Espresso Shortbread Cookies

I love a good shortbread cookie. These cookies are a little bit less soft and chewy than your average cookie, making them perfect for dipping into coffee, hot chocolate, or a glass of milk. While I love all shortbread cookies, this dark chocolate and espresso shortbread cookie is by far my new favorite flavor combo. 

These cookies have a notable coffee flavor with a generous amount of dark chocolate for an incredibly balanced bite. The outside crust of the shortbread cookies has a crunch from the brown sugar coating. The best part about these cookies is that they’re not overly sweet, making them perfect for a breakfast treat, sweet snack, or a light dessert. 

With about 15 minutes of actual work, you’ll have your cookie dough rolled up to slice and bake into shortbread cookies. This cookie recipe is super easy, and the results are better than you could ever imagine. 

• How to make a shortbread cookie dough.
• The easiest way to get a perfectly cylindrical cookie dough log. 
• The proper way to measure out flour if you don’t have a food scale.  

If you love this recipe and want to continue to learn and grow as a baker, check out my free guide that gives my top secrets to instantly becoming a better baker. 

All-purpose flour: Flour provides the structure for your cookies. The best way to measure flour is with a digital food scale. If you aren’t using a scale, follow these steps to measure your flour accurately:

1. Fluff up the flour using a spoon. 

2. Scoop the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon.

3. Level the flour with a knife.

If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, use a 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour, like Bob’s Red Mill. 

Espresso powder: For the espresso powder, you want to use finely ground dark roasted coffee beans. These beans have that deep coffee flavor that you find in a shot of espresso. This star ingredient adds just the right amount of espresso flavor to these cookies.  

Take note that the espresso powder in this recipe is also divided to be used in both the dough and the coating.

Dark chocolate bar: Chop up your favorite brand of dark chocolate into tasty bite-sized chunks that you will distribute throughout the cookie dough. This cookie is loaded with dark chocolate, so you get a bitter-sweet piece in every bite.

Salt: For this cookie recipe, and most baking recipes, fine sea salt works best. The smaller the granule of salt, the better it will distribute throughout the dough.

Butter: Make sure to use unsalted butter for this recipe. If you have to substitute for unsalted butter, make sure to decrease the amount of salt you add to your cookies. Depending on your preference, you could eliminate the salt entirely if you’re using salted butter. 

You need the butter to be at room temperature so that it can smoothly incorporate into the dough. To know if the butter is the right consistency, gently press into it. If the butter slightly gives, you have the perfect consistency. 

Brown sugar: Compared to granulated sugar, brown sugar has a more nutty and caramelized taste. This is due to there being molasses in it. 

This will add a nicer depth of flavor to your cookies. If you are choosing to measure the brown sugar by volume instead of weight, be sure to pack down the sugar into the measuring device. 

Granulated sugar: Granulated sugar is used to balance out the stronger flavors of brown sugar while still adding sweetness to the cookies. 

Egg: The egg in this recipe is used as a wash to help bind the crunchy outer coating.

Vanilla extract: Just a tiny bit of vanilla extract is all you need to level up the flavor of your cookies. The vanilla provides another layer of flavor which helps cut through the coffee flavor for a beautifully balanced cookie. 

Maldon sea salt flakes: These large flakes of salt are my favorite way to finish off a batch of cookies. Garnish the cookies before they are baked to ensure that the salt sticks to the cookies. 

1. To begin, whisk the flour, salt, and 3 tablespoons (12 grams) of finely ground coffee beans in a large bowl. 

2. Once those dry ingredients are combined, grab another large bowl. On medium speed, use an electric hand-held mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment to beat the butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and ¼ cup (53 grams) of brown sugar. 

Let this come together until it is fluffy and light in color. This should take about 2 to 3 minutes. 

3. After the fluffy texture is achieved in the butter mixture, drop the mixer to a low speed, and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Leaving the mixer on low, continue to beat the ingredients until the flour has fully combined. 

During this step, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. This will ensure that all the ingredients are properly mixed together.

4. The dough should be slightly crumbly at this stage. 

5. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, and stir in the chopped dark chocolate bits with a silicone spatula. During this step, you can press the dough together to make it less crumbly. 

6. With your dough formed, line a clean work surface with a large piece of plastic wrap. Pour the dough out onto the plastic wrap. Use the plastic wrap as a tool now to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. 

7. Roll the dough into a log that’s about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in diameter. A good trick for an even log is to roll the dough back and forth along the counter. If there are any large pieces of chocolate trying to escape or sticking out, be sure to push them back into the dough. 

Need help getting perfectly round shortbread? Check out this super easy trick that will teach you how to use a bench scraper to get perfectly rounded dough.

With a perfect log formed, place the plastic-wrapped dough in the refrigerator until it becomes firm. This will take anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes. 

8. When the dough has just about firmed up, preheat your oven to 350º F (175º C).

In a small bowl or container, whisk the egg. On a shallow plate, mix the ground coffee and brown sugar. 

9. Remove the cookie dough log from the refrigerator. Using a pastry brush, brush the entire outside of the log in egg wash. 

10. Transfer the egg-washed cookie dough onto the plate with the ground coffee and brown sugar. Make sure the whole log is covered in the delicious coating.

11. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Move the log to a clean cutting board, and slice the log into ½ inch (13 mm) pieces. 

12. Place each piece on the baking sheet about 1 inch (25 mm) apart. Garnish each cookie with a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt flakes. 

13. Bake the cookies on the upper and lower racks of the oven, and rotate halfway through the baking process. The cookies will be ready in about 17–21 minutes or when the cookie edges have slightly browned and firmed up. 

Take the cookies out of the oven, and immediately transfer them to a wire cooling rack to rest until fully cooled.