Best Espresso Shortbread Cookies Recipes

ITALIAN HAZELNUT ESPRESSO SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend flour, brown sugar, cornstarch, 1 tablespoon espresso powder and salt in processor. Add butter and vanilla. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add nuts; blend until finely chopped. Transfer dough to floured work surface. Knead just until dough comes together.
• Divide dough in half. Press each half into 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Bake until deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer shortbread to rack; cool 2 minutes. Remove pan sides.
• Cut each shortbread round into 24 wedges. Cool completely.
• Mix 2 tablespoons hot water and remaining 1 teaspoon espresso powder in small saucepan. Add chocolate. Stir over medium-low heat until chocolate is smooth. Remove from heat. Cool slightly. Drizzle chocolate mixture over cookies. Let stand until chocolate sets. (Can be prepared ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week, or freeze up to 1 month.)

ESPRESSO SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Butter an 8 1/2-inch cake or springform pan; set aside. Sift together flour and salt into a small bowl; set aside. Place butter in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Cream until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sugar, and continue to beat until very light in color and fluffy, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, about 2 minutes more. Add vanilla, if using. Dissolve 2 tablespoons espresso powder in 1 teaspoon hot water. Add mixture to creamed butter-and-sugar mixture with vanilla, before adding flour. Add flour mixture, and combine on low speed, scraping with spatula if necessary, until flour is just incorporated and dough sticks together when squeezed with fingers.
• Pat dough into prepared pan. If rolling out dough to cut into shapes, form into a flat disk; wrap in plastic. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll dough out 1/4 inch thick. Cut into ovals with 2-inch cutter. Score a line down the middle with the back of a knife; chill.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Bake until firm, about 20 minutes.

DARK CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Sift together the dry ingredients (except the sugar) -- flour through espresso powder -- in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, three to four tablespoons at a time beating well. Stir in dry ingredients by hand and beat just until blended.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide dough into three equal balls. Take the first ball, place it between two sheets of plastic wrap, and pat or roll out into a 5 1/2 inch disk. Place on the far side of your baking sheet. Lightly score the disk and mark out 8 triangular wedges.
• Repeat the patting, rolling and scoring for the other two disks, placing one on the other side of the first baking sheet and the third disk on the second baking sheet.
• Bake rounds for 23 minutes or until shortbread feels firm to the touch. Remove from the oven.
• Gently score each round again with a sharp knife following the lines you make on the dough. Slide parchment from baking sheets onto wire racks. Let shortbread cool completely on parchment. Cut shortbread into wedges along scored lines.
• Melt unsweetened chocolate baking bars separately in small bowls according to package directions. You can do this in a microwave or on the stove using a double boiler. Partially dip wide end of each shortbread wedge in unsweetened chocolate. Place on a wax paper-lined jelly-roll pan, and freeze briefly to set chocolate. (Alternately, if your house is cool you can let it set on it's own.)
• Melt the white chocolate. Then partially dip other half of wide end of each wedge in white chocolate. Alternately, you can place in a plastic bag and stripe the cookies. Freeze briefly to set white chocolate or allow to air dry.

CHOCOLATE CHIP ESPRESSO SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside to cool to tepid. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth.
• 2. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don't work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips with a sturdy rubber spatula.
• 3. Using the spatula, transfer the soft, sticky dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that's 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn't cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.
• 4. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.
• 5. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The shortbreads will be very pale-they shouldn't take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack. If you'd like, dust the cookies with confectioners' sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving.

ITALIAN HAZELNUT ESPRESSO SHORTBREAD COOKIES RECIPE | EPICURIOUS.COM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend flour, brown sugar, cornstarch, 1 tablespoon espresso powder and salt in processor. Add butter and vanilla. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add nuts; blend until finely chopped. Transfer dough to floured work surface. Knead just until dough comes together.
• Divide dough in half. Press each half into 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Bake until deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer shortbread to rack; cool 2 minutes. Remove pan sides.
• Cut each shortbread round into 24 wedges. Cool completely.
• Mix 2 tablespoons hot water and remaining 1 teaspoon espresso powder in small saucepan. Add chocolate. Stir over medium-low heat until chocolate is smooth. Remove from heat. Cool slightly. Drizzle chocolate mixture over cookies. Let stand until chocolate sets. (Can be prepared ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week, or freeze up to 1 month.)