Café‑Style Coffee Shortbread Biscuits — Slice, Bake & Enjoy

 

 

 

If you love buttery shortbread and the rich aroma of coffee, these Slice & Bake Coffee Shortbread Cookies are about to become a new favorite. This easy recipe transforms a simple dough into crisp, golden biscuits with a delicate coffee flavor and sparkling sugar‑coated edges. 

They’re perfect for pairing with your morning cuppa, serving alongside an afternoon latte, or keeping in the freezer for those moments when you want freshly baked cookies without any fuss. With just a handful of ingredients and a quick chill in the fridge, you can slice, bake, and enjoy a batch of beautifully flavored shortbread whenever the craving strikes.

 

These shortbread biscuits I am showing you here today would be perfectly at home with a hot drink, or being dunked. They are buttery and crisp and have a lovely short texture!  Quick and easy to make, once you make the dough and have it chilled.  Just slice and bake like the slice and bake cookie rolls you can get in the shops.

The original recipe contained only three ingredients . . .  butter, sugar and plain flour. It comes from a book entitled My Grandmother's Kitchen, by contributing Editor Catherine Best. 

 

In looking at it I thought that these would be lovely flavored with coffee and coated in coffee sugar/demerara sugar that comes in the little packets of sugar you see in the coffee shops. So I adapted the recipe to use a strong coffee essence that I created using instant coffee crystals and hot water.  You simply mix all the ingredients together, shape into a log and then roll the log in demerara sugar crystals. 

These were excellent.  Crisp with a lovely short texture and beautiful coffee flavor. The sugar coating to the edges was a great addition!

 

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE

SLICE & BAKE COFFEE SHORTBREADS

Five simple ingredients. It doesn't get much simpler than this. Very delicious.

• 3/4 cup (175g) butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp strong coffee essence (see notes)
• scant half cup (90g) caster sugar (superfine granulated sugar)
• 2 cups (250g) plain, all-purpose flour
• demerara sugar for coating (raw sugar, turbinado)

 

 

INGREDIENTS NOTES

I used salted butter. It is the only butter that I keep in the house.  One day I am going to treat myself to a block of European butter.  I always used Lurpak butter in the U.K. It was the best.

I have added a note on the recipe card to show you how to make your own coffee essence.

Caster Sugar is a fine granulated sugar used for baking. It blends very easily into other ingredients without leaving a granular texture. You can easily make your own by blitzing regular granulated sugar in a food processor for a few turns.

Do NOT use self raising flour. No leavening is needed for this recipe.

Demerara sugar is a less processed coarse sugar. It has a lovely caramel flavor and is wonderful stirred into coffee as a sweetener. That is why it is perfect for coating these cookies/biscuits.

 

HOW TO MAKE SLICE & BAKE COFFEE SHORTBREADS 

Slice and bake cookies are some of the quickest and easiest cookies to make. Just shape, chill, slice and then bake. Easy Peazy! 

1. Cream the butter and sugar together with the coffee essence until light and fluffy. Add the flour, and then using your hands, work it completely in until you have a dough with a smooth consistency. (Make sure everything is evenly mixed so that you don't end up with pockets of coffee essence, or flour, etc.)
2. Roll into a sausage shape about 12 inches long, then pat to make either a square or a triangular shape. (I use my hands to do this. On this day I shaped into a square, but triangles also look very nice.)
3. Spread an abundant amount of the demerara sugar onto a piece of baking paper. (Don't worry, whatever you don't use can be put back into the bag/container.)
4. Press each side of the dough log into the sugar to coat. Wrap and chill for half an hour or longer, until very firm. (I wrap in plastic cling film. The longer chilled the better and easier it is to cut the cookies.)
5. Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking paper.
6. Cut the log into thick slices (about 1/3 inch or so) and place slightly apart on the prepared baking sheet. (A really sharp knife is ideal for cutting them. Preferably WITHOUT a serrated edge.)
7. Bake for 20 minutes until just beginning to turn brown.
8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

about baking most cookies 

CRISP OR CHEWY COOKIES?

If you prefer crisp cookies, press the dough flat with the bottom of a glass dipped in granulated sugar prior to baking.  If you want soft chewy cookies, remove them from the oven about 2 minutes before they are done as they will continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet. If you want crisp cookies bake them for 2 minutes longer.

HOW CAN I KEEP MY COOKIES FROM SPREADING TOO MUCH?

• Don't substitute butter for shortening in a recipe which calls for shortening. shortening has a higher melting point, which means it doesn't liquify as quickly, and does a better job of holding the ingredients together. High butter cookie = a cookie that spreads.
• Grease your baking sheets only if the recipe requests you to do so. Most cookies will not stick unless they contain large amounts of butter or sugar.
• Make sure you preheat your oven before baking. If the oven is not hot enough the fat in the cookies will melt before the other ingredients have time to set up.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO STORE COOKIES?

Cool cookies completely before storing. Pack them in single layers between wax or parchment paper to prevent sticking. Do NOT store crisp and soft cookies together in the same container. Store in an airtight container.

HOW DO I FREEZE COOKIES PROPERLY?

To freeze cookies, place them into airtight containers or freezer bags, again with a layer of wax paper or parchment paper in between the layers.  Again, do not store soft and crisp cookies together. They will keep up to six months frozen. Label properly with the type of cookie and the date baked/frozen.

 

HINTS & TIPS FOR COOKIE BAKING SUCCESS

These hints and tips are sure to help you make the best cookies ever.  These apply to most cookie recipes.

• Use flat cookie sheets without sides for even baking.
• Place cookies at least 2-inches apart on baking sheets to allow for spreading.
• Use a sheet of baking parchment or a light spritz of cooking spray to grease your cookie sheets. It's not necessary to repeat this step for every batch but do wipe off any crumbs or sugar from the surface before adding the next batch. 
• Place your cookie sheets in the middle of the oven.
• Make sure the sides of your cookie sheets don't touch the edges of the oven so that heat can circulate evenly and properly.
• Pay particular attention to bake times.  An extra minute or two can make a big difference to the end result since cookies are for the most part quite small and bake quickly. Always aim to underbake rather than overbake. Cookies do continue to bake after you remove them from the oven. 

 

A FEW OTHER COOKIE RECIPES TO ENJOY

There is nothing like a cookie (or a piece of cake) to enjoy with a hot drink. Here are a few more favorites of ours!

MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES (small batch) - A molasses spice cookie with  pepper. You may think that black pepper doesn't belong in a cookie, but you would be wrong. It totally works as this recipe will prove to you. This is also a small batch recipe.  It makes only one dozen cookies. One dozen soft, chewy, gently spiced and sweet-with-molasses cookies.

BEST EVER OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES - Soft, chewy, and packed with rich flavor. These homemade cookies combine hearty oats with gooey chocolate chips for a comforting treat that’s easy to make and impossible to resist. Whether you're baking for a cozy afternoon snack, a holiday platter, or a lunchbox surprise, this small-batch recipe delivers big satisfaction with minimal effort. No chill time required — just mix, bake, and enjoy warm cookies fresh from the oven.

 

 

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Yield: makes 25 - 30 cookies

Author: Marie Rayner

Slice & Bake Coffee Shortbreads

Prep time: 40 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

These crisp, short and buttery cookies are completely comfortable with being dunked. Be it in your hot cuppa at tea break, or coffee break or enjoyed with a glass of milk après school!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (175g) butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp strong coffee essence (see notes)
• scant half cup (90g) caster sugar (superfine granulated sugar)
• 2 cups (250g) plain, all-purpose flour
• demerara sugar for coating (raw sugar, turbinado)

Instructions

1. Cream the butter and sugar together with the coffee essence until light and fluffy. Add the flour, and then using your hands, work it completely in until you have a dough with a smooth consistency.
2. Roll into a sausage shape about 12 inches long, then pat to make either a square or a triangular shape.
3. Spread an abundant amount of the demerara sugar onto a piece of baking paper.
4. Press each side of the dough log into the sugar to coat. Wrap and chill for half an hour or longer, until very firm.
5. Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking paper.
6. Cut the log into thick slices (about 1/3 inch or so) and place slightly apart on the prepared baking sheet.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until just beginning to turn brown.
8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

To make the coffee essence:

Stir together 2 tsp dry coffee granules and 1 tsp boiling water to give you a thick essence of almost syrup consistency.

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