Turkish Coffee Shortbread is buttery and delicious with a striking flavor combination of strong coffee and warm cardamom ~ this is dessert to linger over!
Turkish coffee shortbread is buttery with an aromatic cardamom-laced coffee flavor, but I don’t stop there, these cookies are finished off with a drizzle of dark chocolate. Without doubt, they’re a sophisticated dessert with a unique flavor combo you won’t see in your neighborhood bakery.
I love to bake with coffee, it’s got such a wonderful smokey character ~ it stars in my Coffee Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies or my Mocha Hazelnut Cake, two of my favorite recipes. But I celebrate cardamom just as enthusiastically in my Orange Cardamom Muffins and Swedish Cardamom Buns.
Turkish coffee flavors in this shortbread
Turkish coffee comes from the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, it’s made by simmering ultra-finely ground coffee with sugar and a pinch of cardamom, then pouring it unfiltered so the grounds settle in the cup. The complex flavors of coffee and cardamom linger on the palate and make for a really enchanting wedge of shortbread. It goes perfectly with (you guessed it) a nice cup of coffee, Turkish or otherwise.
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How to make Turkish coffee shortbread wedges
- USE A SPRINGFORM OR TART PAN: Start with a buttered 9″ springform pan or tart pan with a removable bottom. This allows you to remove the slab of shortbread after baking so you can slice it into neat wedges.
- SPREAD OUT THE DOUGH: Pile your shortbread dough in the pan and pat out evenly with your hands. Use an offset spatula to get it really smooth and level.
- PRICK THE DOUGH: Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork. This makes a classic shortbread pattern ~ it allows steam to escape and prevents the dough from puffing as it bakes.
- RELEASE FROM PAN: After baking let the pan cool for a few minutes and then remove the sides.
- SLICE INTO WEDGES: Let the Turkish coffee shortbread cool for about 15-20 minutes and then use a sharp knife to slice into 16 wedges.
Turkish coffee shortbread faqs
Yes. Simply roll out the dough to about 1/4″ thick and cut out with a 2″ cookie or biscuit cutter. Bake at 350F on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Drizzle or dunk in chocolate.
Yes, you’ll want to grind them as finely as possible. You’ll get a grittier texture and a slightly more bitter flavor.
You can bake this in a regular 9″ cake pan or pie plate, but it will be a bit more difficult to slice and remove from the pan neatly.
Definitely, shortbread freezes beautifully. Let it cool completely and then wrap in plastic, then in foil. Plan to use it within 3 months.
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Turkish Coffee Shortbread
Equipment
- 9-inch springform pan or tart pan with removable bottom
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature.
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1 Tbsp espresso powder, (instant espresso)
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
chocolate coating
- 4 oz bittersweet chocolate chips, or bar chocolate, cut in small pieces.
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease your 9" springform pan or tart pan.
- Blend the softened butter, sugar, espresso powder, cardamom, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Srape down the sides of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low slowly blend in the flour. Continue mixing until the soft dough comes together and there is no dry flour left. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl well to get everything well combined.
- Tranfer the dough to your prepared pan and pat out with your fingers. You want to get the dough evenly distributed across the pan. Use an offset spatula to smooth the surface.
- Prick the surface of the dough all over with the tines of a fork.
- Bake the shortbread for about 25 minutes on the middle rack of your preheated oven.
- Let the pan cool for 5 minutes on a rack before gently removing the sides of the pan. It sometimes helps to run the offset spatula around the edges to ensure a clean release. Let the shortbread cool another 10 minutes before slicing into 16 thin wedges with a long sharp knife.
- To make the chocolate coating, put the chocolate and vegetable oil in a small Pyrex measuring cup and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir until melted.
- Drizzle the wedges of shortbread with the chocolate.
- Store shortbread at room temperature for up to a week. It can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature.
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp ground cardamom, use less for a more subtle effect.
- 1 Tbsp ground coffee or espresso powder, (instant espresso)
- 8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips, or bar chocolate, cut in small pieces.
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
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Set oven to 350F
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Put the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and add the butter and salt. Mix together until combined. It doesn’t have to be completely smooth.
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Mix in the flour, cardamom, and ground coffee until the dough just comes together.
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Pull the dough together with your hands and set on a floured surface. Roll out to about 1/4 inch.
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Cut out the cookies using your preferred cookie cutter, I used a 2″ round.
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Transfer the cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.
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Let cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack.
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To make the chocolate coating, put the chocolate and vegetable oil in a small Pyrex measuring cup and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir until melted.
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Dip half of each cooled cookie in the chocolate, and let the excess drip off. Set the cookies down on parchment paper to harden.
Nutrition
Other shortbread to try
Chocolate Dipped Churro Shortbread Cookies
Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies are small but mighty cookies that pack a big punch ~ they’re a must for chocolate and coffee lovers, for sure.
Coffee Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
Coffee Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies melt in your mouth with warm coffee flavor and toasted hazelnuts. Perfect for fall baking!
Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookies
The warm flavor of maple sugar mingles with toasty walnuts in these buttery maple walnut shortbread cookies. Roll them out or slice and bake!
Cheddar Walnut Savory Shortbread
These cheddar walnut crackers are simple but rich, and offer just the right satisfying bite to nosh on while waiting for dinner.
Marzipan Shortbread Cookies
Marzipan Shortbread Cookies ~ the Holiday Cookie for Almond Lovers!
A very delicate shortbread! Don’t roll them too thin or try to move from the parchment before they’re completely cool, unless you want a lot of broken ones. Delicious!
A great idea to use a bit of espresso ground too fine for my machine (and great for bringing to my parent’s house, where pots of coffee get made nonstop in the morning, until lunchtime)
For sure!
What is the best way to store these and fit how long can I store them? Thanks!!
You can store them at room temp or int he fridge, Rebecca. As for how long…that depends on how hungry you are 😉 But seriously, I’m not sure, I’d say about 2 weeks.
ok, i will try with both, green and black cardomin, which one did you use when you made these? the look awesome and an adult wow looking cookie.
Always green cardamom, Nick. The black is strong, more for curries, etc.
So thrilled I found this recipe. These are somewhat fragile in making, but after cooled firm up nicely.
I subbed 1 T of Cinnamon instead of the Cardamon which I’m not a fan of….. absolutely delish!!
And did add a few drops of Coffee flavoring beside the expresso. One of the best cookies I’ve eaten and not too sweet. Thanks for the recipe Sue!
Hi Sue,
My husband and I wanted to make some cookies for friends who’ve invited us for lunch today. I trawled through the internet yesterday for a good while, and finally came across these which look so sophisticated and have such a good combination of flavours so I decided they were the ones to go for. Just finished making them and they are simply divine, thank you very much! So brilliant having the internet isn’t it … You are from the US, I am Icelandic, my husband is British, and we are currently living in Greece, and now we’ve made Turkish shortbread cookies. Lovely 🙂
I’m thrilled they worked out for you Nadia, and I so appreciate you taking the time to come back and report on them…and yes, what a wonderful world we’re living in that a simple recipe can be shared internationally like this!
Hi Sue,
If I make the dough ahead of time, could you share some instructions for thawing and baking? Thank you!
What you can do is slice the dough first, then lay the slices on a tray and freeze them solid, then pack them in a sturdy freezer bag or container. You can also freeze the whole log, just wrap it in plastic and put it in a freezer bag. To bake, I would probably thaw the dough first, you can do that overnight in the refrigerator. If you’re short on time, you could set it out on the counter for a couple of hours. If the dough is very cold your baking time might be a little longer. Hope this helps!
J’ai fait ces biscuits pour des amis et moi. Je prépare régulièrement des biscuits et ceux-ci sont les meilleurs que j’ai cuisinés. Je conserverai précieusement cette recette et la referai souvent! Merci 🙂
I tried to make these, but they were impossible to roll out, far to dry to achieve that. i was pretty careful with measurements, but even with a tad more butter and sugar i had no success rolling them out. i’ve pressed them into a cookie pan and will make them a broken style cookie – just put them in the oven – i’ll let you know how that works out. any tips when your dough doesn’t hold together? i live at a fairly high altitude. could this be the problem? is so do you have an adjustment for that? any guidance would be appreciated.
I’m sorry it gave you trouble Leah, here are a few thoughts…possibly you had a bit too much flour, or maybe you needed to mix the dough a bit longer to incorporate the butter thoroughly? I’ve heard that different butters can have different moisture contents, so possibly that was an issue, too. Lately I’ve been making my shortbread dough with room temperature butter, so you could try that. Hope this helps!
I’ve also tried to add 1-1.5 tbsp milk into some of my shortbread cookie doughs and I find that helps. (Although I’ve never had an issue with this particular recipe).
Thanks for the tip! I was having the same issue, my dough was way too crumbly to roll out. Splash of milk fixed it right up.
I had the same problem. Would adding an egg help to bind the dough better? Any thoughts? I was super excited to try these, but they were just crumbles! Ended up in the trash.
Shortbread is a crumbly dough Kim, it’s a matter of really working the soft butter into the flour, and that’s what gives it it’s unique texture. You can add an egg, and the cookies will still be good. They will be a little softer in that case.
I made these today.(Actually I made the dough last night and froze it, thawed it, turned out great) I didn’t roll them out flat and use a cookie cutter. I rolled it into a log, and cut the cookies from that. Theyre not as perfectly round I suppose but it didn’t matter to me. Thats just how I’m used to making shortbread. These cookies are amazing. Since I dont have turkish coffee I used Sri Lankan (“Expo” brand) coffee which is very finely ground too. They were absolutely delicious. Thank you for posting.
Thank YOU for sharing your feedback Margaret!
Sue, I have baked A LOT of cookies in my time but I have to tell you these were top five ever. Simply fabulous in every way. They turned out exactly as the photo showed. The dough was easy to work with and the dark chocolate and cardamon melds perfectly with the espresso. Just perfect. Thanks ever so much for these. They’ll be made time and again!
Wow, how about you come back and comment EVERY day, Noelle 🙂 I’m so glad you like them, I think they are unusual and don’t appeal to everybody, but for those who love deep rich coffee, I think they are fun. You’ve made my day!