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Author: Sally
Published: 12/02/2016Updated: 01/14/2022
This recipe is part of my annual Christmas cookie countdown calledSally’s Cookie Palooza. Every year since 2013, I work on a handful of new Christmas cookie recipes and publish the 10 best ones for readers to enjoy! You can browse dozens of recipes on theSally’s Cookie Palooza page. Get ready for butter to fly out of your refrigerator quicker than you can say holly jolly Christmas. 🙂 Now let’s tuck away the pie crust tools and break out the cookie baking tools!
Let’s Make Pistachio Shortbread Wedges!
Basic shortbread isn’t fussy or complicated—rather, it’s pure, simple, and downright dreamy. Shortbread is buttery and mildly sweet and sometimes, like in today’s case, crisp and tender. Though shortbread is typically made with just butter, sugar, flour, and sometimes salt—if you’re the type of person who can’t leave things alone, it’s also your chance to have a little fun.
Shortbread is the best blank slate for many different flavors, drizzles, dunks, chunks, and more. You can find many flavor variations with my wedge-shaped shortbread cookies or try today’s variation with pistachios, semi-sweet chocolate, and sea salt.
Today’s shortbread begins in our mixing bowls with butter. We’ll cream it and add granulated sugar as well as a little brown sugar for flavor. After the butter and sugars are creamed (pictured above), we’ll add vanilla, flour, and salt.
The recipe is quite similar to these pistachio cookies. In that recipe, you use confectioners’ sugar which helps add stability and structure so the drop cookies do not over-spread. We don’t have to worry about overspreading in today’s cookie recipe because we’re baking the dough in cake pans.
And the best parts of all: the dough comes together in ONE BOWL and there’s NO DOUGH CHILLING. Chocolate pistachio shortbread is truly an effortless recipe!
Actually, the best best part about all this are the pistachios. They get all toasty inside the dough when it bakes! Finely chop the nuts before adding to the cookie dough—a food processor immensely helps with the chopping step.
The shortbread dough is crumbly. But don’t fret, that’s what you want. Press it into two lined 9-inch cake pans. We’ll cut the baked shortbread into wedges like a pizza. A butter pizza.
We’ll dress up the shortbread with melted chocolate, more chopped pistachios, and a sprinkle of sea salt. So let’s really think about what you’ll get in just one of these shortbread wedges:
- buttery and sweet
- a little brown sugar and vanilla
- toasty pistachios
- crunchy sea salt
- a whole mess of chocolate
Shortbread upgrade!
If you’re in need of more holiday baking inspiration, here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips.
Salted Chocolate Pistachio Shortbread
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.5 from 10 reviews
- Author: Sally
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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Description
With just a few ingredients, you can turn traditional shortbread into this salted chocolate pistachio shortbread. An easy one bowl dessert recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 and 1/4 (281g) cups all-purpose flour()
- 1 cup (100g) finely chopped pistachios, divided*
- 8 ounces (226g) semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- optional: sea salt for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line two9-inch cake pans with parchment paper leaving enough overhang around the sides to easily lift shortbread out. (Parchment is used so you can easily remove the shortbread and not cut it while it’s in the pan.)
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat together until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla, salt, and flour andbeat on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed as the mixture combines. Add 2/3 cup of the finely chopped pistachios, reserving the rest for sprinkling on top of the chocolate. Dough will be very crumbly.
- Press 1/2 of the dough into each of the prepared cake pans. You want it nice and compact in each pan.
- Bake the shortbread for 30 minutes or until lightly browned on top and around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the shortbread from the pans by picking it up with the parchment paper on the sides. Cut each into 12 wedges. You want to make sure you cut the shortbread while it’s still warm. Allow to cool completely on the parchment before dipping into chocolate.
- Melt the chopped chocolate in the microwave in 20 second increments, stopping and stirring after each until completely smooth. Dip the shortbread ends into chocolate and sprinkle with remaining chopped pistachios and sea salt. Allow chocolate to completely set.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Shortbreadstays fresh covered at room temperature for up to 5days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can make the shortbread dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature thencontinue with step 3. Baked shortbreadfreezes well for up to 3 months. Unbaked shortbread doughfreezes well for up to 3 months.Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before continuing with step 3.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Parchment Paper | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Food Processor
- Chopped Pistachios: I suggest a food processor to grind up those pistachios nice and fine. I used my Ninja (love this!).
See allcookie palooza recipes.
