Fill these chocolate shortbread sandwich cookies with your favourite frosting! We used peppermint vanilla with crushed candy cane edges.
This post first appeared on December 6, 2018, and was last updated November 28, 2020.
Aren’t these little chocolate shortbread sandwich cookies the cutest? Chocolate and peppermint is such a great holiday duo, but orange or coconut frosting sandwiched between the cookies would also be divine. The chocolate cookies themselves are sandy in texture, and not too sweet – a terrific compliment to your favourite frosting!
The amount of cocoa in the recipe is a suggested amount. It’s just enough for a light chocolate flavour, however, if you prefer deeper chocolate flavour, add another tablespoon or two of cocoa. For a pretty finishing option, you could also roll the cookie dough log in sanding sugar before you freeze it like we did for these pecan shortbread cookies. One of the best things about this recipe is you can keep the cookie dough log in the fridge or freezer, ready to slice and bake whenever you like!
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Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Ingredients
Method
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.
In another larger bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the flour-cocoa mixture to the beaten butter, a few tablespoons at a time, and continue to mix until all of the flour is incorporated.
The final chocolate cookie mixture will look very crumbly, however, the dough is actually quite pliable.
Line a work surface with a large piece of wax paper. Dump the chocolate cookie dough onto the wax paper and begin shaping it into a log with your hands. Roll the log, flattening the outside edges as you go, until smooth.
Move the cookie dough log down to the bottom edge of the sheet of wax paper, then roll the dough completely in the paper. Once rolled, twist the ends of the paper to secure.
Optional – Use scissors to cut along the length of an empty paper towel roll. Place the wrapped cookie dough log in the empty tube before chilling. This can help prevent a flat bottom from forming as the dough rests in the freezer.
Place the wrapped cookie dough log in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven and line a half sheet baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove the chilled cookie dough from the freezer and slice it into approximately 24 cookies.
Some of the chocolate cookie discs will be thicker than others, and some will be more round than others. This is totally normal. The cookies will smooth and round out a bit as they bake.
Evenly space all of the cookie dough slices on the prepared parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool the cookies completely on the sheet before sandwiching with frosting.
Optional – Once cooled, pair the cookies together with those of similar shape.
We used this vanilla frosting recipe as filling, then dipped the edges of the filled chocolate shortbread sandwich cookies in crushed candy canes.
Tips & Notes
The recipe as written yields about 12 chocolate shortbread sandwich cookies, using two chocolate cookies per sandwich. If you’d rather not make sandwiches, serve the cookies individually with a drizzle of dark chocolate or smear of frosting for a total of two dozen cookies.
The cookie dough calls for 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, yielding a light chocolate cookie. If you prefer a darker chocolate cookie, either add more cocoa, or add ¼ cup (25 g) of finely chopped dark chocolate like in this chocolate brownie cookie recipe.
Substitutions
For filling we started with this American-style vanilla frosting and substituted 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract for the vanilla extract. That being said, you could add any flavouring to the frosting base that you like. Coconut, orange zest, caramel, or coffee would all be terrific.
More Holiday Cookies
Brown Butter Sesame Seed Cookies
Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies
Stamped Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
Recipe
Chocolate Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Description
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- 2 Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Wax paper
- Rolling Pin
- baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ cup butter, room temperature to soften
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa. Set aside.
- In another larger bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the flour-cocoa mixture to the beaten butter, a few tablespoons at a time, and continue to mix until all of the flour is incorporated. The mixture will look quite crumbly, however, the dough is actually quite pliable.
- Line a work surface with a large piece of wax paper.
- Dump the chocolate cookie dough onto the wax paper and begin shaping it into a log with your hands. Roll the log, flattening the edges of it as you go, until it is smooth, and about 7-inches (18-cm) long.
- Move the cookie dough log down to the bottom edge of the sheet of wax paper. Roll the dough completely in the paper. Once rolled, twist the ends of the paper to secure.
- Place the wrapped cookie dough log in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325ºC (160ºC) and line a standard baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the chilled cookie dough from the freezer and slice it into approximately 24 ¼-inch (6-mm) cookies. Some of the cookies will be thicker than others, while some will be more round. This is totally normal. The cookies will smooth and round out a bit as they bake.
- Evenly space all of the cookie dough slices on the prepared parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes.
- Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool the cookies completely on the sheet before filling and sandwiching with frosting. We used this vanilla frosting recipe and dipped the edges of our cookies in crushed candy canes.
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