Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies
Updated Feb. 17, 2025
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
- 1cup plus 2 tablespoons/255 grams total salted butter (2¼ sticks), cold (room temperature if you're using a handheld mixer), cut into ½-inch pieces (see note)
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
- ¼cup/55 grams light brown sugar
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2½cups/325 grams all-purpose flour (see Tip)
- 6ounces/170 grams semi-sweet or bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped (not too fine; you want chunks, not little shards)
- 1large egg, beaten
- Demerara sugar, for rolling
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
198 calories; 12 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 94 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer, beat the butter, both sugars and vanilla on medium-high till it’s super light and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes for a stand mixer; 6 to 8 for a hand mixer). Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl and, with the mixer on low, slowly add the flour, followed by the chocolate chunks, and mix just to blend. If necessary, knead the dough with your hands to make sure the flour is totally incorporated. At this point, the dough should be smooth and feel like Play-Doh with no pockets of flour.
- Step 2
Divide the dough in half, placing each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold the plastic over so that it covers the dough to protect your hands from getting all sticky. Using your hands, form the dough into a log shape; rolling it on the counter will help you smooth it out, but don’t worry about getting it totally perfect. (Don't be afraid to make them compact. Shortbread is supposed to be dense. That's part of why it's so good.) You can also do this using parchment paper, if you prefer, but plastic wrap is easier when it comes to shaping the log. Each half should form a 6-inch log, 2 to 2¼ inches in diameter. Chill until totally firm, about 2 hours.
- Step 3
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the outside of the logs with the beaten egg and roll them in the demerara sugar (this is for those really delicious, crisp edges).
- Step 4
Using a serrated knife, carefully slice each log into ½-inch-thick rounds (if you hit a chocolate chunk, slowly saw back and forth through the chocolate). If the cookies break or fall apart, just press them back together — the dough is very forgiving. Place them on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart (they won’t spread much). Sprinkle with flaky salt. Bake until the edges are just beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating them all.
- The cookie dough can be made ahead and stored, tightly wrapped in plastic, up to 1 week in the refrigerator, or 1 month in the freezer. Cookies can be baked and stored in plastic wrap or an airtight container for 5 days.
- If you have Alison's book, you might notice a ¼ cup discrepancy in the volume measurement of flour. That's because NYT Cooking uses a different standard metric cup measurement. Alison uses 145 grams; we use 128 grams.
Private Notes
Comments
"If you have Alison's book, you might notice a 1/4 cup discrepancy in the volume measurement of flour. That's because NYT Cooking uses a different standard metric cup measurement." What does this even mean?
Well. I didn’t want to do all that. So: Preheated oven. 1) Made recipe as written w weighed ingred. Stirred in the chocolate. 2) Prepared an 8” cake pan w butter, parchment paper on bottom, buttered the paper & slightly floured it. 3) Spread unchilled dough in prepared pan, then sprinkled w flakey salt and turbinado sugar. 4) Baked 15-20 min; removed from oven when very lightly browned. 5) Cooled in pan 15 min, turned out onto plate. Cooled another 5-10 min, cut into wedges. Mmmmmm!
Fantastic. I added the zest of one mandarin orange and doubled the vanilla, and they were perfect. If I don't win this office baking day I will face god and walk backwards into hell.
These cookies are amazing. I use milk chocolate. Super easy and fast to bake. They come out great every time.
Is it heresy to say that I love these with half the amount of chocolate? We had a happy accident where we didn’t have the full amount of chocolate, and we discovered this at the time of needing to add the chocolate to the dough. We continued to make the cookies as written but with the chocolate we had (90 grams) and we loved this ratio so much that we will continue to make it this way. Besides this change, these cookies are stellar. Because we used a hand mixer and room temp butter, and followed the 8 minute mixing directions. We let the logs cool in the fridge for 3 hours which seems like enough, but maybe overnight would yield an even better result.
I don’t have a stand mixer so I made this recipe using the classic shortbread way of cutting the butter into the other ingredients with a knife and then forming a dough. The first time I did this I accidentally added the egg to it and the cookies came out delicious. The next time I made one batch without egg and one with and I have to admin (my European heart calls me a traitor when I do) I liked the ones with egg more. They are closer to an American cookie than the classic shortbread but still very tender and crisp. For anyone who doesn’t have a stand mixer I thought I’ll share :)