Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies

Shortbreads with big chunks of chocolate, rimmed in sugar and sprinkled with sea salt. Yassss! I am a big fan of a nice dense shortbread cookie. This was a new addition to our Christmas Cookie platter this year and I have made it twice since. Once with the addition of cocoa powder and a second time with cranberries but both times of course still with the big chunks of chocolate. It is a very versatile recipe but it is best to leave the big chunks of chocolate as the star of the cookie, especially when you get a flake of sea salt in the chocolate chunk. THE BEST!!

This Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookie recipe uses pantry staples so chances are good you will have all the ingredients and you can get right to baking! No need to get unsalted butter because salted butter is better in this recipe. If you need to soften up your butter just microwave it for 10-15 seconds to soften it up.

Mix the butter and sugars in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla give it another good mix and then slowly add in the flour until combined. Big pieces of chocolate are mixed in right in the mixer. It may seem a wee bit crumbly but that’s ok. The dough comes together in the mixer but will also need a good pressing with your hands to make the dough nice and dense. Once you have the dough in a dough ball that is holding together you can roll it into a log shape. Using plastic wrap or parchment paper wrap the dough ball up and use your hands to start to form the log shape. Once you have an approximate log shape you can start rolling it in the parchment/plastic wrap to form the size log that you want. Then just be sure to wrap up the loose ends of parchment / plastic wrap and pop in the fridge until firm. I waited about four hours and then let it warm up a few minutes before I started slicing the log. Using a serrated knife work slowly to cut through the dough. When you hit a chocolate chunk you just need to slow down to cut through the chunk of chocolate. If the dough starts to crumble, don’t worry just press the dough back together.

The best part of this recipe is the sugar coating around the edges (think fancy cocktail sugar rim) that crisp up while baking. Beat an egg in a bowl with a wide opening and roll the outsides of the dough rounds into the egg and then roll the dough round in the white sugar. I used regular white sugar but you could also use pretty colored sugar or a course sugar. This step gives a nice little unexpected crunch to the edges of the cookie.

Recipe

Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• ⅔ cup butter, softened
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ¾ cup chopped chocolate chunks
• 1 egg, beaten

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Beat butter, white sugar and brown sugar on medium high until light and fluffy.
• Slowly add flour and mix on low until incorporated.
• Add chocolate chunks and mix just to incorporate.
• Remove from mixing bowl and use hands to condense the dough into a ball.
• Put dough ball into plastic wrap and form into a log with your hands and by rolling it.
• Chill the plastic wrapped dough until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight).
• Using a serrated knife, carefully slice the log into ½ inch thick rounds. Slice slowly, especially when hitting a chocolate chunk. If a round falls apart just press the pieces back together.
• Beat egg and roll each dough round into the egg and then roll in the sugar.
• Place each round on the prepared baking sheet.
• Sprinkle with sea salt.
• Bake until edges are just beginning to brown. 10-12 minutes