Espresso shortbread cookies are great for snacking and gift-giving! I am a sucker for anything coffee. There are very few things in the world that I care to be snobbish about, and coffee is one of them. I’d rather skip coffee than subject myself to a horrid cup of joe. But with these cookies… my sweet tooth and my coffee tooth are plenty satisfied! Buttery, crumbly, delicious, and perfectly bittersweet with a no-holds-barred coffee flavor, these Espresso Shortbread Cookies deliver on their promise! You can also check out my coffee layer cake for another popular coffee dessert on the blog.
Plain shortbread cookies or espresso shortbread cookies?
If you like shortbread cookies and if you like coffee, then these chocolate dipped espresso shortbread cookies are a MUST try! These cookies aren’t pretending when it comes to the coffee flavor either. Have them plain, or dip them in chocolate – either way, these coffee shortbread cookies are a treat. I have previously shared my classic recipe for making easy shortbread cookies with plenty of tips to perfect these light, crumbly, buttery cookies, and my classic chocolate shortbread cookie recipe. So today, I’m going to show you how to adapt that shortbread cookie recipe to make these espresso shortbread cookies.
Brewed coffee or instant coffee?
Since shortbread cookies are made with butter, sugar and flour, I wanted to minimize the addition of extra liquid, since that can interfere with the cookie texture. So to keep it simple, I used instant coffee (or instant espresso). In place of the vanilla extract, instant coffee is dissolved in a small amount of water and then added to the butter and sugar mix. But I also add EXTRA instant coffee granules along with the flour, because I want a robust coffee flavor for these espresso shortbread cookies. This also results in little specks of coffee in the shortbread cookies, which don’t hurt in terms of looks and flavor either! 🙂
How to choose ingredients for shortbread cookies
Check out my classic shortbread cookies post to find out why it’s important to use good quality ingredients to make great tasting shortbread cookies. The main flavor comes from the butter, so it goes without saying that you need good quality butter. I also prefer to use unsalted butter, because the flavor is better, and I can also adjust the amount of salt to my liking then. If you have European butter, then that’s the best kind to use. But any good quality supermarket brand works too. For sugar, I use a good quality white cane sugar for these chocolate dipped espresso shortbread cookies. If you like the flavor of brown sugar, you can use 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 white sugar as well. I prefer using a fine white sugar (like caster sugar), since it’ll dissolve more readily in the butter.
How to make espresso shortbread cookies
First step is to dissolve the instant coffee in the smallest amount of water. This espresso extract is quite bitter, so don’t be tempted to taste it! Secondly, cream the butter, sugar and the espresso extract. It’s important to make sure the butter and sugar mix is really creamy, and that the sugar is mostly dissolved. This shouldn’t take more than 2 minutes in a stand mixer. Once the butter and sugar are creamed well, the flour can be added. I also like to add an extra teaspoon of instant coffee at this point. This is optional however. Make sure to form a dough without over-mixing the flour. The more you mix, the more gluten will develop, making the cookies less crumbly, and more chewy. Not good.
Tips for making perfect espresso shortbread cookies
After you make the shortbread cookie dough, you need to let it chill and rest a little before rolling it out. This is because the dough at room temperature is too soft and difficult to roll out, and won’t hold its shape. Here’s where this clever method to roll out the cookie dough comes in handy. Place the cookie dough in a 1 gallon ziploc bag (12 x 12 inches), and roll the dough to an even thickness while it’s inside the ziploc bag. It’s important to make sure it’s rolled out to an even thickness of about 3/8 inch. I prefer my espresso shortbread cookies to be a little thinner than regular shortbread cookies. Once the dough is rolled out inside the ziploc bags, carefully place the bags on a FLAT SURFACE (like a cookie sheet or a sheet pan). Keep it in the fridge to completely chill the dough. You can even leave it overnight as well. Finally, when you’re ready to bake the cookies when the dough is chilled. Carefully cut the plastic bag to remove the chilled, rolled out dough. Then it can be cut into shapes and baked. Make sure the cookies are nice and chilled before baking, because this will prevent the cookies from spreading as they bake.
To dip or not to dip?
If chocolate dipped shortbread cookies are that much more fun than regular shortbread cookies, same goes for chocolate dipped espresso shortbread cookies! You can use either white chocolate or milk chocolate for a sweeter option, or bittersweet chocolate, which is my personal preference.
How to serve espresso shortbread cookies?
With a cup of coffee, of course! 🙂 Or a glass of milk! These are perfect as a snack, and for gift-giving too! I actually made a big batch of these last Christmas and gave them out to my neighbors. Nothing like a delicious plate of buttery, crumbly, shortbread cookies to charm a grumpy neighbor. If you liked this espresso shortbread cookies (chocolate dipped espresso shortbread cookies) recipe, don’t forget to subscribe for new (and free) recipes by entering your email address in the subscription box below the recipe card (and get all these recipes delivered straight to your inbox), so you don’t miss out on a thing. You can find me on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, and YOUTUBE too.
Other coffee recipes you may like,
Brown Sugar Oat Milk Shaken Espresso Mocha Genoise Cake Coffee Creme Caramel Nutella Espresso Frappucino Mocha Frappuccino/ Coffee Slushie Iced Coffee Popsicles
Other cookie recipes you should try,
Easy Shortbread Cookies (The basic shortbread cookie recipe for beginners) Chocolate shortbread cookies Juniper berry chocolate hazelnut cookies Chocolate Chip & Cranberry shortbread cookies
EQUIPMENT I USED FOR THIS RECIPE
Stand mixer or Hand mixer – I use a KitchenAid stand mixer, and also have a kitchen aid hand mixer. 2 x Sheet pans – You can chill one batch, while the other is in the oven. Ensuring better results without wasting time between batches. I love this Nordic Ware pans or these USA Pans. Sharp knife and Fork – to cut and dock the cookies. Gallon ziploc (10 inch x 10 inch) – It’s easy to roll out the dough inside ziploc bags. Rolling Pin – A heavy rolling pin to ensure even thickness when rolling out dough. Heat proof bowl – to melt chocolate
