You are going to be blown away when you see how many different recipes we can create
With this one Chocolate Shortbread Cookie Recipe you can make all the things!
A perfect chocolate shortbread recipe for cut out shapes because it doesn’t spread in the oven
Also doubles as a tart crust
Like I did here for my apricot frangipane tart!
A festive table centerpiece that is not only beautiful BUT EDIBLE!
Christmas Cookie Reindeer!
It’s also the very best cookie to use for homemade Oreos!
Not to mention using the excess as the base for my Caramel Cheesecake!
CLICK HERE FOR THE YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS COOKIE RECIPE!
*skip to 1:25 in the video for the shortbread cookie recipe
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Notes for Success:
For the royal icing to stick the Christmas tree together I used my vegan sprinkles recipe
The tree itself took 4 Large stars, 4 medium stars and 4 small stars from this cookie cutter set
It’s hard to say how many cookies this recipe makes since I don’t know the shape or sizes you are making
The same goes for bake time, but the cookies shown as round discs in the pictures took 15 minutes to bake
This dough will be enough for 1- 9″ tart shell or approximately 2dz ~2½” cookies rolled to 1/8″ thick
Many people think that Dutch process cocoa powder is the only way to go, this is not always true!
Click here for more information about Natural Cocoa Powder vs Dutch Process
This dough does not need to be chilled before rolling but it is a stickier dough than most
So you will need additional flour for rolling, just be sure not to use too much or it will make the dough lighter and show flour spots
I would even recommend to roll this dough in sifted confectioners sugar instead of flour
The excess scraps of dough can be rolled and re rolled again until there is none left
Raw cut out shapes of dough freeze really well and you don’t even have to thaw them before baking!
One note about the vegan butter, I have been using Country Crock olive oil butter sticks lately with great results
However I did not find much flavor come through in this recipe.
I will prefer to stick to the Earth Balance Buttery Sticks next time * not sponsored
Chocolate Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour 1 cup (125g)
- Cocoa Powder ¼ cup
- Baking Soda 1/8 teaspoon
- Confectioner's Sugar ¾ cup (90g)
- Vanilla Extract 3 teaspoons (15ml)
- Vegan Butter ½ cup + 2 Tbs (140g) *see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and confectioner's sugar together in the work bowl of your electric mixer, blend to combine everything together well
- Add the softened vegan butter and mix until it comes together to a crumbly dough.
- Add the vanilla extract and continue mixing until it comes together to a soft pliable dough.
- This may take a few minutes & seem like there is something wrong with the recipe, just let it mix.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour if possible~ otherwise you can roll it right away./
- It is a sticky dough and will need a good amount of flour to roll it without sticking. Be sure to brush off the excess flour before baking
- Roll out and cut to desired shapes & sizes and bake on a parchment lined sheet pan in a preheated 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes *see note above
Notes
Shortbread cookies will stay fresh after baking for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze for longer storage up to 2 months or freeze the unbaked dough for 6 months before baking! *wrapped very well to prevent freezeburn
Thank you. I’ve used your recipes before so I know this will taste great. I have been looking for a “chocolate sugar cookie” recipe to bake and icing. I this will work perfect.
Yes! this is perfect!
A substitute for vegan butter
Margarine
Is there a way to make this recipe non chocolate? I’ve been looking for a vegan plain shortbread recipe to make citrus shortbread stamp cookies.
Is there a way to subscribe to your blog? I love your cookbook and recipes, so I hope you can add a subscription option — unless I missed it?
HI Emily thanks! I don’t have the email sign up list anymore, It was a pretty big monthly cost (3rd party company handles the server for something like that) and I really don’t make any real money doing this. It’s sort of an expensive hobby at this point! LOL
But thanks!
Hey Gretchen!
How long will these cookies stay good for? I was really excited about the shelf life on your Christmas sugar cookies since I can FINALLY mail something I’ve baked to a friend in another state without worrying about them going bad if they’re delayed in the mail for more than 2-3 days, but I’m hoping to include a chocolate variation as well 🙂
Thank you!
Hey great and thank you too! I will update storage info on this one, woops!
here is the update::
Shortbread cookies will stay fresh after baking for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze for longer storage up to 2 months or freeze the unbaked dough for 6 months before baking! *wrapped very well to prevent freezeburn
Can I throw these ingredients in my food processor and mix? My kitchen aid just broke.
Yes I believe it would work!
Love your recipes. Would these cookies go soft if put on a buttercream cake 🤔 – thank you.
Yes they would eventually soak up the moisture from the buttercream. Not right away but by day 2 most likely