Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookie Dippers are the perfect companion for a warm cup of coffee or cold glass of milk. These shortbread cookies are buttery, tender, and filled with chocolate chips. Plus, you need only 5 ingredients for this quick and easy cookie recipe.
You’re going to love this recipe for chocolate chip shortbread cookie dippers because they’re easy to make, with only 5 ingredients needed.
Plus, they’re incredibly buttery, tender, and filled with chocolate chips. What’s not to love?
Sliced into bars, they’re the perfect pairing with a cup of coffee, tea, or a cold glass of milk. Or, use cookie cutters to make any shape or size you’d like!
Properly measured flour
Properly measured flourShortbread cookies, while having a short ingredient list, can be difficult to master. If you’ve never had a shortbread cookie before, they have a different texture than a regular chocolate chip cookie.
Shortbread cookies are buttery, tender, and delicate. They don’t contain any leavening agents, so these cookies are dense and won’t puff up in the oven.
The most important part about making cookies (this applies to ANY recipe!) is the proper measuring of ingredients – especially the flour. To properly measure flour, spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then level off with a knife.
If you scoop directly from your flour container with your measuring cup, this compacts the flour into your cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to your recipe.
Extra flour causes shortbread dough to be crumbly, or chocolate chip cookies to be ‘cakey’.
I have added several screenshots from my video below to show the texture of your cookie dough.
Chilling your cookie dough
Your dough needs to be chilled in the refrigerator for a solid 45 minutes (or more) before rolling it out. After rolling and cutting into bars, I also like to refrigerate my cookies again before baking.
A chilled dough will spread less in the oven, which is what we’re looking for.
Ingredients
For this recipe, you’ll need room temperature butter, granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, mini chocolate chips, and salt.
Mini chocolate chips can be omitted for a more traditional shortbread cookie, or replaced with another flavor of baking chips or sprinkles.
Mixing your shortbread dough
First, you’ll cream together your butter and sugar. Then, you’ll add your salt and all-purpose flour. This may be difficult to do by hand – I like to use a hand mixer for this reason. Your dough will be very thick and crumbly.
Grab a bit of dough and pinch it together with your hands. If your dough will stick together and hold its shape, your dough is the proper texture.
Your dough should not be sticky or sticking to your hands. If it is, try adding up to 1/4 cup more flour. Last, add your mini chocolate chips and slowly press them into your dough.
Wrap your dough and refrigerate for 45 minutes. This will help create a firm dough with less spreading while baking.
Rolling dough and baking cookies
Once your dough has chilled, roll it out into about a 1/4″ thick rectangle, then cut away the rounded edges. Cut your rectangle into 20 bars (see my video for how I cut mine), then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.
If your dough has been out a while and has warmed up to room temperature, I highly recommend placing your baking sheet into the refrigerator for another 10 minutes. This helps to stiffen your dough and prevent spreading in the oven.
Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookie Dippers
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour measured using spoon and level method*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
- In a separate bowl, sift (or whisk) together flour and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix until a dough forms. Dough may look crumbly, but holds its shape when pinched between two fingers. Add chocolate chips and press into dough.
- Shape dough into a disc and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Dust counter top and rolling pin with flour, then roll dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut off rounded edges, leaving you with a large square or rectangle. Slice dough into long rectangles, about 1 inch by 4 inches. Place on baking sheet. ***If your dough has been out of the refrigerator for a long time at room temperature, I recommend placing the entire baking sheet back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to chill your cookies before baking. This will help your cookies keep their shape.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies begin to lightly brown around edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before removing from sheet to cool completely.
Equipment Recommendations
Video
Notes
- *It is extremely important that your flour is measured properly. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup using a spoon, then level off with a knife. If scooping directly from a flour container, the flour will get compacted into your measuring cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to your dough.
- Cookies will keep for 5-7 days in a sealed container. To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
- Raw cookie dough will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days. Cookie dough and baked cookies freeze well, up to 3 months in a sealed plastic container or freezer bag. Allow frozen dough to thaw for up to 10 minutes on the baking sheet before baking, or add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
These buttery cookies are amazing!!!!
These did not turn our right, way toooo crumbly. I think it will work better with 1 3/4 cups of flour. What do you think?
The most common issue I see with cookie recipe failures is the improper measuring of flour. With shortbread cookies, this causes the dough to be crumbly and dry. Did you read the section about measuring flour using the spoon and level method (in the post and also in the recipe card notes)? I’d recommend measuring your flour by spooning the flour into your measuring cup, then leveling off with a knife. When scooping the flour directly into the measuring cup, this compacts the flour into the measuring cup and adds up to 25% extra flour to your dough.
I’ve made this recipe dozens of times using the spoon and level method and the cookies have turned out perfectly every time.
Can you use a butter substitute? My husband can’t have dairy.
I haven’t tested this recipe with a butter substitute so I can’t say for sure. I’d take a look at this recipe which uses a vegan butter, it may work for you!
https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-shortbread-cookies/
Gorgeous!