This post may contain affiliate links.
Christmas Shortbread Cookies are buttery, melt in your mouth little squares drizzled with dark, milk, and white chocolate, and one easy batch makes about 100 bites for trays, tins, and neighbor gifts. I baked these on our first cookie weekend of December and Lizzie appointed herself the official drizzle inspector. They are the poppable little cousins of my classic shortbread cookies.
Five pantry ingredients become a hundred poppable cookies with a triple chocolate finish.
Christmas Shortbread Cookies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 14 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 59 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 100 cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 50kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Buttery vanilla shortbread under sweet dark, milk, and white chocolate
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, the dough is one bowl, simpler than my chocolate chip cookie bars
Quick Answer
Cream cold salted butter with powdered sugar and granulated sugar, mix in the vanilla, then add the flour in three batches until a soft dough forms. Press the dough evenly into a parchment lined 9×13 dish and chill for at least 30 minutes. Lift the slab out, cut it into half inch squares, and arrange them on parchment lined trays about an inch and a half apart. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 14 minutes until the edges barely turn golden, cool completely, then drizzle a third of the cookies with melted dark chocolate, a third with milk chocolate, and a third with white chocolate.
Jump to:
- Christmas Shortbread Cookies Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Christmas Shortbread Cookies
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Christmas Shortbread Cookies FAQs
- Other Recommended Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Christmas Shortbread Cookies
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Cold butter builds the crumble. Starting with cold butter slivers instead of softened butter keeps the dough short and sandy, which is exactly the texture shortbread is named for.
- Two sugars, two jobs. Powdered sugar melts into the dough for tenderness while a little granulated sugar adds the delicate crunch at the edges.
- Salted butter replaces added salt. With so few ingredients, the salt already in the butter seasons every bite evenly, no measuring required.
- Chilling makes clean cuts possible. Thirty minutes in the fridge firms the butter so the slab cuts into crisp little squares instead of smearing.
- A pale bake is the right bake. Pulling the bites when the edges are just barely golden keeps them tender, shortbread continues to set as it cools.
- Three chocolates cover every taste. Splitting the drizzle between dark, milk, and white chocolate turns one dough into three different cookies on the tray.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- One simple dough turns into about 100 adorable bite sized cookies.
- The triple chocolate drizzle makes the tray look like it came from a fancy bakery box.
- One batch makes around 100 bites, so they stretch further than my white chocolate peppermint cookies on a cookie tray.
Key Ingredients
Five pantry staples plus three kinds of chocolate for the pretty finish.
- Salted Butter: The flavor base. Use it cold and cut into slivers, the salt seasons the whole batch so nothing else is needed.
- Powdered Sugar: The tenderizer. It dissolves right into the dough for that signature melt in your mouth crumb.
- All Purpose Flour: The structure. Added in batches so the dough comes together without overworking.
- Vanilla Extract: The warmth. One teaspoon rounds out the buttery flavor.
- Chocolate Melting Wafers: The festive finish. Dark, milk, and white wafers melt smooth and set glossy without any tempering.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
The little squares are a blank canvas for whatever your cookie tray needs.
- Holiday sprinkles: Scatter red and green nonpareils over the drizzle while it is still wet.
- Citrus shortbread: Work a teaspoon of orange or lemon zest into the dough with the vanilla.
- Espresso drizzle: Stir a pinch of instant espresso into the dark chocolate before drizzling.
- Dipped instead of drizzled: Dunk half of each cooled bite into the melted chocolate for a heavier coat.
- Peppermint twist: Sprinkle crushed candy canes over the white chocolate drizzle before it sets, the same move that makes my white chocolate peppermint cookies so festive.
How to Make Christmas Shortbread Cookies
- Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the cold butter, powdered sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Mix in the vanilla, then add the flour in three batches, fully mixing each one in before adding the next, until a soft dough forms.
- Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line sheet trays with parchment. Use the parchment to lift the chilled slab out of the dish, cut it into half inch squares, and arrange them about 1 and a half inches apart on the trays.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges just barely start to turn golden. Let the bites cool completely on the trays.
- Melt the dark, milk, and white chocolate wafers in separate bowls. Drizzle a third of the cookies with each chocolate, then let them sit until the chocolate hardens before serving or packing.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Keep the butter cold. Cold slivers cream into a sandy dough that bakes into true shortbread texture, softened butter makes them spread.
- Do not skip the chill. Warm dough smears when you cut it, chilled dough slices into sharp little squares.
- Use a long knife and press straight down. A rocking cut drags the dough, a straight chop keeps the squares neat.
- Watch the edges, not the timer. The bites are done the moment the edges show the faintest gold, they firm up as they cool.
- Thin the chocolate if needed. A half teaspoon of coconut oil in each bowl makes the drizzle flow in fine ribbons.
- Drizzle with a fork or a zip top bag. Snip a tiny corner off a bag for bakery straight lines across the whole tray at once.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These Christmas shortbread cookies are built for the holidays, one batch fills cookie tins, teacher gifts, and the Christmas Eve dessert tray all at once. Tuck them into cookie tins next to my gingerbread bars for a holiday gift box that covers every craving.
A cookie board needs variety, and these little bites are the perfect filler between the big showstoppers. My nutter butter cookies add a peanut butter option to the same tray. A bowl of my Christmas trail mix keeps the snackers happy between cookies.
Serve them with coffee, cocoa, or cold milk, and stack a few in a cellophane bag with ribbon for the prettiest last minute gift. And a glass of my creamy Christmas punch is the perfect thing to dunk, sip, and repeat.
Christmas Shortbread Cookies FAQs
Yes, these are the ultimate make ahead holiday cookie. The pressed dough can chill in the fridge for up to a day before cutting and baking, and the finished, drizzled cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can also freeze the baked, undrizzled bites for up to 3 months and add the chocolate after thawing.
Spreading almost always means the dough was too warm when it hit the oven. The butter needs to be cold at bake time, so do not skip the 30 minute chill, and if your kitchen is warm, slide the cut squares back into the fridge for 10 minutes before baking. Measuring the flour accurately matters too, a short scoop leaves the dough too soft to hold its shape.
Chocolate melting wafers are the easiest option because they melt smooth and set firm and glossy without tempering. This recipe uses a quarter cup each of dark, milk, and white wafers so every taste is covered. Chocolate chips work in a pinch with a half teaspoon of coconut oil stirred in, but they stay slightly soft and can smudge in a cookie tin.
Once the chocolate drizzle has fully set, layer the cookies in an airtight container with parchment between the layers and keep them at room temperature for up to a week. The buttery flavor actually deepens on day two. Avoid the fridge, which can make the chocolate bloom with white streaks, and freeze undrizzled bites if you need longer storage.
Absolutely. The half inch squares are fast and give you around 100 bites, but the chilled slab also cuts cleanly into small rectangles, triangles, or diamonds. Tiny cookie cutters work too, just keep the shapes small and re chill the scraps before re pressing so the butter stays cold. Thicker or larger shapes will need a minute or two more in the oven.
Shortbread is naturally crumbly, that is its charm, but truly dry cookies usually come from too much flour or overbaking. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it rather than scooping straight from the bag, and pull the trays when the edges are barely golden. The butter is the only moisture in the dough, so an extra tablespoon of butter can rescue a dough that will not come together.
Made these Christmas shortbread cookies? Leave a comment and a star rating below, and tell me which chocolate drizzle disappeared first!
A pan of my green mint fudge adds color to the same cookie tin.
A pan of my walnut fudge with nuts rounds out the cookie tin.
My jammy oat crumble cranberry bars belong on the same holiday tray.
Christmas Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 ounces salted butter cold butter cut into slivers
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup melted dark chocolate melting wafers
- 1/4 cup melted milk chocolate melting wafers
- 1/4 cup melted white chocolate melting wafers
Instructions
- Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the cold butter, powdered sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix until well combined, scrape down the bowl.12 ounces salted butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Mix in the vanilla.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the flour in three batches, fully mixing it in before adding more, and scrape down the sides as needed.2 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- Press the cookie dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line sheet trays with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove the cookie dough from the baking dish by using the parchment paper to help lift it out. Cut into ½ inch squares.
- Arrange the cookie bites on the prepared sheet trays about 1 & ½ inches apart; they will spread a little.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes until they very, very lightly start to brown along the edges. Allow to cool completely on the tray.
- Once the cookies are cool, melt the different chocolates. Drizzle ⅓ of them with the dark chocolate, ⅓ with the milk chocolate, and the last ⅓ with the white chocolate.1/4 cup melted dark chocolate melting wafers, 1/4 cup melted milk chocolate melting wafers, 1/4 cup melted white chocolate melting wafers
- Allow them to sit until the chocolate has hardened and serve.
Notes
- Use cookie cutters for fun shapes if desired.
- Add dry ingredients gradually for a perfect dough consistency.
- For an extra kick, mix in a little bit of ginger or cinnamon.
- Let the baked cookies cool on a wire rack before decorating.
- Use melting chocolate wafers so the chocolate will be fully set.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
Follow @ThisSillyGirlsKitchen on Instagram and @danadevolk on Pinterest for more!
