These melt-in-your-mouth Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies are unlike your classic chocolate chip cookie! They're thick, buttery soft cookies loaded with semi-sweet chocolate chips and topped with a sprinkling of sea salt flakes. They are a must-make this holiday season!
This chocolate chip shortbread cookie recipe post is sponsored by ALDI USA. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for continuing to support the brands that help make Beyond the Butter possible!
why you will love this salted chocolate chip shortbread recipe
- No cookie dough chilling needed!
- Thick, buttery soft cookies that melt-in-your mouth.
- Requires only 9 ingredients!
- Makes 2 dozen cookies which fit perfectly on the ALDI Finds oversized cookie sheet!
- A delicious sweet and salty cookie combo.
- Recipe can easily be doubled!
- Perfect for a cookie swap or to share with your family during the holidays!
This chocolate chip shortbread cookie recipe could not be any easier to make, and your friends and family will love them!
ALDI Finds for the holidays!
One of my favorite things to do while shopping at my local ALDI store is to peruse the ALDI Finds aisle before I get in the checkout line. They always have something that catches my eye that winds up in my cart!
If you're not familiar with ALDI Finds, they are a selection of high-quality, affordable items that are in your local ALDI store for only a limited time. ALDI Finds can include a variety of delicious food, fashion, and everyday household products.
Here are a few holiday baking ALDI Finds to keep an eye out for in the coming months that will help you out BIG TIME while baking!
- Crofton Mega Bakeware, Oversized Cookie Sheet. Perfect for baking 2 dozen cookies at one time—like I did with this shortbread cookie recipe! It was a nice time saver baking only once instead of twice.
- Crofton 5 Quart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl. I loved using this mixing bowl because it has a rubber, non-skid bottom! It has nice high sides too so no ingredients can escape while whisking or stirring.
- Crofton Baking Pan Gift Set. This is such a sweet gift or stocking stuffer for someone that is new to baking! It includes a small cookie sheet with handles, cooling rack, measuring spoons, and a holiday spatula. I used the cooling rack and holiday spatula and found both, as well as the other items in this set, to be very well made!
ingredients needed
You only need the following 9 ingredients to make these buttery soft, chocolate chip shortbreads, which you can easily find at your local ALDI after you check out the ALDI Finds aisle!
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Sea Salt Flakes
One ingredient you may notice is missing from this list are eggs. Why? Because there are zero eggs needed to make this shortbread cookie recipe!
Skipping the egg, gives you a nice, slight crisp and crumbly texture when you bite into these buttery chocolate chip shortbread cookies.
substitutions
Here are a few substitutions to consider when making this recipe.
Swap out the butter. You can replace the unsalted butter with salted butter. Make sure to then omit the salt from the ingredients list.
Skip the light brown sugar. If you don't have light brown sugar, you can omit it from the recipe. Increase your granulated sugar amount then to ½ cup.
Try powdered sugar. For a slightly softer cookie, you can use ¼ cup of powdered sugar in place of light brown sugar.
Use chocolate chunks. Instead of chocolate chips, you can chop up 7 ounces of dark chocolate and fold it into the cookie dough.
tips for making the best chocolate chip shortbread cookies
- Softened, room temperature butter is best. Having your unsalted butter softened to room temperature will help blend it well with the granulated and light brown sugars.
- Use a hand mixer or stand mixer. Your 2 best options for making this easy shortbread cookie recipe are using either a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer and a large mixing bowl. I used my ALDI Finds Crofton 5 quart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl and hand mixer. What sets this mixing bowl apart from the other ones I own is it has a non-skid bottom. No slipping or sliding around when you're using your hand mixer—I love it.
- Fold in your chocolate chips. I always recommend folding chocolate chips into your dough using a spatula versus using the mixer. You can end up with chopped up, broken chips if you go with the latter option. I used the ALDI Finds holiday spatula from the 8 piece baking gift set which worked really well. I love the handle on that spatula!
- Sprinkle with sea salt. This is an optional step, but whoa baby—adding sea salt flakes to the top of each chocolate chip shortbread cookie—THE BEST. I highly recommend it.
- Use a small glass or jar. To flatten the cookies out a little, use a small glass or jar. No hulk strength is needed, just a gently press to flatten them out will do the trick.
- Let the cookies cool. These are fairly soft cookies once they come out of the oven. Let them cool for about 5-10 minutes before you transfer them to a wire cooling rack. I used the wire cooling rack that came in the 8 piece baking gift set from ALDI.
can you freeze chocolate chip shortbread cookies?
Yes! After baking the cookies, allow them to cool completely before transferring them to a well sealed food storage container. Place a sheet of wax paper in between each layer of cookies to prevent them from sticking to one another.
Chocolate chip shortbread cookies will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.
When ready to eat, let them sit out at room temperature for 30-45 minutes. Or you can reheat them for 30 seconds in the microwave or toaster oven.
what is a quick way to bring unsalted butter to room temperature?
Sometimes we forget to set out the butter 30-45 minutes before baking to let it soften. If this happens, pop the butter into the microwave. Heat it for 30-45 seconds at 50% power. This should do the trick!
If your butter is frozen, you might have to repeat this 2-3 times. Just don't forget it needs to be heated at 50% power! Full power and you will find yourself with a pool of butter. That's not fun to clean up, trust me.
Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
Author:Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup All-Purpose Flour
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- ¼ cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 2 tbsp Sea Salt Flakes
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to the 2nd level position (just above center), preheat oven to 300ºF, and line large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set to the side.
- Using your hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar on medium-high speed until well blended. Add in the vanilla extract.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, gradually adding in the whisked dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
- With a spatula, fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Using a spoon or a 1 ½ tablespoon-size cookie scoop, form 1 inch size cookie dough balls. Place roughly 1 ½ inches apart on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- With the bottom of a glass, gently press down on the tops of each cookie to flatten slightly.
- Sprinkle the tops with some sea salt flakes.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes at 300ºF or until the edges are a light golden brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Store cookies at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Chocolate chips shortbread cookies can also be stored in the freezer for up to 4 months. Place them in a well sealed container separating cookies with a layer of wax paper.
Shelby says
I just tried this recipe this past weekend and the cookies were delicious. Beside being one of the easiest cookie recipes I've ever encountered, the taste was really fabulous. I ended up giving a few away to some of my coworkers and got texts from them before half of our work day was over that their cookies were already gone. These are a winner and will be going into my holiday baked goods boxed that I give to family and friends. Highly recommend this recipe!
Carol clemans says
Hello! Listen I ran out of time and would love to refrigerate this dough and bake tomorrow-what do you think? Will the cookies be good?
Carol clemans
Jennifer says
Yes, you'll be fine refrigerating the dough!
Zalina says
I only have dark brown sugar. Can I substitute 1 for 1 for light brown sugar?
Jennifer says
Yes, absolutely! You'll probably see a slightly darker color cookie with the taste having a deeper caramel/molasses flavor.