Cookies are so fun to make. They’re totally customisable and super easy to make, and these Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies are cookies all grown up. Just 5 ingredients for the cookies, plus a little melted chocolate for dipping them and some fruits, nuts or sprinkles to decorate them with.
The flavour is of dark bittersweet chocolate and the freeze-dried raspberries that I used is such a wonderful, bitter, sweet and tangy combo.
For a sweeter chocolate cookie, perfect for decorating, try these chocolate sugar cookies.
All About Dark Chocolate Shortbread
These cookies have a crunchy but melt in your mouth texture. As with all shortbread, they are dry all the way through and the kind of cookie you want to eat with a cup of tea or coffee. They’re also buttery making them a truly luxurious treat.
There are just 5 ingredients in the cookies themselves: butter, icing (powdered) sugar, flour, cocoa and a dash of salt. Then they’re dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with freeze-dried raspberries.
How To Make Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
- So simple, you just start by creaming together butter and sugar.
- Follow up by adding the dry ingredients until you have a dough
- Let it sit in the fridge for 15 minutes before rolling out the dough to about 5mm thick
- Then cut out rounds, hearts, squares – whatever you like. I used these circle cookie cutters
- Bake them for around 12 minutes then let them cool and they’ll be crisp all the way through.
I recommend rolling out the dough on a cocoa dusted surface as opposed to a flour dusted surface. Flour may lighten the look of the baked cookies and may even make them patchy. Cocoa, yes, is a little messier but it’s so worth it for the best chocolate shortbread cookies.
Once they cool, dip them in some melted chocolate and sprinkle them with crushed freeze-dried raspberries.
The raspberries give an amazing sweet and tart lift to the intense chocolate.
One Of The Best Cookies For Gifts
Shortbread make the best cookies for gifts, since they keep so well. They don’t spread much making them quite uniform which makes them really pretty to package up too.
Substitutions
- Raspberries – swap the raspberries for other freeze dried fruit, regular dried fruit or even nuts (like these Chocolate Pistachio Cookies). How about sprinkles for Valentines day.
- Dark chocolate – dip them in milk chocolate to sweeten them up a little or white chocolate for a real contrast. You can even drizzle over the chocolate for a different look.
- Sandwich them with a filling – Try these super easy ideas:
Since these crunchy, buttery chocolate shortbread cookies are so easy to make, they’re great for making a bunch of edible food gifts for Christmas or even as a Valentines treat.
More Shortbread Recipes You’ll Love
- Chocolate sugar cookies
- Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread
- Spiced Shortbread Christmas Cookies
- Vanilla Shortbread Cookies with Passionfruit Icing
- Raspberry thumbprint cookies
Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
FOR THE CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD
- 115 g unsalted butter, softened (½ cup / 1 stick)
- ⅓ cup icing (powdered) sugar
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon plain (all-purp) flour (notes, 150g )
- 2 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa powder (notes, 8 teaspoons )
- Pinch of salt
TO DECORATE
- 100 g dark (50%) chocolate, melted (½ cup)
- Handful of freeze-dried raspberries, nuts or sprinkles
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced. Line 2 cookie trays with baking paper.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa and salt in a medium bowl to evenly distribute. Set aside. Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld mixer until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on the lowest setting until it forms a dough. Pull it together and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up.
- Dust a clean surface with cocoa powder. Dust the top of the dough with cocoa too, then roll it out to about 5mm thick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out and transfer them to your prepared cookie trays
- Bake for 12 minutes, turning trays halfway through cooking so they cook evenly.
- Allow them to cool completely before dunking in melted chocolate and sprinkling with your choice of decoration.
Notes
- I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (= 4 teaspoons worldwide)
- For best results, you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- All ovens vary – if you know your oven runs hotter than standard, take them out 2-3 minutes before the recipe suggest and allow them to cool to see if they crisp and cooked through.
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18 Comments on “Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies”
Easy and delicious. Topped them with raspberry puree icing and freeze dried raspberries. They looked amazing
Thanks so much, Kim. Love the sound of that icing 🙂
Just wondering how pliable the dough for this recipe is. Would I be Able to fill the center with raspberry jam and then crimp one end to form a cone shape? Just wondering
Hi Vicki, being a shortbread it’s quite a short dough, so not very pliable. The dough from this recipe will work better.
Amazing! If I want to 2x or 3x recipe, would you recommend multiply all Ingredients twice etc? Any suggestions?
Hi Rita, yes, that will work fine. I doubled the recipe recently and it worked out perfectly.
these sound so delicious! I was hoping you could clarify the measurement for the cocoa…is it 2 TB plus 4 tsp or do you mean 2 TB equals 4 tsp?
Sorry, I’ll fix up the recipe card. It should read 2 TB (each TB is equal to 4 tsp, so its a total of 8 tsp)
1 tablespoon is 3 teaspoons (not 4)?
Hello Kate, not in Australia. An Australian tablespoon is 4 teaspoons, hence the reason I clarify here.
I made these cookies today and they taste super amazing!!!!! Thank you!
Thanks so much Chandani, so happy you enjoyed them 🙂
These are the most beautiful cookies I have ever seen! The chocolate and raspberry combination cannot be beaten 🙂
Thank you so much Alexandra 🙂
Marie, these cookies are so dreamy! Love the double dose of chocolate. And they’re soooo pretty with the raspberries!
Thanks Kelly 🙂
I do love a good shortbread cookie, and with an approaching festive season, this is a delightful recipe. I should certainly fill my version with dulce de leche…because why not?! Love this addition of raspberries – they look splendid!
I agree, why not 🙂