White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
In 2021 Valentine’s Day, I felt like putting florals on absolutely everything. Perhaps it’s the result of a long, dreary winter and months of lockdown here in Europe. I was completely over winter and more than ready to usher in spring. If flowers can’t bloom outside just yet, they can certainly bloom on dessert.
For my Valentine’s dessert, I chose something simple yet indulgent: buttery shortbread cookies layered with a white chocolate ganache filling. It’s an elegant little treat that looks special but can be made comfortably within an hour—perfect if you want something homemade without spending all day in the kitchen.
I’ve shared this shortbread cookie recipe before, and it works beautifully here too. This time, though, the magic is in the filling. A silky ganache made with white chocolate pieces and fresh cream adds richness and softness between the crisp cookie layers. If you’d like to take it up a notch and really deepen the flavour, add a splash of cream liqueur to the cream before mixing it with the chocolate. Something along the lines of Baileys, Cape Velvet or Amarula works wonderfully and gives the ganache a subtle, grown-up warmth.
Start by making the white chocolate ganache and set it aside to cool. Once cooled, whip it until firm and light. While the ganache is resting, prepare the shortbread dough and press out heart-shaped cookies. Three cookies per stack are more than enough for a generous filling-to-cookie ratio.
Transfer the whipped ganache to a piping bag and pipe small dollops onto the cookies. Stack them gently, allowing the ganache to peek out just enough to tempt anyone nearby. I made piped chocolate decorations beforehand, but if you don’t know how, you can buy them from a baking shop, or sprinkle chocolate shards and nuts on top. Don’t forget the flowers! Get them from the fruit and vegetable fridge section in some supermarkets. When choosing your own, remember to select only flowers that are edible and safe to eat for human consumption.
The finished cookie stacks can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three days, though, in my experience, they rarely last that long. Floral, buttery, and rich with white chocolate, these little Valentine’s treats are my way of nudging spring a little closer.
White Chocolate Ganache
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Resting time: 1 Hour in the fridge, 2 Hours on the counter
Yield: 500ml
Ingredients:
250 ml Fresh Cream
500 g Chopped White Chocolate
Method:
Add the cream to a stainless steel bowl, to be placed onto a saucepan with water. This will create a double boiler, which makes it safer for chocolate to melt.
Heat the cream to very warm, but not boiling.
Add the chocolate pieces to the cream at once and while stirring slowly, allowing the chocolate to melt, then forming a smooth chocolate sauce.
Set aside on the counter to cool down for two hours or in the fridge for one hour.
It is very important that the ganache should be completely cold or even better, chilled before it being whipped.
With an electrical beater, whip up the ganache until a chocolate mousse consistency.
Add the ganache to a piping bag.
Shortbread Cookies
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Resting time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 50 cookies
Storage: Raw cookie dough, frozen 3 months or baked cookies, stored for 1 month.
Ingredients:
750ml (3 cups) Flour
375ml (1,5 cups) Icing sugar
375ml (1,5 cups) Corn Starch
500g Cold butter, unsalted, cubed
5ml Vanilla Essence
Method:
Sift the dry ingredients together in one bowl.
Cube the butter and add it all at once to the flour mixture.
Rub the butter into the dry ingredients by hand. Make sure all the flour particles are covered by butter. Add the vanilla extract last.
Turn the flour and butter mixture out onto a dry, clean workbench. By hand start to press the dough together and working through the dough until one ball dough forms. Do not add water or any liquid. It might feel dry but will come together as the butter starts to melt.
When the dough has formed, press it into one ball, cover with clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. This is done to allow the butter to chill and gluten strands to relax and not shrink during the baking process.
Preheat the oven to 150°C.
Remove the dough from the fridge and on a floured surface, roll out the dough to 5mm thickness.
With cookies cutters, cut out the cookies, add them to a baking sheet and bake them for 12- 15 minutes or until golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before removing them and placing them aside.
To Assemble:
Make the white chocolate ganache first, set aside to cool or chill.
Bake the cookies and allow to cool.
Add the whipped chocolate ganache to a piping bag.
Stack the cookies with dollops of ganache in between.
Serve with chocolate decorations, edible flowers or strawberries.