Bouchon Bakery Shortbread Cookies

Bouchon Bakery Shortbread Cookies - they are so simple, yet they can be so elegant, and they are perfect for a simple dessert, a snack, or for gifting. 

These shortbread cookies are a magical combination of flour, butter, sugar, vanilla bean paste, and kosher salt. You can make the dough in advance and refrigerate or freeze it, making baking ahead that much easier. The baked cookies can also be frozen. 

Cornmeal Sablés | Sweet Corn Cookies

Sablés are are French shortbread cookie (pronounced "SAB-blay"). They are sweet, buttery, and crumbly. They're very hard to resist. 

The flavor of these cookies is reminiscent of a mildly sweet cornbread but with the crunchiness of a butter cookie. From what I understand, the difference between shortbread cookies and French sablés is the inclusion of eggs or egg yolks in the French version. 

Buttery Ginger Shortbread Cookies

These buttery ginger shortbread cookies are crispy and crumbly, and are flavored with both candied ginger and vanilla. 

A wonderful thing about these cookies is that you can make them on impulse! No chilling of the dough is required. Okay, you do have to let the butter reach room temperature, but if you cut it into pieces, it reaches room temperature pretty quickly.

Meyer Lemon Vanilla Shortbread Cookies

These soft and tender Meyer lemon vanilla shortbread cookies have a mild lemon and vanilla flavor. They are perfect for an after school treat or with afternoon tea.

These lemon vanilla cookies are a little softer and more airy and cake-like than your typical shortbread cookie. They contain some cream and baking soda, which is unusual for a shortbread. 

Shortbread Jam Cookies with a Streusel Topping

Shortbread jam-filled cookies with a streusel topping....  French vanilla sablé dough topped with jam and ringed with a buttery cinnamon vanilla streusel. 

My favorite type of cookie is anything shortbread or sablé. Some of my favorites include pecan butterscotch shortbreads, hazelnut shortbreads, cornmeal sablés, and lemon vanilla shortbreads. 

Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies with Nutella Filling

 If you are looking for cookies for Santa, these Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies with Nutella Filling would totally fit the bill. 

These little hazelnut shortbread sandwich cookies are fabulously easy. Just make the dough, form it into a log, refrigerate it, and, when you are ready to make them, slice the dough and bake. Next, sandwich the cookies together with a dollop of Nutella in the center. 

Pecan Butterscotch Shortbread Cookies

These pecan butterscotch shortbread cookies, loaded with chopped toasted pecans, chopped milk chocolate, brown sugar, and butter, plus a secret ingredient, are soft and tender.

This post and recipe were created for Christmas Cookies Week! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.

These pecan shortbread cookies will call your name from the cookie tin, enticing you back for "just one more."

Easy Slice and Bake Lemon Shortbread Cookies

These easy slice and bake lemon shortbread cookies possess the crumbly melt-in-your-mouth texture of traditional Scottish shortbread.

The dough for these lemon shortbread cookies takes just 10 minutes to measure and mix. Once you've mixed the dough, you wrap it and refrigerate or freeze it, where the dough sits ready to slice and bake when you have a cookie emergency.

Cranberry-Almond Shortbread Tart

This cranberry-almond shortbread tart features a shortbread crust flavored with almonds and cornmeal, and filled with a tart homemade cranberry jam brightened with lemon juice and apricot jam.

This cranberry tart is easy to make ahead. First, you can make the dough and refrigerate it up to two days or freeze it for up to two weeks.

Pretzel and Potato Chip Cookies with Butterscotch Frosting

I adore the salty sweet flavors of these Pretzel and Potato Chip Cookies with Butterscotch Frosting.

These cookies are loaded with crushed pretzels and potato chips, and the frosting on top has a delicious butterscotch flavor.

Chocolate Tart with a Shortbread Crust

This chocolate tart with a shortbread crust is so rich and decadent. Picture a layer of shortbread, topped with a layer of creamy bittersweet chocolate, and a layer of chocolate whipped cream. 

This creamy bittersweet chocolate tart is also super easy to make. The shortbread crust comes together with a quick mix with your fingertips, and the chocolate filling takes about five minutes to mix and pour into the cookie-lined tart pan before baking.

Spiced Pumpkin Sablés with Pumpkin Seed Streusel

These Spiced Pumpkin Sablés begin with a cinnamon sablé, are topped with a pumpkin and cream cheese mixture, and then sprinkled with an amazing pumpkin seed streusel. 

These cookies begin with a butter cookie dough, then a layer of pumpkin cream cheese, and finally a layer pumpkin seed streusel.

Espresso Chocolate Sablés

These Espresso Chocolate Sablés are filled with the rich flavor of coffee and chocolate, and have a wonderful crumbly texture. 

Sablés you ask?  A sablé is the French shortbread! It's just fancier because of the name... and maybe a little more grown up.

Demerara Shortbread Cookies

These Demerara Sugar Shortbread Cookies have a wonderful faint salted caramel flavor that will call you back to the cookie jar all day long.

Demerara sugar you ask? It is a coarse, large crystal raw sugar that is native to Guyana. Unlike brown sugar, it is not flavored with molasses, but is naturally golden brown.

The edges of these cookies are rolled in the sugar before baking, and then the sugar melts and hardens to create a lovely rich tasting coating.

Lime Meltaways

These Lime Meltaway cookies are super easy to make. I made the dough in advance, and baked the cookies the next day. You can also make the dough and freeze it, then slice and bake the cookies when "needed," making them the perfect cookie for gifting.

What is a meltaway cookie, you ask? It's a butter cookie made with powdered sugar and cornstarch (you could also use tapioca). The cookie is incredibly crumbly, so when you take a bite, it kind of "disappears" in your mouth, in a tasty "what was that wonderfulness?" sort of way.

I know there's a bite missing. Someone had to make the sacrifice so you could see the interior of the cookie. It's a tough job.

While these were made with lime, you could substitute lemon. orange, or grapefruit, or any combination of citrus. You could also just go with vanilla or chopped pecans if you prefer. We're flexible around here.

There are many ways to coat the cookies with the powdered sugar. You can place the cookies in a plastic bag with the powdered sugar and shake to coat them, dredge them in the sugar in a bowl, or sift the sugar over the cookies. I ended up dredging the cookies in a bowl, and then sifting more sugar over them.

If you're wondering about the little cups, I used these.

This post is part of the Secret Recipe Club Cookie Carnival. Sixty (yep, sixty!) of us have been randomly assigned another blog from which to make a cookie recipe (big thank you to Sarah of Fantastical Sharing of Recipes for putting this together). I was assigned Grandma Loy's Kitchen.  She has three children and three grandchildren, and has been married to the love of her life for over 50 years. Just like me, she enjoys reading cookbooks like novels. I'm with you, Loy!

After the recipe for this cookie, you will find links to dozens of wonderful cookie recipes.

Lime Meltaways Recipe

Adapted from Grandma Loy's Kitchen, adapted from Martha Stewart.
Makes 48 cookies

Ingredients

12 T unsalted butter
1 C powdered sugar, divided
Zest from 3 large limes
2 T fresh squeezed lime juice
1 T vanilla
2 Cups minus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, cream the butter and 1/3 C powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add the zest, juice, and vanilla, and mix until smooth.
2. Whisk the flour, cornstarch, and salt together, and add to the mixing bowl. 
3. Mix on low until the flour is just incorporated. 
4. Divide the dough in half, and shape into two 1 1/4 inch diameter logs. Wrap the logs in wax or parchment paper, and then wrap in plastic wrap (see note above about paper towel holders).
5. Refrigerate for at least an hour, and up to 24 hours. The dough can also be frozen and used up to two months later.
6. Preheat the oven and line two baking sheets with parchment.
7. Slice the logs into 1/4 inch disks and place them on the parchment, about 1 inch apart. 
8. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 15 minutes.
9. Let the cookies cool slightly on a wire rack, and then dredge, shake, or dust with the remaining powdered sugar while they are still warm.
10. Keep in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

An InLinkz Link-up

Jalapeño Cheddar Coins

The dough for these Jalapeño Cheddar Coins is so easy to make ahead and freeze. When you are ready to serve them, just slice and bake! Super easy. Super delicious.

These are really tasty and are perfect with cocktails or wine.

Jalapeño Cheddar Crackers

Ingredients

2 C all purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1/8 tsp baking powder

14 T cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes

5 oz extra sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

1 T minced jalapeño

1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder

3 T ice water

1 egg beaten with 1 T milk for egg wash

Sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Pulse the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor. 
2. Add the butter and pulse a few times until the mixture is a coarse meal. 
3. Add the cheese, jalapeño, and chili powder and pulse. 
4. Add the ice water and pulse until the dough starts to form a ball. 
5. Pour the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and form it into a 14 inch log. Wrap with the plastic wrap and refrigerated for at least an hour. 
6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
7. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
8. Cut the dough into 3/8 inch slices and place them on the parchment. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
9. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 12 to 15 minutes. 

Makes about 32 cookies. 

Recipe slightly adapted from Barefoot Contessa Foolproof. 

Chocolate Hazelnut Sablés

I'm pretty excited about these Chocolate Hazelnut Sablés.

First, I figured out how to put the accent over the "é."

Second, I was able to peel these hazelnuts so easily this time! I toasted them in a 325 degree F toaster oven for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan every 5 minutes (I actually started with frozen hazelnuts). Once I pulled the pan from the oven, I covered the hazelnuts with a paper towel, and started rubbing them together in the pan while they were still warm. In no time at all, the hazelnuts were peeled.**

These Chocolate Hazelnut Sablés may look like your average chocolate cookie, but the chocolate is very bittersweet, and the taste is quite sophisticated.

They are perfect with a glass of milk, a cup of coffee, or a glass of cabernet.

Chocolate Hazelnut Sablés

Makes about 55 cookies.

Ingredients

1 C hazelnuts, roasted and peeled**

1 C granulated sugar

2 tsp espresso powder disolved in 1 1/2 T warm water

5 ounces bittersweet (60 to 70 per cent) chocolate, chopped. 

6 T Dutch process cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 C all purpose flour

1 C cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a food processor with the metal blade, pulse the hazelnuts until roughly chopped. 
2. Add the sugar and espresso and pulse a few more times until the hazelnuts are finely chopped. 
3. Add the chocolate, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, and pulse a few more times, until the chocolate is finely chopped. 
4. Add 1 C of the flour and the butter and pulse until both ingredients are incorporated. This should only be a few pulses, until you cannot see bits of butter. 
5. Scrape the dough onto a large piece of wax paper and gradually knead in the rest of the flour.
6. Divide the dough in half and roll into two 11 inch logs. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours. Freeze the dough if you are not planning to use it right away. 
7. When it's time to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
8. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (I alternated two baking sheets and reused the parchment paper).
9. Cut the logs into 3/8 inch slices and place them about one and 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet. 
10. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 12 minutes. I baked mine for 10 minutes. They will be soft at first, but will firm up as they cool.
11. Cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes, and then cool on a wire rack. 

This recipe has been adapted from Nancy Baggett's Simply Sensational Cookies. It's a pretty amazing book.

Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

These cookies are super easy. They are normally made with pistachios on top, but because I brought them to a Saint Patrick's day potluck at work, I decorated them with these tiny little shamrocks instead. The pistachios are tastier, but these are definitely cuter. Sometimes style over substance will have to do. Plus, kids won't turn their noses up to sprinkles the way they might with nuts.

Éirinn go Brách says I.

Pistachio Shortbread Cookies 

Ingredients

8 ounces of room temperature unsalted butter

1 3.4 ounce box of instant pistachio pudding mix

1/4 C sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pistachio flavor or vanilla extract, both optional. I used vanilla.

8 1/4 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour

Shamrock sprinkles, or 3 ounces shelled and chopped pistachios

Instructions

• Preheat the oven and line two 8 inch square cake pans with parchment. Spray the parchment with spray oil.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, pudding mix, sugar, salt, and extract. 
• Add the flour and continue to beat until combined. It will be dry at first but should come together. I've not had to add any water, but if you need to, add up to 1 T to get the dough to come together. It should be quite stiff. 
• Divide the dough in two and press it into the two prepared pans. Prick the dough all over with a fork and lightly press the sprinkles or nuts into the dough. 
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The edges should be golden brown.
• When done, place a plate over the pan and flip out the short bread from the pan. Turn the squares back over onto a cutting board, and cut with a pizza cutter while they are still warm. 
• Cool the cut cookies on a wire rack. 
• Yield depends on how large you make your cookies. 

This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour's website. 

Linked to Katherine Martinelli

Chocolate Chocolate Chip and Coconut Shortbread Cookies

I know, I know. These look like brownies. They are actually shortbread cookies that contain some leavening, which is probably why they have this brownie "look." I probably should have cut them into triangles to make them look more shortbread-y. Nevertheless....

These are tasty and super easy. Think deep rich chocolate with the subtle nutty flavor of coconut. They were a big hit in my house.... and there were very few dishes to wash.

Recipe notes:
I used King Arthur Flour's Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa, which gives these cookies their deep color, but any Dutch process cocoa will work with this recipe.

I also used my (clean, thank you very much) hands to combine the dough even though the recipe suggests stirring the dough, because the dough would not come together when mixing with a spoon.

I used French fine sea salt that I picked up at Surfas Culinary District in Culver City (I love, love, love Surfas) when taking a bread baking class. This salt is amazing, but I'm sure it's not necessary. I just like to justify having purchased specialty ingredients.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Coconut Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

1 C unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tsp salt

1 C sugar

1/3 C (1 oz) Dutch process cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 3/4 C (7.25 oz) unbleached all purpose flour 

1/4 C mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 C finely chopped sweetened or unsweetened coconut

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Grease one 9 inch by 9 inch square baking pan.
3. In a medium bowl, cream the butter, salt, and sugar.
4. Add the cocoa, vanilla, baking powder, and flour, and mix until you have a fully blended stiff dough. This is where I used my hands. 
5. Add the chips and the coconut and mix. 
6. Press the dough evenly into the pan and prick liberally with a fork.
7. Bake the shortbread for 50 to 55 minutes.
8. Run a thin knife or spatula around the edges of the pan to separate the dough from the sides.  
9. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
10. Place a piece of parchment, plastic, or wax paper on top of the pan, and flip it over onto a cutting board. 
11. Cut the shortbread into 25 squares (a pizza wheel works nicely) while still warm (it will be too crispy if you wait until it cools).
12. Cool the cookies on a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour. The basic formula originally appeared in the book, King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. 

Toffee & Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies | Heath Bar Cookies

These Toffee and Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies are made from a not too sweet shortbread dough (only 1/2 cup sugar per three dozen cookies) and then studded with mini chocolate chips and toffee bits. Then they are dipped in semi-sweet chocolate.

The subtle hint of espresso in the vanilla shortbread, along with the chocolate chips and salty Heath Bar toffee chips combine together to make a cookie that both kids and grown ups in you life will love.