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
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, 1 stick, 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 325, 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.
More hazelnut recipes to try ~
- Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies
- Hazelnut Latte Meringue Cookies
- Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
- Chocolate Hazelnut Torte Recipe
Don’t forget to pin these Espresso Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies!
Louise—thank you so much for my award— I’m so excited, it’s my first.
I love the Family Cookbook site, I’ll try the Swedish cookies, thanks.
Claudia—me too! I’m cookied out, but for some reason it just seems the thing to do this week. And I have to feed my daughters when they are home next week, so that’s my excuse.
Susan—have you posted that recipe? I’m going to check your blog for it. One whole side of my family is largely German, but no one handed down any cookie recipes!
Marina—that’s quite a compliment coming from you! I really like the color from the espresso, it’s an nice rich unusual brown.
linda—thanks for visiting, and good luck with the cookies, let me know how they turn out.
Mellissa—I could have microwaved the chocolate right in a squeeze bottle or baggie with the tip snipped off, I’m going to try that next time, but dunking does give an extra dose of chocolate, which is always good!
Kitchen Belleicious—thanks! I hope they don’t contain too much caffeine because if I have even a few sips of coffee after noon, I’m up at night (getting old);)
I can’t decide if I want to try the chocolate batch or this batch first! I love the idea of espresso in cookies. I used to make a ricotta with espresso parfait topped with amaretti cookies. It was so easy and I brought it a few times to friends houses. You can never go wrong with coffee and espresso in desserts!
Ooh, I love the dipped chocolate garnish!
I have to make these. I didn’t really need to add to my cookie making but I have to make these.