Chocolate Dipped Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies Recipe
Tender, buttery melt in your mouth shortbread cookies spiced with cinnamon and ginger and a hint of orange. Dipped in dark chocolate and decorated with fun holiday sprinkles. Makes 56 3” shaped cookies
Ingredients
- 200 G All purpose flour
- 75 g cornstarch
- 50 g ground almond flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger (can go up to 1 teaspoon if you like)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 175 g unsalted butter (softened but still cool room temperature)
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 2 egg yolks (From large eggs)
- 200 g dark chocolate (you will have leftover chocolate)
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
Instructions
- Baking time is approximate - depends on how many cookies you can get on your baking sheets at a time. I make this in 4 batches for 40 min total baking time.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, almond flour, spices and salt
- If using a stand mixer start creaming the butter to soften it. (If using a hand mixer, combine the sugar and zest first then start mixing the butter. This is so you can then add the sugar mixture as you are using the hand mixer for the butter instead of needing to stop the mixer then combine the sugar and zest.)
- Add the zest to the sugar and rub together with fingers to disperse the zest and release the orange oils into the sugar.
- Add the sugar mixture to the butter and cream together for a few minutes until light and fluffy, add in the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well between each additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed.
- Add in the flour mixture and mix on low until no more streaks of flour are seen.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and knead slightly. Divide the dough in half then wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes before rolling out and baking. See notes for making the dough ahead of time.
- When ready to bake, heat your oven to 350 Deg F. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough disks between sheets of wax paper to ¼ inch thick. Do not use flour.
- Cut out with 3 inch cutters ( trees or whatever you like). Slide the cut outs still on the wax paper onto a cookie sheet, and refrigerate or freeze for a few minutes until firm (If you have the space - might have to be done on a smaller baking sheet to fit)
- One firm, pop the cookies out and place an inch or two apart (they don't spread) on the parchment lined sheets. Bake for 10 minutes until the cookies are set and edges are just barely golden.
- Let cool for a minute on the baking sheet then carefully transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before dipping in chocolate and decorating. Repeat with all remaining dough, pressing the dough back together into a disk and re rolling as needed.
- Once all the cookies are baked and cooled they are ready to decorate.
- Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or in a microwave safe bowl with the coconut oil. Stir until smooth. Set out a baking sheet with wax paper.
- Transfer to a bowl that is deep enough to dip the cookies in halfway. I find that making more chocolate than needed helps so I am not having to tilt the bowl of chocolate back and forth to get the cookies covered.
- Place the dipped cookies on the wax paper lined tray and decorate with sprinkles. I just sprinkled them over the top - you can place them more carefully with tweezers if you want a design or pattern.
- Freeze the cookies to set up the chocolate then transfer the cookies to a freezer safe bag or airtight container. Use a sheet of wax paper between layers of cookies in the bag or container so they don’t stick to one another. Repeat until all cookies are dipped and decorated. Save the chocolate for another use.
- Cookies will store at room temperature up to a week, in the freezer up to three months.
Notes
Make the dough ahead of time - you can make the dough and form into discs, wrap tightly in plastic wrap then place in a freezer safe bag to either keep refrigerated for 3 days before baking or up to three months if freezing. Thaw to soft enough to roll out before baking. The dough should be soft but still cool.
If it’s your first time making this recipe then make sure you read all of the information in the main post as it includes lots of additional tips, as well as the answers to some common questions.
If you have any further questions then do let me know in the comments and or email me [email protected] and I’ll do my best to help.
If you choose to make substitutions to the recipe that I have not tested yet please do so at your own risk. I cannot guarantee the same results if you change a lot of the ingredients or method. However, if any of your changes are successful I would love to hear about it and will add to my recipe notes for other readers to try as well.