My goal for this year was to start my holiday baking early, so I’d end up with a big assortment of cookies that I could take to holiday parties and potlucks. This was one of my holiday planning goals that I actually managed to achieve (perhaps one of the only ones, since I am totally behind on everything else!) I pulled out some classic family favorite recipes, but also tried out some new ones that may be destined to become family favorites, and I’m going to share them all with you here over the next week or so.

First up are these amazing salty chocolate shortbread cookies. This is a new receipe, and I think maybe one of my favorite cookie recipes EVER. That’s a lot of hyperbole, but I think it may be deserved. Salty and chocolate is one of my favorite combinations, and these have a lot of great flavour and texture without being too sweet. A winner for sure.

Salty Chocolate Shortbread

adapted from Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg
Found via Honey Pot

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon sea salt (I used coarse kosher salt and this seemed to work well also)
12 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix together the flour and cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside.
In another bowl beat the butter and sugar together for about 5 minutes until light colored and fluffy. Add in the vanilla.

Slowly add half of the flour-chocolate mixture and mix on low speed. Add the rest of the flour and cocoa and mix until just combined. Stir in the salt. The batter should form a kind of doughy ball. If needed, at this point you can refrigerate the dough for up to a week, but no refrigeration is required.

Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to 1/4-inch thickness. Using cookie cutters or a knife, cut the dough into whatever shape you want. I used a small glass to make circles. Sprinkle a few grains of coarse sea salt on top of the cookies for extra salty deliciousness.

Place the cut-out cookies onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes, rotating halfway. They should be slightly firm but not hard when done. Let cool on wire racks.

You can store these in an airtight container for up a week. They are nice warm and soft straight from the oven, but also develop a deeper flavour and texture over a few days.