Easy Chocolate Chip Shortbread Recipe
This light and buttery Chocolate Chip Shortbread Recipe is true perfection and only has 5 ingredients. Elevated with mini chocolate chips and an extra dip in chocolate they are a cookie you can make all year long.
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Tips & tricks to achieve the most delicious cookies of your life!
Why this Shortbread Recipe is the BEST
There are a few reasons why this shortbread recipe is the best. The fact that it only requires 5 ingredients is pretty awesome.
This classic shortbread recipe is made with brown sugar which is certainly magical. The flavor that brown sugar gives to this cookie is slightly different from granulated sugar. This easy cookie recipe also bake up perfectly crisp! They are perfect with a warm cup of coffee or a glass of milk.
If you prefer a regular chocolate chip cookie, this Thick Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe or these Mini chocolate Chip Cookies would both be great!
What goes into this Recipe
- Butter: When you only have 5 ingredients, every single element has to shine and real butter is a must. A good salted butter is what I prefer but if you would rather use unsalted butter, go for it. Grade AA is the very best, followed by A and then B…I say…go for the good stuff.
- Brown Sugar: It is a matter of preference on whether you decide to use dark or light brown sugar in this recipe. I have used both and loved both.
- Flour: All purpose flour is what is going to give the shortbread structure.
- Salt: Adding salt helps to balance these cookies perfectly. You could also add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt after baking for a deeper saltiness.
- Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: Mini sweet chocolate morsels work great in this recipe but if you prefer to use dark chocolate chunks that would also be wonderful. If you prefer plain shortbread cookies then omit the chips altogether.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make Chocolate Chip Shortbread
1. Begin by creaming together the softened butter and brown sugar with an electric hand mixer until it is light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt to the butter and sugar mixture. Continue to mix until it looks like fine crumbs.
2. To get the dough to come together, you may have to get your hands in the dough and work with it. You will know it is ready when the dough will hold together.
3. Add the mini chocolate chips to the shortbread dough and mix until they are evenly distributed.
4. Pour the chocolate chip shortbread cookie dough into a gallon zipper bag.
5. Use your hand {or a rolling pin} to work the dough out into an even layer in the zipper bag. NOTE: It will fill the zipper bag. Close the bag and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
6. After 1 hour, remove the zipper bag of shortbread dough from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for a few minutes. Cut the top of the bag and use a 2″ round cookie cutter to cut as many cookies from the dough as you can.
7. Place 12-15 shortbread cookies onto a silicone mat {or parchment paper} lined baking sheet.
8. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 18-20 minutes. You will know the cookies are finished baking when they start to turn golden brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet.
Dipping Chocolate Chip Shortbread in Chocolate
While totally optional, dipping his easy chocolate chip shortbread recipe in chocolate can take them to the next level. The best part is that it is so simple to do but makes a huge impact.
Once the cookies are cooled, melt chocolate wafers in the microwave until smooth {it will take about 1 minute}.
Take one cookie at a time and dip half into the melted chocolate. Pull the cookie out of the chocolate and allow the excess chocolate to drip off so that you don’t get too much chocolate. Then place the cookie onto a parchment lined baking tray to set up.
Tips for making Shortbread
- Use a good quality butter for the perfect shortbread. It is important that it is real butter.
- Don’t add any liquid to the cookie dough. The dough is supposed to be a bit dry in the beginning. Keep working the dough with your mixer {and/or your hands} until it comes together.
- Don’t skip chilling the dough. This simple step is super important to get a good shortbread with a crispy texture.
- Remember that shortbread cookies won’t spread. This allows you to put the chocolate chip cookies closer together on the baking sheet.
- Don’t pull the cookies from the oven too soon. Shortbread is supposed to be perfectly crisp, so allow the oven to do its job.
- Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheet. This will also help the cookies to crisp up and get the wonderful buttery shortbread.
Storage and Freezing
Store- Keep leftover cookies in a good airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freeze- This chocolate chip shortbread cookie recipe will freeze well for up to 3 months.
Recipe FAQs
You really do need a mixer of some kind in order to get the dough to come together.
Shortbread dough takes a bit of time to mix once the flour is added and so a mixer works great for that. This Salted Caramel Butter Bar recipe also uses a mixer.
No, these Shortbread Cookies are awesome without. Using brown sugar in the shortbread makes all of the difference and gives you a wonderful cookie with or without the chocolate chips.
I don’t recommend it. The reason why is because we are cutting these cookies out and regular sized chocolate chips would make this step more difficult.
You can use other shaped cookie cutters as long as they aren’t too intricate. The cookie cutter needs to be simple in order to get a clean cut.
Do you love shortbread? Try one of these recipes…
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Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter {softened}
- 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar {packed}
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Optional: Almond Bark for dipping.
Instructions
- Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Add flour and salt, mix on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated. If the dough is crumbly, use your hands to knead the dough until it comes together. Add chocolate chips and gently mix into dough until evenly distributed. Put the dough into a gallon zipper bag and roll out on a flat surface {being sure to keep top open while rolling}. Roll the dough out to the edges and into the corners of the bag. Seal top of bag and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Using a 2" round cookie cutter, cut 24 cookies from dough. Place 12-15 cookies on each sheet and bake each sheet for 18-20 minutes or until they are just starting to turn light brown. Cool completely.
- OPTIONAL: To dip your chocolate chip shortbread: Melt 4-5 squares of almond bark in the microwave for 1 minute and stir. Continue to microwave in 30 second increments until the almond bark is melted and smooth. Dip each cookie half way into the chocolate and place chocolate covered cookie onto a parchment lined cookie sheet to set.
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Use a good quality butter for the perfect shortbread. It is important that it is real butter.
- Don’t add any liquid to the cookie dough. The dough is supposed to be a bit dry in the beginning. Keep working the dough with your mixer {and/or your hands} until it comes together.
- Don’t skip chilling the dough. This simple step is super important to get a good shortbread with a crispy texture.
- Remember that shortbread cookies won’t spread. This allows you to put the chocolate chip cookies closer together on the baking sheet.
- Don’t pull the cookies from the oven too soon. Shortbread is supposed to be perfectly crisp, so allow the oven to do its job.
- Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheet. This will also help the cookies to crisp up and get the wonderful buttery shortbread.
This is my go-to shortbread cookie recipe – especially when I saw your genius idea of rolling the dough in a Ziploc bag! When I want to change the flavor, I just substitute the chocolate chips for cranberries & nuts or orange zest, chopped cherries & almond extract, or add espresso powder/1 Tbl water & choc chips, etc. AND I can prepare the dough, roll it in the Ziploc bag and freeze it, if I want to bake it at another time.