Candy Cane Shortbread

posted by Ashton • Keaton • Mia December 16, 2021

Candy Cane Shortbread

Are you looking for a quick and easy-yet-festive treat to make for those holiday cookie plates? These easy shortbread cookie bars are exactly what you’ve been looking for! This recipe takes less than 10 minutes of hands-on time before baking, and then another 10 minutes to drizzle on the chocolate and crushed peppermint.

These Easy Shortbread Cookie Bars are rich and buttery, and pair perfectly with the sweet chocolate and cool peppermint bits.

This post is sponsored by Dixie Crystals. May contain affiliate links.

Ingredients for Candy Cane Shortbread

Similar to the Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies that Mia shared last year, this recipe for Easy Shortbread Cookie Bars only has a handful of very basic ingredients. You probably already have most of these on hand!

butter
Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
all-purpose flour
high quality dark chocolate
crushed candy canes

Pro Tip: anytime you make a recipe with a short list of ingredients, it’s especially important to make them really high-quality ingredients. These are the brands we recommend using for this recipe to ensure the best results.

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Challenge Butter, Salted

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Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Baking Bar

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What is the Best Chocolate to Use for Drizzling?

I really like using a high-quality chocolate bar for drizzling. Something like this Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Baking Bar is perfect. It melts beautifully, drizzles like a dream, and hardens quickly. However, it does have a high butterfat content (which is what makes it smooth and delicious). This means it will melt easily in your hands or in a slightly warm kitchen.

Which isn’t a deal breaker, but if you need to make sure that the chocolate drizzle stays hard once it’s cooled, I suggest using Ghirardelli Chocolate Wafer Melts. This is the same kind of chocolate you would use to dip truffles or candy (assuming you’re not tempering your own chocolate, which I 100% NEVER do). It’s a little bit more waxy than baking chocolate, but it still tastes good and won’t melt in your hands.

What’s the Difference Between a Sugar Cookie and Shortbread?

Even though both recipes have similar foundations in terms of ingredients, there are notable differences in the creation process and in the final product (as anyone who has tried both knows)! The most significant difference that contributes to both taste and texture is that sugar cookies always include some type of leavening ingredient, usually baking powder. This makes them light and fluffy.

Without a leavening agent, butter shortbread is dense with a rich, almost toffee-like flavor. Some shortbread recipes will incorporate vegetable shortening or oil in addition to the butter, which will make a crispy, crunchy cookie instead soft and dense.

The recipe below will make thick, chewy, buttery bars that are insanely delicious. The edges are just a little crispy, but the insides are soft.