Mint chocolate shortbread cookies are buttery and tender mint chocolate cookies dipped in melted chocolate. If you love thin mint cookies, you'll want to give these shortbread cookies a try!
Heather's recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Tender, buttery chocolate cookies coated in rich chocolate and sprinkles. Similar to your favorite thin mint cookies.
Yield: 30 cookies
Similar to: Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Butter - Unsalted butter and the listed salt can be substituted with salted butter if needed.
- Cocoa powder - Dutch cocoa or natural cocoa powder can be used in this recipe since there are no leavening agents involved.
- Peppermint extract - Can be substituted with vanilla extract if desired.
- Chocolate melting wafers - I recommend Ghirardelli or Mercken's brand melting wafers for best flavor. Chocolate melting wafers can be substituted with chocolate chips, but keep in mind that chocolate chips will not harden into a crisp candy coating like melting wafers do.
How to make mint chocolate shortbread cookies
- Cream together butter, sugar, and peppermint. Stir in sifted dry ingredients until a thick dough forms. Form into a disc and refrigerate.
- Cut dough in half. Return one half to the refrigerator. Roll the other one out on a flour dusted surface to ¼" thickness. Cut rounded edges to make a rectangle and then slice into 1x2" rectangles.
- Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 350F for 11-13 minutes or until the edges are set and middle is still soft. Cool on a cooling rack.
- Dip each cooled cookie in melted chocolate and immediately add sprinkles. Allow to set at least 1 hour.
Heather's Top Tip
For accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
Tips and tricks
Dough texture - Shortbread cookie dough will look a little different than your regular chocolate chip cookie dough. Your dough may look a little crumbly at first, but holds together when pinched between two fingers.
Dough looking crumbly? It sounds like too much flour was added to the dough. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and stir to incorporate. Add more milk as needed until the dough comes back together.
Use parchment paper - Greased cookie sheets cause your cookies to spread more than they should while baking. Instead, use a sheet of parchment paper or a reusable silicone baking mat.
Frequently asked questions
Shortbread cookie dough is very thick and crumbly, which in turn makes a very buttery, dense, and tender cookie. While your dough will look a bit crumbly while mixing, it should stick together when pinched between two fingers.
If your dough is so crumbly that it won't stick together, it is likely that too much flour was added to the dough. To fix dry dough, add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix until dough comes together.
To prevent crumbly dough, measure your flour using a kitchen scale rather than measuring with cups. If you're scooping flour out of a bin using the cup, this compacts the flour into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to the recipe. This makes the dough turn out dry and crumbly.
Yes. If you don't care for mint flavor, the peppermint extract can be substituted with vanilla extract instead.
To help keep cookies fresh for longer, place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. The bread will get stale while the cookies remain soft and fresh! Replace the bread slice as needed.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Mint Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (42 g) natural cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces (226 g) chocolate melting wafers
- sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, add butter and sugar. Using a hand mixer, beat until creamed and fluffy, about a minute. Add peppermint extract and stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Add flour mixture, half at a time, to butter mixture and stir until dough forms. Dough will be thick.
- Shape into a disc and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cut dough in half. Place remaining half back in refrigerator. Dust counter top and rolling pin with flour, then roll dough to ¼" thickness. Cut off rounded edges, creating a large rectangle. Slice dough into small rectangles, about 1 inch by 2 inches. Place on baking sheet.
- Bake for about 11-13 minutes, or until edges are set and middle of cookie is still soft. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing cookies from baking sheet. Remove to cooling rack and allow to cool completely before dipping.
- Place melting wafers in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring until melted.
- Dip each cookie halfway into chocolate and tap to remove excess. Place on wax paper or parchment and immediately add sprinkles before chocolate sets. Allow to set for 1 hour at room temperature, or place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Storage: Your cookies will keep for 3-5 days in a sealed container. To help keep cookies fresh, you can place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
- Freezing: Cookie dough and baked cookies freeze well, up to 3 months in a sealed plastic container or freezer bag. Allow frozen cookie dough to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling out.
- Tips: Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cookies, based on reader comments and questions!
These cookies taste as good almost 1 week later as they did on the first day… if not better. We dunked ours in candy cane instead of sprinkles and it was delightful. I think I would probably opt for a small square cookie cutter next time so they all look the same. I am not gifted with a knife 🙂
Candy cane sounds like a great idea! Thank you for the great review Kelley 😊
Love the mint and chocolate together!