Let’s Make Pistachio Shortbread Wedges!
Basic shortbread isn’t fussy or complicated—rather, it’s pure, simple, and downright dreamy. Shortbread is buttery and mildly sweet and sometimes, like in today’s case, crisp and tender. Though shortbread is typically made with just butter, sugar, flour, and sometimes salt—if you’re the type of person who can’t leave things alone, it’s also your chance to have a little fun.
Shortbread is the best blank slate for many different flavors, drizzles, dunks, chunks, and more. You can find many flavor variations with my wedge-shaped shortbread cookies or try today’s variation with pistachios, semi-sweet chocolate, and sea salt.
Today’s shortbread begins in our mixing bowls with butter. We’ll cream it and add granulated sugar as well as a little brown sugar for flavor..
The recipe is quite similar to these pistachio cookies. In that recipe, you use confectioners’ sugar which helps add stability and structure so the drop cookies do not over-spread. We don’t have to worry about overspreading in today’s cookie recipe because we’re baking the dough in cake pans.
And the best parts of all: the dough comes together in ONE BOWL and there’s NO DOUGH CHILLING. Chocolate pistachio shortbread is truly an effortless recipe!
Actually, the best best part about all this are the pistachios. They get all toasty inside the dough when it bakes! Finely chop the nuts before adding to the cookie dough—a food processor immensely helps with the chopping step.
The shortbread dough is crumbly. It’s texture quite similar to the dough we need for snowball cookies or almond crescent cookies. But don’t fret, that’s what you want. Press it into two lined 9-inch cake pans. We’ll cut the baked shortbread into wedges like a pizza. A butter pizza.
We’ll dress up the shortbread with melted chocolate, more chopped pistachios, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. So let’s really think about what you’ll get in just one of these shortbread wedges:
Shortbread upgrade!
If you’re in need of more holiday baking inspiration, here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides, tips, and several favorite shortbread recipes—like brown sugar shortbread and lemon shortbread cookies.
See all cookie palooza recipes.
Salted Chocolate Pistachio Shortbread Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper leaving enough overhang around the sides to easily lift shortbread out. (Parchment is used so you can easily remove the shortbread and not cut it while it’s in the pan.)
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat together until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla, salt, and flour and beat on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed as the mixture combines. Add 2/3 cup of the finely chopped pistachios, reserving the rest for sprinkling on top of the chocolate. Dough will be very crumbly.
- Press 1/2 of the dough into each of the prepared cake pans. You want it nice and compact in each pan.
- Bake the shortbread for 30 minutes or until lightly browned on top and around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the shortbread from the pans by picking it up with the parchment paper on the sides. Cut each into 12 wedges. You want to make sure you cut the shortbread while it’s still warm. Allow to cool completely on the parchment before dipping into chocolate.
- Melt the chopped chocolate in the microwave in 20 second increments, stopping and stirring after each until completely smooth. Dip the shortbread ends into chocolate and sprinkle with remaining chopped pistachios and sea salt. Allow chocolate to completely set.
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