emmakitchen If you’ve scrolled through Pinterest at all, you’ve probably seen Alison Roman’s Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread. I know they’re all over my “baking” board. They’ve even been deemed “#thecookie” on Instagram. That’s right, no introduction, they’re apparently just that good. These cookies have taken the recipe world by storm, and for good reason: they sound incredibly enticing.
This revered recipe is comprised of a golden-brown shortbread base studded with shards of sharp chocolate, a crunchy raw sugar crust, and a sprinkle of sea salt to top it all off. How could any self-respecting home baker turn that down?!
The answer: they can’t. After thinking about these for weeks, I finally baked them, and I have many thoughts. In this post, I’ll give you the recipe (complete with a few modifications based on what worked for me), the step-by-step process, and my answer to the all-important question: does Alison Roman’s Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread live up to the hype?!
All that and more at 8. Just kidding, I’ll get into it now. :-)) For this post, I’m going to skip the ‘inspiration’ section since this recipe is fully accredited to Alison Roman. I’ve heard that she’s got many other amazing recipes, so by all means check her out! With that, we’ll talk about how this recipe was designed.
how alison roman’s salted chocolate chunk shortbread was designed
This recipe was created completely by Alison Roman for her cookbook ‘Dining In‘. I have no personal insights to add because I haven’t changed anything for this post, but I found some interesting commentary from her on how these famous cookies came to be.
Roman writes, “Made with lots of salted butter… the dough has just enough flour to hold it together and the right amount of light brown sugar to suggest a chocolate chip cookie.” Bon Appétit describes them as “rejection of the… complicated cookie recipe,” since the main ingredients are simply butter, flour, sugar, and salt.
These shortbreads were clearly meant to be an elevated classic. With a flavor profile of bittersweet chocolate, sea salt, and buttery dough, these are not take-to-a-kid’s-birthday-party cookies. These are like, wine tasting cookies.
However, did they hold up to me, an admitted lover of over-the-top, saccharine cookies? We shall find out, but first, ingredients.
ingredients & technique for alison roman’s salted chocolate chunk shortbread
- Salted Butter: Secret: when I made this recipe, I didn’t actually have salted butter on hand. Luckily for me, Roman included a note to remedy this exact situation: “If you find it tragically annoying to buy salted butter just for this recipe, you can use unsalted butter and add ¾ teaspoon kosher salt to the flour.” So, that’s exactly what I did, but I don’t recommend it. Roman claims that salted butter “has a slightly different flavor and a deeper saltiness than using just salt,” and I think this recipe should be made the way she intended.
- Brown Sugar: I found the use of brown sugar in these cookies very creative. Most shortbreads stick with granulated only, so it was certainly different. However, the caramel-ly taste just muddied the flavor or traditional shortbread, IMO, which turned these into something completely different.
- Flour: According to Roman, these Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbreads were meant to counter the “deeply flawed” nature of traditional chocolate chip cookies. One of the ways she achieved that was by adding only enough flour to bind the dough together. I don’t agree with her opinion of chocolate chip cookies, but her flour philosophy is pretty good⏤ I usually add less flour to cookie recipes to ensure a gooier texture.
- Chocolate: The method of handling the chocolate for these shortbreads is one that I personally love. Roman calls for 6 ounces bitter- or semisweet chocolate (they’re interchangeable) chopped into large chunks. No chips, no pre-packaged chunks. She says it’s meant to prevent “chip congregation.” I think that’s hilarious. No more Chip Congregation 2021!
- Egg + Raw Sugar: This is the real genius of the recipe. The finished dough is separated into logs and chilled for 2 hours. Then, the logs are then rolled in a beaten egg and a generous portion of demerara/raw sugar. This blew my mind. The caramelized crust gives the shortbreads a whole new level of flavor. Though there were many things about these cookies that I didn’t love, this is a hack I’ll definitely steal.
- Rolling, Slicing, & Baking: My gripes begin here. Roman states that the dough is meant to be separated into two logs, which will each have a height of 2 1/4 inches. Then, they’re sliced into 1/2 inch pieces and baked for 12-15 minutes. This part didn’t work for me at all. As you can see, my two halves reached nowhere near 2 1/4 inches; they came out more around 1″. To make up for the disparity, I sliced them extra-thick for a more substantial cookie. As a result, they took upwards of 20 minutes to bake. I’m sure part of this is user error, but I have no idea how I was meant to make my logs so tall. The dough was also really crumbly and tough to shape.
Though the shaping definitely gave me fits, they still turned out pretty gorgeous. Just look.
Time for the process.
process for alison roman’s salted chocolate chunk shortbread
butter & sugar
This simple dough starts out with the classic cookie-making ingredients: butter, sugar, and vanilla. The butter is cold, an unorthodox technique that will thrill an unprepared baker. It’s essential to giving the shortbreads that ‘shortbread’ texture. Anyway, those ingredients are beaten for 3-5 minutes until fluffy and light; you’ll get a thick, caramel-colored batter that looks like the one on the right.
dry ingredients
Next, you’ll mix in the flour (with salt whisked in if you used unsalted butter). Do so until just combined. Overmixing is the kiss of death on a cookie like these, where a tender crumb and dry texture is the end goal. By all means, ensure that the dry ingredients are fully incorporated, but don’t beat any further. Then, FOLD IN the chopped chocolate by hand, as to not break it up any further. Which, speaking of, can we just take a minute?!?
forming
Here’s the part I struggled with most. The shortbread dough is meant to be rolled into logs with plastic wrap. However, mine was so crumbly that it just kept breaking apart and getting the plastic all greasy. It wouldn’t hold together at all! However, it solidified as it chilled, and I was able to successfully sugar-crust and slice it into these cute little cookie coins.
bake
After a grueling wait-time in the fridge (or, if you’re impatient like me, a quick 15 minutes in the freezer!), your Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbreads are finally ready to bake. Don’t forget your sprinkle of sea salt! If they’re sliced thicker, they’ll take a lot longer than the listed bake time. Mine took about 24 minutes before they were finally firm. However, it was a lot of fun to watch that raw sugar coating bubble up and melt. Truthfully, the best part.
And with that, you will have the internet’s favorite cookie at the ready. The people love these shortbreads. One reviewer called them a “new alltime fave”; another stated that they were “possibly the best cookie I’ve ever tasted”. The people seem to love this recipe, and the endless 5-star ratings reflect that. But, do I?
my thoughts
I’ve been dreading this for the entirety of the post. Yet, it’s only fair that I give my opinion after all that runaround. So, I really, really do hate to say it, but I thought these cookies were just… mediocre. And so did the rest of my family.
The chocolate was lacking; maybe I cut it too small, but the flavor didn’t shine through. The actual cookie part was very crumbly, and unless you got a bite with the demerara crust, it almost wasn’t even sweet. It was impossible to work with the dough. The concept of ‘slice ‘n bake’ just isn’t applicable for shortbread. Any attempt to roll resulted in a broken mess.
And for all that work, I don’t even think they taste that much like shortbread. The brown sugar negated any chance of that light, simple, buttery taste. It was basically all of the dry texture without any of the payoff.
For all of Roman’s attempts to “fix” what is “””wrong””” with the traditional chocolate chip cookie, my family and I agreed that eating the ‘elevated’ version just made us want a normal one. However, they weren’t bad, and they certainly are gorgeous. Maybe that’s why they’re Instagram’s favorite cookie.
All in all, these were pretty tasty, just not quite as good as I expected. I would’ve liked them to be less cakey, and they didn’t deliver on flavor. However, I still think they have potential, so I’ll probably make them again to see if my thoughts change. If you’d like to do the same, check out the recipe now.
recipe for alison roman’s salted chocolate chunk shortbread
Alison Roman’s Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking tray
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
shortbread
- 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons salted butter cold
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 oz semisweet/bittersweet chocolate chopped into thick pieces
- pinch sea or kosher salt
crust
- 1 egg beaten thoroughly
- 1/2 cup raw sugar also known as demerara sugar
Instructions
shortbread
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line baking trays with parchment paper.
- Using an electric mixer and a medium bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until super light and fluffy, 3–5 minutes.
- Using a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour, followed by chocolate chunks, and beat just to blend. (**Note: if not using salted butter, stir 3/4 tsp table salt into the flour before adding.)
- Divide dough in half, then place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold plastic over to cover dough and protect your hands from getting all sticky. Using your hands (just like you’re playing with clay), form dough into a log shape; rolling it on the counter will help you smooth it out, but don’t worry about getting it totally perfect. Chill until firm, about 2 hours (or freeze for 30min, bake time will be about 20min if you do this)
- Once chilled thoroughly, brush outside of logs with egg wash. Roll logs in demerara sugar (this is for those really delicious crispy edges).
- Slice each log into ½"-thick rounds (mine came out more like 1"). Arrange on prepared baking sheet about 1" apart (they won’t spread much). Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake cookies until edges are just beginning to brown, 12-15 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating them all.
Notes
- Recipe from www.SoCosmopoliteen.com, courtesy of Alison Roman
- Her recipe states: “Do Ahead: Cookie dough can be made 1 week ahead. Tightly wrap in plastic and chill, or freeze up to 1 month. Cookies can be baked 5 days ahead. Store in plastic wrap or an airtight container.”
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So, there you have it: the next big thing in the cookie world. Even though these weren’t my thing, I still recommend you make them, just for the chance to try something new and unique.
As always, I seriously hope you love this post! Let me know if you try this or if there are any other recipes you’d like to see reviewed.
Signed,
