These sweet little cookies look just like miniature pieces of chocolate cream pie!
I made Chocolate Pie Shortbread Cookies last year for Tampa Cake Girl’s Cookie Exchange, which was a super fun idea, with lots of great recipes.The original batch made 96 cookies, and I have to admit I got a little tired of making them. So…I halved the batch for this post. Feel free to double it up again if you have more perseverance than I.
Half of the dough will remain plain; the other half will be enhanced with chocolate. There is no actual filling – the cookie is just gussied up to look and taste like chocolate pie filling. Pipe a little white chocolate on each piece to resemble whipping cream, and you have a sweet little treat that’s almost too cute to eat. (Holy cow, did I just write a poem?)
They’re petite…perfect two-biters. Dainty enough for a ladies’ luncheon, but my hubby was happy to eat them by the handful – and yes, they are just one-biters as far as he’s concerned. It’s a good thing this recipe makes 4 dozen pieces!
This is very heavy dough, so if you have a stand mixer, I recommend you use it. You may need to use the dough hook when the flour is added.
| "Chocolate Pie" Shortbread Cookies | Print |
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon heavy cream
- ⅛ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- White chocolate and dark chocolate (optional)
- Heat oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well, scraping sides of bowl.
- Add flour and cornstarch, and mix until completely incorporated.
- Remove half of the dough and place it in a small bowl.
- To the dough in the large bowl, add 1 teaspoon cream and the cocoa powder. Mix well. Cover the large bowl with plastic wrap and set aside.
- Roll the vanilla dough out between two large pieces of parchment paper, about ⅛-inch thick, and cut out 6 large circles – about 4-1/2 inches across – using a small bowl, sour cream container, or margarita glass! Place them on a plate and keep them covered with plastic wrap. It’s fine to re-roll the dough as long as you’re rolling it between sheets of parchment. (Alternatively, you can separate the dough into 6 equal balls and roll them out separately between parchment.)
- Separate the chocolate dough into 6 portions and roll them into balls, then flatten until they're approximately 3" circles.
- Working with one piece of each color at a time (keep the rest covered so it won’t dry out) center the chocolate circle over the vanilla circle. There should be at least ½ vanilla dough showing around the chocolate. Slowly bring the vanilla dough up the sides. A knife or spatula works very well for this. Don’t worry if it cracks around the bottom edge; this isn’t pie crust! Use your fingers to press and mold the dough (think Play Doh) until it’s fairly straight and even all the way around the top, Use your fingers to press firmly down on the "filling" while you bring the dough around it. The vanilla dough should stick up a little higher than the chocolate dough.
- Crimp the dough all the way around, using the tips of your fingers. Don’t be afraid to press firmly along the sides as you go – this will keep the fluted edge from falling off as it bakes.
- With a sharp knife, cut pie into 8 small wedges. Move to an ungreased cookie sheet, spaced at least ½-inch apart. Repeat until the baking sheet is full. The cookies can be quite close together; they don’t spread. Place baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes, or refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are just turning light golden brown. Move to a rack to cool.
- When all cookies are cool, frost the tops with melted chocolate if desired. Refrigerate briefly to set the chocolate. Add a dollop of white chocolate to the top.
half vanilla, half chocolate
Roll out “crust”. You could also opt to divvy the dough into 6 balls and roll out each piece.
Flatten chocolate ball and place in the center.
Press the sides firmly against the chocolate.
Flute the edges…
Cut into 8 wedges
Place on baking sheet, chill briefly, and bake.
Add a little melted chocolate
A bit of white chocolate and they’re ready to go!
Just for fun, I tried this idea with other pie flavors. I tried to put them all into one blog, but the recipes differed just enough to make that impossible. So…here’s the link for “Pecan Pie” Shortbread cookies. and “Pumpkin Pie” Shortbread cookies.
I may be going a little crazy here, but there may be key lime, lemon meringue, cherry, berry, and peanut butter pie cookies in the future; I’m having too much fun to quit!
Lorinda