Prep Time : 10 Minutes | Cook Time : 20 Minutes | Total Time : 1 hour | Difficulty : Easy
Hello my lovelies! I like butter. I like cookies that are crisp. So naturally shortbread is a go-to. There are other shortbreads up on the site already but this is one of my favourites. The nuttiness of the butter goes beautifully with the fruitiness of the raw cacao nibs. We need something quick and simple after our bread efforts earlier this week. I exhort you to bake your shortbread until it is golden. It gives it so much delicious toasted butter flavour. This is a small batch, just enough for a couple of people. If you want more just scale up as needed. I used Roar raw cacao nibs. You should be able to find cacao nibs in your local health food store. They have quite a different flavour to processed cocoa and cocoa nibs. They are very fruity and much more interesting so well worth the effort to seek them out.
Heat the oven to 180C (350F). Line a cookie sheet with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar until blended but not fluffy. I do this on a fairly low speed since air doesn’t need to be incorporated.
Add the flour and mix slowly until the dough starts to come together. It will still be crumbly.
Add the cacao nibs and mix to distribute them in the dough.
Tip the dough out onto the bench and bring together into a lump.
To shape you can quickly roll the dough out into a square and cut into 12 large or 16 small pieces.
Or you can divide into 12 pieces, roll each into a ball and flatten with something that has a nice pattern on it. Here I have used a moon-cake mould. It’s like a spring loaded cookie cutter, but you pop the ball of dough inside and press to form a shape.
Bake the shortbread cookies for 15 to 20 minutes until golden. Please please let them get golden. They will have so much more flavour.
Eat the cookies. No point in being witty about it.
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Cacao Nib Shortbread
Prep Time : 10 mins | Cook Time : 20 mins | Total Time : 1 hour | Difficulty : Easy | Makes : 16 squares/pieces
Golden buttery shortbread studded with raw cacao nibs.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar
- 7 tablespoons (100 grams) unsalted butter
- pinch salt
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150 grams) all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons raw cacao nibs
– If using metric cups, reduce volume measures by 1 tablespoon for every cup of dry or liquid ingredients –
Equipment:
- Standing or hand-held electric mixer
- baking sheet lined with baking paper
Directions:
Heat the oven to 180C (350F). Line a cookie sheet with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar until blended but not fluffy. I do this on a fairly low speed since air doesn’t need to be incorporated.
Add the flour and mix slowly until the dough starts to come together. It will be crumbly. Add the cacao nibs and mix to distribute them in the dough.
Tip the dough out onto the bench and bring together into a lump.
To shape you can quickly roll the dough out into a square and cut into 12 large or 16 small pieces.
Or you can divide into 12 pieces, roll each into a ball and flatten with something that has a nice pattern on it. Here I have used a moon-cake mould. It’s like a spring loaded cookie cutter, but you pop the ball of dough inside and press to form a shape.
Bake the shortbread cookies for 15 to 20 minutes until golden. Please please let them get golden. They will have so much more flavour.
Eat the cookies. No point in being witty about it.
Cook’s Notes:
- Try spicing these cookies lightly with a pinch of cardamom or the seeds of part of a vanilla pod
- This recipe can be scaled without adjustment if you need a little more
- Don’t over-cream the butter and sugar – they just need to be blended, not fluffy
- To get a moon-cake mould for future cookie forming head over to eBay
– This shortbread will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 to 5 days –
© 2017 The Winsome Baker. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.
I love the pattern your cookie cutter makes!
Thanks 🙂 Sorry I missed this comment lovely!
Hi Kearin! We love your shortbread recipe so much, we have already made it twice this month! Your tantalizing photos and succinct instructions made it so easy to get great results. I was able to source high quality cacao nibs—fermented, not roasted—which put the flavor over the top. Thank you and cheers from Chicago!
I’m so glad you like it! You’ve made me want shortbread now but I’m stuck in the office – when i get home I’ll have to make some 😋 those nibs sound delicious! I’m always amazed how much fruity flavour they have