Traditionally made with just 3 ingredients – flour, sugar and butter – shortbreads are meant to be a solid cookie that melts in your mouth. Adding some extra chocolatey, peanut buttery goodness on top is just the icing on the cake of these Chocolate Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies.
There are few cookies more simple and pure than the shortbread cookie. Make it a shortbread cookie with chocolate peanut butter drizzle, and you are really speaking my language. While these cookies don’t need a drizzle to be delicious, have you ever not wanted a chocolate drizzle when given the choice??
Shortbread Cookie Ingredients
Because there are so few ingredients in these cookies, it’s really important here to use the quality stuff – butter especially.
The butter is the star of the show, it’s your main flavor and texture, so buy the good brand – you know, that fancy schmancy organic brand – it’s worth it for these.
The same rule applies to the chocolate. Use a real chocolate baking bar for the best melted chocolate texture instead of chocolate chips. Chocolate chips are made with stabilizers to prevent them from melting, which is great for cookies, but not what we’re looking for here.
Here’s where we deviate from the quality ingredients rule: the peanut butter. Do not be tempted to use the all-natural or organic varieties.
Use your classics – Jif, Skippy, etc – for baking. The natural versions are too oily to incorporate into the chocolate well. Stick with your childhood favorite.
Here’s the full list of ingredients you will need:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Vanilla Extract
- Semi-sweet chocolate
- Peanut butter
How to Make the Dough
These cookies are a snap to make. To prepare the pan, I cut two strips of parchment paper about the width of the inside of the pan.
I greased the inside of the pan and placed one strip in one direction, greased the top of that parchment and placed the second piece of parchment in the other direction.
This criss-cross will give you protection on all sides to prevent the cookies from sticking to the pan. And leaving length at the top of the parchment will give you something to grab as you remove the cookies.
To get a smooth even layer to the cookies, it’s easiest to stop mixing your dough just after all the flour is incorporated into the mixture but before the dough forms a solid ball.
Leaving the dough crumbly allows you to spread it evenly in the pan then pat it together with your hands. If you find the dough sticking to your hands, you can lightly grease your hands to prevent sticking.
The end result for these cookies is an extra buttery, crumbly texture that just melts away when you take a bite. They make you want to have a cup of tea or a mug of coffee, and melt your worries away. Now that’s a good cookie.
Helpful Tools
- You may not have a square baking pan in your kitchen already, but you’ll wonder why you haven’t once you try one!
- A hand mixer is all you need for these, no crazy mixing here!
Looking for other Chocolate and Peanut Butter Combos?
If you’re a chocolate peanut butter combination fan, you will see this a lot on my website! Try these next:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- 8"x8" or 9"x9" square baking pan
Ingredients
Cookies
- 226 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 99 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspon vanilla extract
- 240 g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspon salt
Chocolate Peanut Butter Drizzle
- 56 g semi-sweet chocolate bar not chocolate chips
- 2 teaspons peanut butter avoid natural or homemade varities
Instructions
- Cookies:Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and line a 8"x8" or 9"x9" pan with parchment paper, leaving the parchment taller than the top of the tin for easy removal.
- In a medium-bowl, combine butter and sugar, mix on medium-high speed with hand or stand mixer until mixture is light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Scrape sides as needed. Add vanilla.226 g unsalted butter, 99 g granulated sugar, 1 teaspon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add to butter and sugar mixtuure, mixing on low, until the dough just begins to come together but remains slightly crumbly.240 g all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspon salt
- Transfer dough into prepared pan using your hands to pat the dough into all corner and flat on top. Piece the top lightly with a fork to prevent air bubbles.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until light golden brown. A larger pan will create a thinner cookies that will bake faster.
- Leave cookies to cool completely in pan.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Drizzle:Once cookies are complete cool, heat chocolate and peanut butter in a bowl over a double-boiler. (A double-boiler is a small pan filled halfway with water with the chocolate bowl set on top to slowly heat the chocolate without burning). Stir gently until chocolate is melted. Drizzle over cookies and allow to harden.56 g semi-sweet chocolate bar, 2 teaspons peanut butter
- Once chocolate is fully cooled, pull cookies out using the parchment and slice.
Notes
- A 9″x9″ springform pan will work as well, simply slice into wedges.
- Store in airtight container.
Disclaimer: We test all recipes using the metric weights shown, we cannot guarantee outcomes when switching to US measurements.