If shortbread and a brownie had a baby they might come up with a delicious buttery cookie like these Chocolate Walnut Shortbread Cookies!
If you ask me dark chocolate and walnuts were made for each other. These easy slice and bake chocolate walnut shortbread cookies are like little brownie bites, only not quite as sweet, with the slightly bitter walnut flavor holding its own next to the robust deep chocolate. They also have that famous shortbread texture that melts in your mouth.
what’s in this post
ingredients for chocolate walnut shortbread cookies
Shortbread is a traditional Scottish treat made with 3 basic ingredients: sugar, flour and butter. The absence of eggs and leaveners, such as baking powder or baking soda, contributes to the dense, crumbly texture characteristic of shortbread and gives it its tender, melt-in-your-mouth quality.
- salted butter
- if you use unsalted butter, add a little extra salt to the dough. Salt ties the flavors in this cookie together.
- granulated sugar
- all purpose flour
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- be sure you’re using unsweetened cocoa powder. Do not use sweetened cocoa powder, hot cocoa mix, or anything other than pure cocoa.
- toasted walnuts
- the easiest way is to lay them out on a plate and microwave for 2 minutes on high. Let them cool before adding to your dough.
- vanilla paste or extract
- don’t skip this, it really brings out the chocolate flavor.
Slice and bake cookies are one of the best concepts ever. One of my favorite ways to use chocolate walnut shortbread cookie dough is to slice off a few at a time to bake up when the urge for fresh cookies warm from the oven strikes. Or freeze the whole log (or two) to get a head start on holiday baking.
slice and bake shortbread, step by step
- Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder and sugar to combine.
- Work in the soft butter. I do this with a stand mixer on low. Keep mixing until the crumbly dough comes together. It might seem to dry at first, but the moisture in your soft butter will eventually bring it together, have patience.
- Shape the dough into a log and wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Refrigerate or freeze until firm.
- Slice using a sharp knife and you’ll reveal a kaleidoscope of chocolate walnut gorgeousness in every slice.
- Bake!
tips and tricks for making chocolate walnut shortbread
Be sure your butter is at room temperature and get the dough thoroughly combined, with no dry flour or dry crumbles, before rolling it into a log.
The dough must be well chilled before slicing and baking.
Be aware that the cookies will be delicate when they come out of the oven and until they cool, so treat them gingerly!
Dutched cocoa will give you a darker cookie (see my Double Dark Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies)
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Chocolate Walnut Shortbread Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, regular or extra dark
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup salted butter, room temperature (it is important to use soft butter.)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1 cup toasted walnuts, rough chopped Note: if you want to see the pretty walnut shapes in the sliced cookies don't chop your walnuts too finely.
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer until combined.
- Add the butter and vanilla and mix on low until the dough comes together. Note: the dough may seem crumbly at first, but keep mixing on low, once the moisture of the softened butter is completely incorporated into the flour, the dough will form.
- Fold in the walnuts and turn the dough onto a surface. Form the soft dough into a log, about 10 inches long.
- Roll up in plastic wrap, smoothing the log through the plastic with your hands. Twist the ends securely. I like to roll the log in a terrycloth dish or hand towel to help it keep its round shape as it chills.
- Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (or overnight.) If you're in a hurry you can freeze for 1 hour or until quite firm.
- Preheat oven to 325F
- Unwrap the cold dough and slice into slices, about 1/3 inch thick.
- Place on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 12-14 minutes. Just until set.
- Cool for a few minutes on the tray, then transfer to a cooling rack. They are delicate, especially when warm but will firm up a bit as they cool.
Notes
- To toast walnuts place them on a baking sheet and toast in a 350F oven for 12-15 minutes. Or place on a plate and microwave on high for 2 minutes.
- Pecans would also work well in this recipe.
Nutrition
more chocolate cookies!
- Buckwheat Cardamom Chocolate Chip Cookies
- DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe ~ the secret’s out!
- Double Dark Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
- Homemade Thin Mints
Cookies were very good but I needed a little extra sweetness so I added another 1/4 cup of powdered sugar. I also used dark cocoa powder. Cookies turned out well – great with coffee.
cocoa to sugar ratio is inadequate. They looked beautiful but bitter
Not sure where I went wrong but, these cookies are like trying to scoop sand off the baking sheet. There’s no egg in the recipe to hold anything together. Am I missing something? I refrigerated the dough for 4 hours. They liked exactly like the picture when I slice them. Then I baked them and they flattened out and my walnuts popped out of the tops.
I’m not sure what went wrong Sharon but I’d suggest trying a different type of cookie sheet, and maybe adding a bit more flour. These are based on a shortbread cookie dough, which doesn’t contain egg. They’re meant to hold their shape when baked.
This recipe would be good but you forgot the salt
I use salted butter to get that important element.
I made these and was just looking for a basic cookie dough and saw this and was so excited to try them. I did them just as written and they are perfectly delicious!! I did freeze some but unfortunately ended up making them two days later because everyone ate them up. Perfect cookie
Sounds wonderful. I will be trying this using pecans and raw peanuts home roasted. I get my pecans and raw peanuts at We’re Nuts in middle Ga. They are south of me and fresh too. Love the peanuts I can roast fresh in about 15 cooking time from the freezer..
Thanks for your great post… I’d love to do a few different flavour logs ahead for overnight guests in a couple of weeks.. do you recommend freezing as a log or as sliced & uncooked. Look awesome to go with morning coffee ?
I usually freeze as a log, and then let defrost enough to be able to slice ~ hope everybody loves them!
You’re missing the salt in the recipe
I was disappointed . We love shortbread cookies but these were real dry and just wanted to fall apart. I also would add more sugar. They were bitter tasting
You really have to make sure the butter and flour comes together in this dough, but shortbread dough definitely has a crumbly texture. It should melt in your mouth, though.
Hi, looks great!
How much gr. Is 1 stick b 1/2 cup unsalted butter..?
1 stick or 1/2 cup butter is equal to 4 ounces, or 113 grams Elinor.
Hi Sue I made these today and followed your instructions but they taste chalky. I froze them for an hour and they cut nicely.
Not sure about the chalky taste, Tina, but I do know that shortbread in general is very different from regular cookies, and maybe that’s what you’re experiencing? There is a little bit of a ‘flour’ taste to shortbread, and that could be interpreted as chalky. Hope you try my other cookies 🙂
I recently used what turned out to be stale confectioner’s sugar. Although it was in frosting, it definitely left a bad taste. I can see how that might affect other recipes.
Great recipe! My Mom made these cookies in the 1950’s and they were my favorites!
Thank you for sharing the recipe and bringing back wonderful memories!
You’re welcome Jean!