Chocolate Shortbread Hearts Recipe (2024)

When you unwrap the disk of hard dough, lay the sheet of plastic wrap over it, on your floured rolling surface. Take your rolling pin and whack it on the disk to help flatten it, before you start rolling it out. Don't hold back, it will be loud and the animals will run from the room.For more puffiness, when you beat the sugar and butter together, beat it until it turns white. It will take a little extra time, but your shortbread will puff like nobodies business. Novice, not for long.

For decades I've been rolling newly-mixed cookie dough between two sheets of wax paper, then chilling it on a flat cookie sheet. When it is thoroughly chilled, I place it on a counter, peel off the top wax paper and lay it back *loosely*, flip over the dough, remove the top sheet of wax paper, and use cookie cutters directly on it. Works very well. I gather up the scraps, re-roll between the same sheets of wax paper, and repeat. And I, too, do the same with pie crust.

This is a chocolate cookie - not shortbread, which follows a 1,2,3 formula. One part sugar, 2 parts butter, 3 parts flour. Example:1/2 cup (100 g) sugar1 cup butter1.5 cups flourTo make this recipe more like melt-in-your-mouth shortbread, just reduce the sugar to 100 g. The flour can remain the same because of the egg yolk, and the extra chocolate for dipping will make it plenty sweet.

For what it's worth...I made these with regular unsalted butter (upped it to 3/4 tsp) and non-Dutched cocoa and I forgot to roll 1/2 inch thick - mine are more like 1/4 inch. And they are STILL very good! Also I am a huge proponent of rolling the dough just after mixing, then freezing and THEN cutting. No bashing of the rolling pin, etc. I roll mine between two sheets of parchment (helps to buy the flat sheets, not the rolls - I buy on Amazon).

Chris, make sure your butter is room temperature before using. (You can bend the butter without breaking it). And swap your granulated sugar for confectioners. Using granulated sugar in shortbread will make it heavier and crumbly. Also, before refrigerating the dough, knead it for 3 minutes.Good luck!Bridget

I keep multiple types of butter: unsalted sweet cream butter, salted sweet cream butter, cultured butter (either variety I can find) and European high fat butter (again either variety). It can make a big difference in buttery baked goods. Delicate Madeleines, cultured or European; peanut butter cookies, salted sweet cream; The NYT’s Original Plum Torté, unsalted sweet cream or unsalted cultured) - now I need to pull some butter from the freezer.

Here's a nice overview of different butters... https://www.bonappetit.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-regular-cultured-and-european-butter

Forgot to add - some of the new ruby chocolate (now available at TJ'S), melted and put into a small plastic bag with one corner snipped, would make a gorgeous pink chocolate sqiggle on these hearts!

Trader Joes sells freeze dried raspberries. Also available on Amazon.

I agree with person who said to use powdered sugar. I make mine in food processor, takes literally 2 minutes. First blend/pulse all dry ingredients to combine them well, then add butter (Room temp) cut in 1/2 “ cubes, and pulse till dough comes together. Proceed as written, or just make a couple of two inch logs, chill, and cut into 1/2” slices. Lay out about 1” apart on parchment.‘

In an effort to make rolling out cold dough, well, less of an effort, I usually roll it out, then place it between plastic wrap and chill it. Any idea if this changes the dough in any way? (I do the same with my pie dough)

I'll start by saying that these cookies are delicious and I was really happy with the finished product - light, buttery, crumbly with an intense chocolate flavor. The process however, as many have noted, was a real plain. The dough is frustrating to work with & does not stick together well, especially as you're rolling it out. I would recommend using room temp butter. Definitely let the dough warm up before rolling out after it's been in the fridge.

You are correct about the recipe being 1 2 3. However that would be by weight. Not Volume. All baking ratios are by weight.

Delicious with flaky sea salt! Is a bit time consuming but easier to do over a few days. I flattened the dough into a disc (about 2 in thick) before chilling then had to let it thaw a little before I was able to roll it out.

I made these per directions, yesterday. I weighed the ingredients and the dough came out fine. The cookies taste wonderful, but they are delicate. Once you dip the cookies in chocolate, place on paper versus wire rack as when the chocolate hardens, they will stick and are easier to remove from paper. (The recipe noted this, I thought wire rack would allow for drips-live and learn!)I used crushed peppermint & red sanding sugar to decorate. They are quite festive! Thanks, Melissa for the recipe.

Making these cookies and the dough comes out of the refrigerator like stone. No way to roll this rock! I like the info about just rolling before refrigeration or making logs and cutting them. Any suggestions for getting a workable dough?

Could not find freeze dried raspberries...used red sprinkles instead!

Delicious and a big hit. Before chilling, form that disk into something that's just a little more than 1/2 inch thick, which reduces the time needed to roll it out before the dough gets sticky.

Followed the recipe and the proportions were great. Rolled out the dough before refrigerating and followed the guidance on thickness. Dough is a little fragile, but not terrible. Great recipe!

I make these often. They are very good. I don’t roll them and cut them out. I cut the dough in half. Roll each half into a log before refrigerating. When cold, I slice them into 1/4 in disks and bake. It is much easier. The only time I use the rolling and cutting out method is if I want the heart shape.

I really enjoyed this recipe and its results. A couple of changes I made:Before refrigerating:1. divided the dough into 4 balls between 2 sheets of parchment paper2. rolled out each ball to the thickness (thinness) desired 1/8 inchThese cookies came out tasty, some are indeed a bit fragile when dipping in chocolate. Allow cookies to cool slightly on the cookie sheet before removing- this will reduce breakage

I only had one stick of salted European style butter, so I added 1/8 tsp salt (for 1/4 tsp all day) to make up for the one unsalted stick. Also added 1/8 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp espresso grounds, and 1/4 tsp vanilla. Definitely not a shortbread cookie, but it punched up the chocolate flavor nicely, and the baking powder gave them a tiny rise. Drizzled melted white chocolate instead of dipping half after reading the comments, went with the freeze dried raspberries, and loved the results.

I made these and changed the ratios slightly in order to have a real shortbread ratio of 3-2-1. I used powdered sugar as I always do with shortbread / sablés. I used 1/4 teaspoon salt instead of 1/8 and added 1/8 tsp of cayenne which really made the cocoa shine. As for the glaze, I dipped some of the cookies in white chocolate and some in dark chocolate and for the topping, I used crushed freeze dried berries from Trader Joe’s on some and chopped toasted pistachios on others. So good!!!

First time making shortbread. This dough is a pain but it worked out in the end! It is so crumbly. I weighed the ingredients and it barely came together. When time came to roll it out I had to let it sit for a long time, otherwise it just fell apart. Be patient, the final product is delicious!

This is a terrific recipe—everyone I’ve shared the cookies with remarks on how special they are. Swapping in peppermint extract makes them delicious chocolate mint cookies.

According to Spruce Eats in ‘Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder Substitutes’ you can add 1/8 teaspoon baking soda per 3 Tablespoons of regular Cocoa powder to neutralize it as if it was Dutch Processed. For the 1/2 cup of cocoa used in this recipe that should be 1/3 teaspoon.

these are delish and would be so nice on Valentine's Day But did not have heart cookie cutter and it was not Valentine's day so I rolled it like playdough on parchment into a 2 in wide log about 11 inches long - Refrigerated, then cut circles, baked, cooled, dipped - Easy and delicious - no matter the shape

I followed the recipe exactly and they were even more chocolate-y and divine than I thought they'd be - worth all the rolling and chilling! I did add a couple teaspoons of coconut oil to my melted chocolate to thin it out, per another commenter. The dehydrated raspberries were pretty and a fun flavor punch. I think I'll try the pistachios or sea salt next time, or mix it up.

What is the benefit of refrigerating twice? I rolled out the dough 1/2" thick between parchment paper right after mixing ingredients together, then refrigerated for 30 minutes before cutting out cookies. They didn't seem to puff while baking but taste good. I found the dough to be difficult to work with; however, the results look very impressive. I am wondering how my cookies suffered without the 2nd refrigeration.

This is really delicious, but I wonder why there is no vanilla or almond extract in the recipe. It went together very well, and the cookies look just like the photo. Next time I will add at least a quarter-teaspoon of almond extract to the egg yolk, which will really make them super-delicious. Great recipe, thank you Melissa!