional, but I’ve found that shortbread tastes a bit boring without it.
Add-ins: You can skip the vanilla extract and use cinnamon powder or a couple of drops of mint to make the loveliest mint chocolate chip shortbread cookies.
Want to spice them up? Mix in a gingerbread spice mix or pumpkin pie spice. Want to make the shortbread chocolate chip cookies nutty? Combine finely chopped almonds, walnuts, or cranberries in the dough as I did with my cranberry almond cookies.
Please see the recipe card below for full information about the ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
Step 1: Cream together softened, room-temperature butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.
Step 2: Whisk in vanilla extract, followed by flour. Gently fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Step 3: Use a spatula or your hands to squish everything together into a soft and pliable dough. The dough comes together quickly.
Step 4: Divide the chocolate chip shortbread cookie dough in half and roll each half into a cylindrical or squarish log. The exact shape is irrelevant. The log just simplifies the cookie-making process compared to using a cookie cutter.
Step 5: Place the logs on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 6: Set the oven to preheat. With a sharp knife, slice the dough into chocolate shortbread cookies about 1/8" thick. Place the cookies on a baking sheet, spaced apart.
Step 7: Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Keep an eagle eye on the cookies towards the end.
Final step: Sprinkle sea salt on top of the hot, just-out-of-the-oven shortbread cookies. It balances the flavors so well.
Top Tips
- The butter has to be at room temperature for a crumbly, tender texture.
- If the dough feels a touch too dry, add room-temperature milk. Start with a tablespoon or two.
- The key to making buttery, crumbly shortbread with chocolate is chilling the dough. If your shortbread cookies are spreading in the oven, you haven’t refrigerated the dough long enough. Chilling firms up the dough.
- Keep an eye on the cookies to avoid over-browning. You don’t want pale cookies or over-the-top crispness. What you’re after is toasty golden on the edges (where the cookies touch the tray) and light golden on top.
How To Make-Ahead And Store
Besides being a sweet treat for the senses, what I love about chocolate chip shortbread cookies is that I can prep ahead. Given that it's cookie season, making them ahead is such a win!
You can keep the dough logs in the refrigerator anywhere from 1 hour to 3 days. Or you can freeze it for up to 3 weeks. Simply double-wrap the dough logs in beeswax, foil, or cling wrap.
When you’re ready to bake the frozen dough, bring it to room temperature on the countertop. Slice and bake. The baked chocolate holiday cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 2 to 3 weeks.
📖 Recipe
Easy Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Butter, softened
- 1 cup Icing sugar
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp Milk
- 3/4 cup Mini dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp Sea salt Optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add all-purpose flour, vanilla extract, milk, and chocolate chips.
- Bring everything together into a dough using a spatula or your hands.
- You may need to add a tablespoon or two of milk if the dough is dry-ish.
- Your dough should be soft and pliable.
- Divide the dough into half. Roll each half into a 10" log.
- Place the logs carefully on a parchment-lined baking tray.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C.
- Cut each log into slices, about 1/8" in thickness.
- Place the slices on the prepared trays. Make sure there is a little gap between them as they will spread a bit during baking.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden. Bake for an extra 1-2 minutes if you want crispier cookies.You can sprinkle some sea salt on the hot cookies if you wish.
- Let the cookies cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. They will firm up as they cool.
- Store the cooled cookies in an air-tight jar. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- The butter has to be at room temperature for a crumbly, tender texture.
- If the dough feels a touch too dry, add room-temperature milk. Start with a tablespoon or two.
- The key to making buttery, crumbly shortbread with chocolate is chilling the dough. If your shortbread cookies are spreading in the oven, you haven’t refrigerated the dough long enough. Chilling firms up the dough.
- Keep an eye on the cookies to avoid over-browning. You don’t want pale cookies or over-the-top crispness. What you’re after is toasty golden on the edges (where the cookies touch the tray) and light golden on top.
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