Photography, Janis Nicolay.

Stracciatella Shortbread Cookies

These buttery cookies are the perfect addition to your holiday treat tin.

 

Stracciatella Shortbread Cookies

Anna Olson
Don’t be fooled by their dainty size; these cookies pack big, buttery flavour and will make a great addition to your holiday treat tin.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • ½ cup icing sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla-bean paste
  • cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup potato starch
  • ¼ tsp fine salt
  • ½ cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 300°F and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
  • Using electric beaters or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, whip butter on its own on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add icing sugar and beat in, starting on low and then increasing to medium-high, until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add flour, potato starch and salt and blend on low speed until dough comes together. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
  • Use small mechanical scoop to portion cookies; if scoop is larger than size of cookie you want (just larger than a toonie), scoop dough and then cut each portion in half. Roll each cookie portion into a ball between the palms of your hands and place on baking tray, leaving 1½ in (4 cm) between them. Use fork dipped in flour to press each cookie down (or use a cookie stamp, if you have one).
  • Bake cookies for about 30 minutes. They will show a touch of light browning on the bottom but should not be brown otherwise. Cool cookies on their trays on racks before packing in airtight container.

Notes

Tip: These cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
 
Tip: You can replace the mini chocolate chips with practically anything; try crushed candy canes, chopped nuts or toffee bits. You can even leave the chocolate chips out and just bake the shortbread as is.
Keyword cookies and bars, shortbread

The Anna Cooks cookbook cover.

Recipes excerpted from Anna Cooks by Anna Olson. Adapted for ELLE Gourmet. Copyright © 2025 Anna Olson. Photographs by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.
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