White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Mocha Shortbread. I LOVE shortbread and these are my fave.
This is a cookie recipe I have been making for Christmas for years and years now. Before this recipe I made them just as mocha shortbread and dipped in white chocolate. They have always been really good but I wanted to turn them it a peppermint treat. Peppermint mocha shortbread it is!
Before when I made this recipe I dipped them in a vanilla bean white chocolate, which had little flecks of vanilla bean in the chocolate. While delicious, not as readily available in stores as plains white chocolate. This time they get dipped in plain white chocolate then sprinkled with peppermint baking bits. Crushed up candy cane pieces would work well here too.
I love to use wax paper to roll out cookie doughs so they don't accrue more flour than necessary when rolling and re-rolling depending on the recipe such as a cut out cookie. These get rolled out to a six to seven inch dish about a quarter of an inch thick them frozen.
I keep them between the pieces of wax paper as I freeze. Easy to peel off the wax paper then set the dough discs on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Save the wax paper for when the cookies are to be dipped in the white chocolate.
I have made these peppermint mocha shortbread two ways before. Scoring the wedge lines in the frozen discs before baking then slicing again as soon as they are out of the oven. And only slicing into wedges as soon as they are out. The cooler they get before cutting the more likely they will crumble and not cut into nice, clean wedges. So don't skip this step whether you score them before or just cut as soon as they are out.
I keep everything frozen before baking, before dipping then again to set the chocolate. I found that these cookies hold up best when they are frozen first before dipping in the chocolate.
Tips for White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Mocha Shortbread success:
- Weigh out all your ingredients. You don't want to end up with too much flour or sugar. There is a definite balance between ingredient amounts in shortbread cookies
- Use peppermint extract not mint or imitation. You want that nice pepperminty candy cane flavor not toothpaste!
- Freezer is your friend. If you don't have a freezer big enough for a baking sheet that is fine. Use a flat plate, but still use the wax paper. You can dip just a few cookies at a time then freeze on the wax paper lined plate and repeat with remaining cookies after those are set, transferring the finished ones to an airtight container or resealable bag.
- Use a good quality white chocolate for these shortbread cookies. I use Lindt or Ghiradelli. I find these melt the smoothes and stay melted for a while. If the chocolate starts to firm up too much pop in the microwave for 30 seconds. You can melt the chocolate this way or use a double boiler. I have melted chocolate both ways and both ways work great.
- These cookies are best kept frozen
The recipe for these white chocolate dipped peppermint mocha shortbread cookie recipe is pretty straight forward. Just read the tops earlier in the post for best cookie baking success.
White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Mocha Shortbread
Rich, chocolaty peppermint mocha shortbread dipped in creamy white chocolate and sprinkled with candy cane baking bits.
Ingredients
- 11/2 cups all-purpose flour (6 ¾ oz/190g)
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch (⅜ oz/10 g)
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (1 oz/28g)
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder (⅛ oz/14g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (⅛ oz/2g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (8 oz/226g)
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 ½ teaspoon peppermint extract (5ml)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)
- 12-16 ounces White Chocolate bars (4-5 bars)
- 1 cup of crushed candy cane or peppermint baking bits
Instructions
Whisk together the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside.
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy 3-4 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time, beating well once it is all added together. Add in the extracts and mix again. Mix in the dry ingredients on low and mix just until blended, don’t over mix.
Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Gently shape into round balls.
Place one portion between two pieces of waxed paper and gently press or roll the dough into a 6-7” circle. Place on a baking sheet a few inches from each other. Chill for 20 minutes to an hour until firm. Can be frozen overnight.
When ready to bake, line baking sheets with parchment paper and heat oven to 350 Deg F.
Remove the dough discs from the freezer and place either one in the middle of a baking sheet if small, or two a few inches apart on a bigger baking sheet. You can score the discs into 8 sections now if you like. Sometimes the score lines disappear when baked. Bake for 14-15 minutes or until shortbread feels firm to the touch.
As soon as you remove from the oven cut into 8 wedges with a sharp knife. Slide cookie wedges still on the parchment very carefully from baking sheets onto wire racks. Let shortbread cool completely on parchment on the wire racks. Then freeze for at least 20 minutes before dipping in chocolate. I set them all on a wax paper lined baking sheet then set in freezer.
Melt white chocolate baking bars either in a glass bowl in the microwave in 30 second intervals or in a double boiler on the stove on over low heat. Carefully dip the wide end of the cookie wedge in the chocolate set on a wax paper lined cookie sheet, sprinkle with peppermint bits then freeze until set. Store in freezer in airtight container or baggies.
Notes
Freezing is the name of the game here for these cookies. From freezing the dough before baking to freezing before dipping and then freezing to set up the chocolate
. One thing I do is keep a baking sheet in the freezer with a piece of wax paper so as soon as I start to dip the cookies they will begin to set up when placed onto the frozen baking sheet.
These cookies are also pretty crumbly and they hold up better when frozen first before being dipped. I dipped a few that were only cooled after baking and as soon as I dipped they would break in half and half would fall back into the white chocolate. So definitely freeze the cut wedges first.
Also you will get some cookie crumbs into the melted chocolate and that is ok. The peppermint bits cover them up.
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