Espresso Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies ~ this buttery shortbread cookie recipe is made with strong espresso and ground hazelnuts for a refined flavor. Pair them with after dinner coffee for a special treat.
The coffee and hazelnut flavors strike a beautiful balance in these slice and bake shortbread cookies. I had planned to drizzle them with milk chocolate, but the chocolate was a little too thick to drizzle elegantly, so I inelegantly dunked them right in. That works pretty well too!
Normally I’m a dark chocolate kind of girl, but I chose milk chocolate for this recipe since the espresso already lends these cookies a deep, rich flavor. And I think most of us are already convinced of the merits of hazelnut and chocolate together, so really what could be bad about this combination?
The ground hazelnuts and a touch of espresso give what otherwise might be pretty simple shortbread cookies a fabulously sophisticated flavor. And like all great shortbread, they practically melt in your mouth.
I love the addition of coffee to baked goods. If you love a touch of coffee in your cookies, try my TURKISH COFFEE SHORTBREAD COOKIES or my COFFEE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.
These espresso and hazelnut shortbread cookies would be a great hostess gift because many people who don’t drink coffee still love the taste, and these are just perfect for after dinner.
One thing I love about shortbread cookies is that they are fabulous for making ahead, too. Like all shortbread dough, you can keep it in the freezer to pull out when you need it. If you freeze the sliced dough you can bake right from frozen, but if you freeze the whole log you will have to let it defrost before you can slice it.
Espresso Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1/2 cup finely ground hazelnuts, Bob's Red Mill makes a Hazelnut Meal/Flour, and Trader Joe's carries ground nuts at the holidays
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp instant espresso dissolved in 1 Tbsp boiling water and cooled
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips, for drizzling or dunking
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor (you can also use a hand mixer, or your hands) mix together the flour, sugar and hazelnuts.
- Add the softened butter, vanilla and cooled espresso and mix until the dough comes together.
- Turn out onto waxed or parchment paper and form into an 8" log.
- Wrap the log in the paper and twist the ends, smoothing the shape as you go.
- Chill for at least an hour, or overnight.
- Pre-heat the oven to 325F, and line and baking sheet with parchment.
- Slice the dough into 1/3 to 1/2 inch slices.
- Bake in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes.
- Cool on the pan briefly before finishing on a rack.
- When the cookies are completely cool, melt the chocolate for about a minute in the microwave stirring until completely smooth, then drizzle or dunk the shortbread. You can just dust them with powdered sugar if you don't want to use the chocolate.
Nutrition
More hazelnut recipes to try ~
- Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies
- Hazelnut Latte Meringue Cookies
- Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
- Chocolate Hazelnut Torte Recipe
The favor is not great. I was concerned when I saw the ratio of sugar to flour, but try not to change a recipe until I’ve made it once. If I did again, I would add a tiny bit of salt, add some Kailua and change the sugar to brown or regular sugar and increase to 1/3 or even 1/2 a cup.
Hi Sue,
I made this recipe twice. The first time was a total hit, the second something went off!
The only things I did different were softening the butter in the microwave as I forgot to leave it out, and rolling the dough out. The dough came together well and was workable, but the cookies didn’t have a crumbly texture. Any ideas what happened?
Not sure Alexandra, cookies are very sensitive to any little changes, even different pans can yield different results. If the cookies weren’t crumbly and tender like shortbread, it could be the dough was over worked?
Instead of rolling into a log, could I use a small cookie scoop instead? Would you suggest then flattening the cookie a little before baking? Iโm assuming they wonโt spread much during baking so it might be better to have a flatter cookie than a poofy one? Iโm sure โpoofyโ is a technical term. Lol.
I would suggest either the log or rolling the dough out and cutting with a cookie cutter. You could roll and flatten, but it will look much different from the photos. It’s worth a try, for sure!
Hi there, just tries this recipe today! I had a couple of questions because mine definitely do not look like yours at all. Mine were much darker in color and spread only on the bottom. Maybe my espresso powder was too strong because I lost all the hazelnut flavor and it was all espresso. The texture was much too crumbly to dip in chocolate, they were falling apart in my hands. I thought maybe I under baked but the edges seems fully baked and same crumbly texture. I’m not sure what I did wrong. I left the dough in the refrigerator for over an hour. All in all I/m not giving up on this recipe because even though I lost the hazelnut, I was really pleased with the flavor because I love coffee! It’s a work in progress but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you for the recipe!
When I hear that someone gets really crumbly results I immediately think that maybe the dough wasn’t completely blended together, Amanda. The flour and soft butter should really meld together, and while shortbread does have a crumbly texture, it shouldn’t fall apart until it hits your mouth. Another thought is that you had a little bit more flour than you needed, sometimes that happens in measuring. Hope this helps.
Did you fine-grind your own hazelnuts? It would turn into hazelnut butter (paste), no? That wouldn’t work out, would it?
You could grind your own, Franklin, just don’t let it get to the paste stage!
If I leave out the espresso liquid, what other changes should I make to compensate? I’m looking for some brittleness in a shortbread cookie (hopefully with hazelnuts) rather than the seemingly soft, malleable kind like your peanut butter chocolate chip shortbread.
Thanks.
Hi Franklin — you can use the dry espresso powder, just cream it with the butter first. Use soft butter, and let it sit for a few minutes and the espresso grains will dissolve. Also, cut your cookies on the thin side for a crunchier texture!