White Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

A batch of White Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Shortbread Cookies makes for an elegant and festive holiday treat. Black and white with flecks of crunchy pistachio, these pretty cookies are ready to adorn your cookie plates.

I feel like I am always running from one holiday event to another, and I always want to bring something with me.

From 6-ingredient peppermint crinkle cookies to red & green M&M's cookie bars, I try to always have a few recipes up my sleeve that I can bake quickly and easily.

But other times, I really want to take things slow.

Whether I'm cozy inside with a holiday movie on while I bake or planning a cookie baking date with the boys, a cookie that takes a little more time is sometimes really welcome.

I love creating memories from occasions just like that.

White Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Shortbread Cookies recipe

Honestly, these White Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Shortbread Cookies are the perfect middle of the road. They're not the quickest recipe out there, but they don't take as long as these Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies (which are worth the time involved, let me tell you).

The chocolate shortbread dough comes together quickly and easily, and it needs to chill out in the fridge for at least an hour before baking.

If you're short on time, you can make the dough in advance so you can be ready to roll them out. Or if you're baking a few kinds of cookies at once, make this dough first and make something else while the dough rests so you can stay productive.

Once the cookies have cooled off from baking, you can decorate them if you like. You don't have to make complicated icing, fill up a piping bag or anything like that!

These chocolate cookies are simply dipped in melted white chocolate — which can be heated up (slowly) in the microwave.

With the half-dips of white chocolate, these cookies look a bit like black-and-white cookies. They have a totally different texture but are just as elegant!

Sprinkle them with pretty pistachios (or anything you like — a few ideas are below!) and wait a few minutes for the chocolate to harden.

Then they're ready to eat!

Ingredients

Shortbread cookies are easy to make and only require a few ingredients.

In fact, it is called "shortbread" because of the simple ingredient list that includes of the traditional ratio of one part sugar to two parts butter, giving the dough a high fat content and a soft, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture, not unlike shortcrust pastry.

Here's what you need to make this chocolate shortbread:

• unsalted butter
• confectioners' sugar
• pure vanilla extract
• Dutch-process cocoa
• all-purpose flour
• kosher salt

For the topping, you will need:

• white chocolate chips
• pistachios

Be sure to use powdered sugar because regular granulated sugar, AKA white sugar, will make the dough gritty and it will not hold together well when baked. If you don't have powdered sugar on hand, you can make your own from white sugar!

If you use salted butter, you should omit salt. However, I always recommend unsalted! I keep it on hand in my freezer so that when I get the itch to bake, I'm prepared.

For the cocoa, I like Ghirardelli's dutch cocoa There is a difference between dutch and regular cocoa, and it comes down to the acidic properties. Either is fine for this recipe!

How to make Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or using a hand mixer. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt.

Gradually add the cocoa mixture (about ¼ cup at a time) to the creamed butter. If you add it all at once it will make for a big mess.

Turn out the dough onto plastic wrap roughly in a disc shape and refrigerate for 60 minutes.

When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325º. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to ½ inch thickness.

Use a biscuit cutter (round cookie cutter) or another shape to punch out cookies. (As you can see, we like candy canes at our house!) Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Alternatively, you could roll it into a log shape, chill it in the fridge for an hour and then slice the cookies.

Personally, I find it easier to roll them out and punch them out! Then you can have more options for shapes as well. (My kids are partial to their dinosaur cookie cutters!)

Reform and re-roll dough to get additional scraps until all dough is cut into shapes.

Bake for 10-14 minutes, then let cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to wire cooling rack.

Allow cookies to cool completely before dipping!

White chocolate for chocolate shortbread cookies

When your cookies have cooled, you can prepare the white chocolate for dipping.

1. Microwave white chocolate chips for 20 second intervals, stirring between each interval. This is so you do not burn the sensitive white chocolate!
2. Once completely melted, dip cookies about halfway into white chocolate. Let any excess drip off back into the bowl.
3. Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top of the chocolate immediately. Do not wait too long or the chocolate will harden and the pistachios won't stick.
4. Place them back on the wire rack so any chocolate can drip off. You can also put them on parchment paper or wax paper.

Toppings for white chocolate dipped shortbread cookies

If you don't want to use pistachios, here are a few ideas:

• chopped almonds
• colorful sprinkles
• chocolate sprinkles
• sea salt
• chopped peanuts
• dried cranberries
• orange zest
• mini M&M's
• a drizzle of dark chocolate
• dried raspberries or strawberries

These pretty black-and-white chocolate shortbread cookies are super easy, melt-in-your-mouth (thank you butter!) cookies that have endless possibilities. If you want a different twist on a black and white cookie, try these Half Moon Cookies!

Let me know in the comments, or leave a review, if you try them! I'd love to hear how it goes.