Name: Salted Dark Chocolate Espresso Shortbread Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 18 tbsp cold, salted butter; ½ cup granulated sugar; ¼ cup light brown sugar; 1 tsp almond extract; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tsp espresso powder; 1 egg; ¾ cup coarse sugar; maldon salt (to sprinkle on top)

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Run, don’t walk to make these rich, buttery-soft salted dark chocolate espresso shortbread cookies! Try out these cookies that have become our go-to dessert for parties.

These dark chocolate espresso shortbread cookies are filled with rich dark chocolate, a hint of espresso powder, rolled in coarse crystal sugar and sprinkled with Maldon salt. They are the perfect bite of salty and sweet that will keep you coming back for seconds (maybe even thirds and fourths)!

We love finding modern ways to remake classic recipes. When we think of shortbread cookies, we often think of our grandma’s cookie jar filled with plain buttery shortbread cookies. We are here to say again, that these are not your grandma’s shortbread cookies. These dark chocolate espresso shortbread cookies are an elegant twist on the classic shortbread cookies.

A couple years ago we were hosting some friends at our home and wanted to make something sweet to snack on. We are known for always bringing different types of homemade cookies to gatherings and we gave this one a try. It instantly became a favorite among our friends, and we have made it countless times since.

Try our glazed lemon shortbread cookies and matcha shortbread cookies.

salted dark chocolate coffee shortbread cookies

What’s in the Recipe?

Salted Butter: The salted butter can counterbalance the sweetness of the sugars in the shortbread cookie. We love a salty sweet combo!

Sugars: Brown and granulated sugar are used in this recipe. After baking, the brown sugar adds a bit of a caramel flavor to the dough with is so delicious!

Almond Extract: It’s our little secret!! Almond extract is the key ingredient to almost any cookie we make. Every time we add almond extract to cookies, we have people calling for the recipe. It adds a subtly nutty flavor. But, be careful, a little goes a long way!

Eggs: An egg wash is used for adding a course sugar crust to the cookies right before baking.

Course sugar: The shortbread dough log will be rolled in course sugar before baking which elevates the texture and makes them so decadent!

Dark Chocolate chunks: We love to rough-chop a dark chocolate bar because there will end up being little flakes of chocolate all throughout the dough. Dark chocolate chunks will work just as well too.

Espresso powder: Espresso powder is a secret ingredient in these cookies to help accentuate the chocolate flavor!

Maldon Sea Salt: We love a little bit of sweet and salty. A light sprinkle of maldon salt on each cookie breaks up the richness of the chocolate.

How to Make the Dough

Like many cookie recipes, you start by creaming the butter and the sugars with an electric mixer. You will want to make sure your butter is cold so it doesn’t become greasy! If needed, place your sticks of butter in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to get them extra cold.

Once the butter and sugar are creamed, add in the almond extract and combine. This is the part where we started to get hungry, because the almond flavoring makes the dough so fragrant and yummy-smelling.

Next, in a medium bowl, add flour and espresso powder. Whisk until incorporated and add to the mixing bowl. Mix until just combined and careful not to over-mix the batter. Scrape the bowl with a spatula to make sure that excess flour and butter are combined. Lastly, add in your chocolate chunks and stir into the dough mixture.

Dough Prep Before Baking

Place the formed dough onto a sheet cling wrap and mold the dough into a log. Wrap in the cling wrap and let it chill in the fridge for 2 hours or in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Next, preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare the dough for baking. Once you take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap from cling wrap and brush with the beaten egg wash. In a separate bowl, pour the course sugar. After the dough log has been washed with egg, roll in the course sugar. Cut half-inch slices of dough for each cookie. Lastly, place the dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, sprinkle with maldon salt and cook in the oven for 12-14 minutes.