I bake a great amount of shortbread cookies pretty frequently. My friends, family and clients adore shortbread. In fact it’s hard to not love these buttery, crumbly and melt-in-your-mouthy treats! The beauty about shortbread is it takes no fancy ingredients. Just a few kitchen staples – butter, sugar and flour, as well as a little basic baking skills , and you are ready to create such an addictive cookie!   

I am very attached to my classic shortbread recipe. And I love to work around this recipe to come up with other varied versions of shortbread. The easiest and safest way to up your shortbread game is to add dried fruits or nuts. My family’s favourite is dried cranberry shortbread cookies. And I can’t stop thinking about these walnut dulce de leche ice cream sandwiches when they are in the freezer. Just replace some flour with cocoa powder, and you can easily flavour the classic shortbread into a delicate chocolate version. We love to sandwich the chocolate shortbread cookies with Nutella. I know, HEAVEN!!!

Matcha has become a superfood for its antioxidant properties. It’s making such a big wave as the new flavour trend. And tons of matcha desserts are around the internet. So I decided to give matcha shortbread a go. I simply added another two tablespoons of matcha powder to my regular shortbread recipe. And the delicate green tea flavour pairs perfectly with the buttery shortbread.

I dipped the already delicious cookies into chocolate because I found them pretty plain-looking. I wanted to dress up the cookies a little. Again they taste great without the chocolate, and the dipping is totally unnecessary! But look at them, and you are the judge. Don’t they look a million times better?!

Ingredients (about 36 cookies):
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon matcha powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
200 grams dark chocolate, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon canola oil

Directions:
To prepare the cookies, sift the flour, 2 tablespoons matcha powder and salt in a large bowl.
Cream butter and powdered sugar in a bowl of a standing mixer until light and fluffy.
Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
Gather dough and form a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to chill.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a floured cookie cutter. Place on the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Melt chocolate in microwave on high in 20-second interval, stirring in between. When it’s completely melted, stir in oil until combined.
Prepare a baking sheet with a clean parchment paper.
Dip half of each shortbread cookie in the melted chocolate. Let it drain off the excess, place it on the baking sheet. Repeat dipping with all the cookies.
Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set the chocolate.
Dust with matcha powder.