Double Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies

Fudge. That’s what these double chocolate fudge shortbread cookies taste like. 

This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click through to make a purchase, you won’t pay anymore but I may receive a small commission, to defray the cost of all this chocolate. See Disclosure.

Double Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies–in addition to tasting of fudge are delicate and diminutive.
By diminutive, I mean super tiny. 

The recipe is from the Wall Street Journal.

Following the directions, one batch of cookies, when sliced were about the size of a quarter. I could fit the roll inside a paper towel tube.

A Troublesome Cookie

I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that this cookie is easy as pie. It ain’t.

Judging from the comments left on the Wall Street Journal article, this recipe is double trouble for some bakers.

Numerous people had trouble with the dough because it doesn’t form into a ball or clump of dough like you might expect. Instead you get a crumbly mess. The dough reminded me of making pie dough before you’ve patted the crumbs into a round of pastry. 

In fact, husband approached after I had dumped the dough onto the counter to manhandle it.

“What are you making,” he asked.
“Cookies,” I said. “I failed the technical.”

If you don’t get that joke, perhaps you haven’t seen The Great British Baking Show and its occasional disasters. 

A few WSJ commenters said they reduced the amount of flour in subsequent batches. You could do that if you want but the recipe will work as written. You just have to squinch the crumbles together into logs before chilling them.

But, don’t let this put you off. This is a worthwhile cookie and perhaps because of it’s high butter and (relatively) low sugar content at 1/3 of a cup, it lasts at least two weeks once baked. So, it’s a good cookie if you’re preparing a lot of treats say for a high tea and want to make a few things in advance.

How do I fix crumbly shortbread dough?

[easy-image-collage id=9247]

Scoop the crumbles onto the middle of a piece of plastic wrap maybe 12 by 12 inches.

Pull both horizontal edges of the plastic wrap together and compress the crumbly dough with your hands.

Shape and press and smooth until you’ve got a log of dough. This takes just a few seconds.

Put the log of dough in the refrigerator and to chill at least three hours, preferably overnight.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature. This way the dough is less likely to crumbly again while you’re slicing it.

Back to the recipe

I tweaked the recipe slightly by putting the cocoa powder in after beating the butter but before adding the sugar.

The WSJ would have you add the cocoa powder to the dry ingredients and add those at the end.
That’s fine, you can do that. But, I like to mix the flavorings with the butter in the beginning stages of a cookie dough life cycle. I think you get a richer flavor that way–similar to toasting nuts before using them.

Make it Your Own

What I love about this cookie is that the flavors are easily customizable. In fact there are at least 6 or 7 variations in the article. I even came up with my own variation-toasted pistachio white chocolate–which I’ll be sharing soon.

Serving Suggestions

Some of those WSJ readers complained about the tiny size. I get it. I made one roll of dough following the writer’s suggestions and the cookies were about the size of a quarter. That’s a bit too small. Meanwhile, the images that went with the article showed a much larger cookie. That’s frustrating when you’re expecting a cookie to look like the image but it’s actually just a fourth of the size.

 

Double Chocolate Chunk Shortbread

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 38 minutes

Butter packed shortbread cookies or sables taste like fudge in cookie form thanks to cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate chunks.

Print

Ingredients

• 11 tablespoons 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted room temperature butter
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon brand
• 1 and1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup sanding, decorative, sparkle
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

Instructions

1. Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to beat butter on medium speed until soft and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 
2. Add cocoa powder and mix for one minute or until well combined.
3. Add sugar and continue beating until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Add flaky sea salt and beat briefly to combine. 
4. Add flour and mix on low until flour is incorporated.  Dough will be crumbly.
5. Add chopped chocolate, stir until combined. Dough will be crumbly still.
6. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl to get all the butter combined into the dough.
7. Use a rubber spatula to put half the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Fold plastic wrap over dough and push the crumbles together to form a log. Repeat with remaining dough to form another log. Unwrap logs and roll in sanding sugar until evenly coated. Rewrap dough logs, twisting ends of plastic wrap tightly. Transfer logs to refrigerator and chill until firm and sliceable, at least three hours or up to 3 days. 
8. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove plastic wrap from dough. Use a sharp knife to slice dough into  rounds. Arrange cookies on parchment lined baking sheets, Bake 18 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets before transferring cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. Cookies keep for at least two weeks at room temperature.

I use a stand mixer for most of my cookies. You can get very fancy with mixers but I have a basic Kitchen-Aid Classic Plus model in white and I find it works well for most jobs. It’s also half the price of what the Artisan models usually run.

What are you baking?