Christmas Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Spread: An Easy Recipe

In early December, Provençal kitchens smell of butter and chocolate. Among Christmas cookies, shortbread sandwich cookies filled with chocolate spread please everyone: a crisp shortbread, a melting chocolate centre, a little star cut out on top… They take an hour to make, keep for a week and make a lovely gift in a tin. Here is our step-by-step recipe.

Ingredients (about 20 sandwich cookies)

• 250 g plain wheat flour
• 125 g cold unsalted butter, diced
• 100 g icing sugar
• 40 g ground almonds
• 1 whole egg
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 sachet of vanilla sugar or 1/2 vanilla pod
• 1 jar of organic chocolate spread (about 150 g for the filling)
• Icing sugar for finishing

Which chocolate spread should you choose?

The filling makes all the difference. A spread that is too sweet overwhelms the taste of the butter; a cocoa-rich spread gives more elegant cookies. Three options depending on your guests:

• For dark chocolate lovers: Sambirano dark 70% from Madagascar with almond, with fruity notes that pair perfectly with the ground almonds in the dough.
• For a hazelnut taste: Amazonas dark 65% hazelnut & almond, round and indulgent.
• For children (and grown-ups): Pur Pérou milk 40% with Camargue fleur de sel, reminiscent of salted butter caramel.

Our three spreads are organic, palm-oil free and additive free, made with fair-trade chocolate in Provence (€12 per 250 g jar).

Step-by-step recipe

1. Make the shortbread dough

In a bowl, mix the flour, icing sugar, ground almonds, salt and vanilla sugar. Add the cold diced butter and rub it in with your fingertips until it looks like fine sand: this gives the cookies their crumbly texture. Add the beaten egg and quickly bring the dough together into a ball without overworking it.

2. Let it rest

Flatten the ball, wrap it and chill it for at least 1 hour. This rest is essential: cold dough rolls out easily, cuts cleanly and does not shrink when baked.

3. Roll out and cut

Roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper to 3–4 mm thick. Cut out rounds or stars with a cookie cutter. On half of the cookies, cut a small shape in the centre (star, heart, tree): these will be the "lids" that let the chocolate show through.

4. Bake

Place the cookies on a tray lined with baking paper and bake for 10–12 minutes at 170 °C (fan), until the edges are just golden. Let them cool completely on a rack before filling: a warm cookie would melt the filling.

5. Fill and assemble

Dust the lids with icing sugar. Place a teaspoon of chocolate spread in the centre of each plain cookie, then gently press a lid on top. The spread rises into the cut-out and draws the shape.

Our tips for perfect shortbread

• Keep it cool: if the dough softens while cutting, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes.
• Even thickness: place two 3 mm sticks on either side of the dough to guide the rolling pin.
• Spread at room temperature: it spreads better and stays soft. Avoid heating it.
• A Provençal touch: add the zest of an orange to the dough; it pairs beautifully with dark chocolate.

Storage

The sandwich cookies keep for 5–7 days in an airtight tin, away from heat. They are even better the next day, once the cookie has softened slightly against the filling. You can also make the dough in advance: it freezes very well, as a ball or already cut.

To give during the holidays

Arranged in a tin between two sheets of greaseproof paper, these cookies make a lovely homemade gift for neighbours, teachers or colleagues. To go further, add a jar of chocolate spread so your loved ones can make the recipe again. And if you are looking for more gourmet ideas, discover our chocolate truffles with olive oil and our selection of gourmet Christmas gift ideas from Provence.

Happy baking, and season's greetings from our estate in Cuges-les-Pins!