Its December, which, to me, means SHORTBREAD COOKIES. I never make shortbreads any other month. Shortbreads in August? Ummm… no. April? Just wrong. But December… perfection. I do have a recipe for whipped shortbread cookies on the blog from last year. They are so fluffy and delicious! Little pockets of happy cookie goodness. But the problem with them is that the dough is too soft to roll out and make fun shapes.
So that is what were doing today! This is the most basic shortbread cookie dough recipe you can find. 4 ingredients. Easy. Easy. Easy.
I just mix everything in the bowl of my stand mixer, but if you don’t have one, don’t worry! You can use an electric hand mixer OR mix by hand. It will just take a bit more muscle! Then, you roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper (this is the best way, otherwise it can get too sticky and tough to roll evenly.) Then just use your favourite cookie cutters to cut all the shapes you want. I went with big and little stars, because its still early. No need to bust out the candy cane cookie cutter just yet.
Then, I just melted some dairy-free chocolate chips in a pot with a smidge of coconut oil. Drizzled it over top. Added crushed candy cane that I got from the bulk store. And that’s it! Seriously, could not be easier. No chilling, waiting or crying involved. Just pure and simple cookie baking!
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Chocolate Peppermint Star Shortbread Cookies
- Yield: approx 2 dozen
Description
The easiest 4-ingredient shortbread cookies, drizzled with melted chocolate and crushed candy cane.
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter, room temp
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar/icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
For decorating:
- 1–2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips
- crushed candy cane, nuts, dried fruit, sprinkles etc
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until combined. Add vanilla extract and flour and mix until a firm dough forms.
- Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper to a bit under 1/2 inch thick. Use your favourite cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Carefully peel away the excess dough, then transfer the parchment with the cookies on it to a baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until bottoms start to turn golden.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely on the pan before removing and decorating.
- To melt the chocolate, I added chocolate chips to a small pot on the stove with about 1/2 tsp coconut oil and melted over medium heat. Then just drizzled over the cooled cookies and sprinkled on the candy cane.
Notes
You will get a different number of cookies depending on the shape and size of your cookie cutter.
