Chocolate Amaretto Shortbread Cookies (Vegan)
These shortbread cookies are a delicious blend of cocoa, amaretto liqueur, and white chocolate. A delicious, festive, and dairy-free bake.
These cookies are the ideal complement to any holiday gathering. Chocolatey, boozy, buttery, and sweet. A shortbread cookie combining the delicious tastes of cocoa, amaretto, and white chocolate. The perfect blend of chocolate and amaretto with that signature shortbread snap. These cookies come together quickly but do require a little fridge time. A lovely, festive, dairy-free bake.
What you will need:
Cocoa and Amaretto Liqueur are a must for these cookies. They are drizzled with white chocolate but dark chocolate would be delicious as well. All other ingredients are basic pantry items.
- all purpose flour
- dark cocoa
- plant based butter with salt
- cane sugar
- brown sugar
- powdered sugar
- Amaretto Liqueur
- white chocolate – I used Enjoy Life mini white baking chips
- sliced almonds for decorating
How to:
To begin, add all of the dry ingredients to a medium bowl: flour, cocoa, cane sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar. Mix the ingredients thoroughly by whisking them together. To the dry ingredients, add the cold, cubed butter and amaretto liqueur. Toss the ingredients to incorporate the amaretto and coat the butter cubes. With a pastry cutter, cut the butter in until a pebble-like consistency is achieved. Once the desired consistency is achieved, bring the dough together with your hands, form it into a disk, and cover it in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator for one hour.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut it in half. Place one half on a lightly floured surface and return the other half to the refrigerator. Roll the dough out to a 1/4 inch thickness. Begin cutting the cookies. I used 3 different cutters ranging from 2 to 2.5 inches across. Re-roll the dough as many times as you need to, making sure not to overhandle the dough. Place the cut cookies on a parchment-lined pan. If the dough becomes too warm and difficult to work with, return it to the refrigerator to cool down so it becomes more manageable. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Once all of the cookies are cut, place them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Bake the cookies for 18 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Once the cookies have reached room temperature, they can be drizzled and decorated. Melt the white chocolate, along with the coconut oil, in a small pot over medium heat. Make sure to stir it occasionally while it is melting. Drizzle the cookies with the melted chocolate and sprinkle the tops with some crushed sliced almonds. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Alright, let’s get started. Please make, bake and enjoy!
Chocolate Amaretto Shortbread Cookies (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 1 tbsp / 247 grams all purpose flour
- 3 ½ tsp / 21 grams dark cocoa
- 12 tbsp / 168 grams plant based butter with salt – cold and cubed
- 3 tbsp cane sugar
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 6 tbsp powdered sugar
- 4½ tbsp Amaretto liqueur
- 75 grams white chocolate – I used Enjoy Life mini white baking chips
- ½ tsp coconut oil
- sliced almonds for decorating
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, cocoa, cane sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar; whisk to combine. Add the cold, cubed butter and amaretto; toss to incorporate the amaretto and coat the butter.
- With a pastry cutter, cut-in the butter until you achieve a pebble-like consistency. Bring the dough together with your hands and form it into a disc. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut it in half. Place the second half back in the refrigerator until you are ready to roll it out. Place the first half on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a 1/4 inch thickness. Begin cutting out the cookies. I used 3 cutters ranging from 2 inches to 2.5 inches. Place the cut cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You will need at least two cookie sheets. Re-roll the dough as many times as needed; try to handle the dough as little as possible during this process. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Once done cutting out all the cookies, place them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat the oven to 325F. Bake the cookies for 18 minutes. Allow them to rest on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. **If you have the cookies on a cookie sheet while resting in the refrigerator , I suggest using a different cookie sheet to bake the cookies on. Putting the cookies in the oven on a cold cookie sheet will affect the bake.**
- Once the cookies have cooled to room temperature, they can be drizzled with the white chocolate. Melt the white chocolate and coconut oil together in a small pot over medium heat. Stir the chocolate occasionally while it is melting. Drizzle the cookies with the melted chocolate and sprinkle the tops with some crushed sliced almonds. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
