Easy! Dazzling! Delicious! What more could you ask for? It’s a simple chocolate shortbread crust that you bake in a 9×9 pan for 20 minutes. Then you let it cool completely, frost it with some quick and easy vanilla frosting, maraschino cherry halves, and a drizzle of chocolate. Voila, 36 beautiful little cookie bites!
Here’s what it would look like if you just left it as the biggest cookie ever.
Nah, you should cut it up into 36 perfect little bites.
The crust is chocolately and rich. The frosting is creamy and sweet. The cherry is — a cherry on top. These are possibly the most beautiful cookie that can be made for such little effort. You could even used canned frosting (but… please don’t).
Cherry Cocoa Shortbread Squares
An easy chocolate shortbread is topped with vanilla icing and a cherry for a quick and pretty dessert square.
Servings: 36 squares
Ingredients
Chocolate Shortbread
- ½ cup butter lightly salted
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa
Frosting
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp butter lightly salted
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 18 maraschino cherries, halved
Chocolate Glaze
- 1 oz unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate
- 1½ tsp butter
Instructions
Chocolate Shortbread
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, process together all ingredients, pulsing until the mixture begins to come together as a dough.
- Alternately, if you are using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar, then add the flour and baking cocoa and stir until well combined. Either way, this is a dry and somewhat crumbly dough.
- Press dough into parchment-lined pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before applying frosting.
Frosting
- Combine powdered sugar and butter. Beat in milk and vanilla until smooth.
- Using the overhanging parchment paper as handles, carefully lift the crust out of the pan and set on the counter. It's easier to frost outside the pan.
- Spread over cooled chocolate shortbread crust.
- Making sure your cherries are well drained (pat dry with a paper towel), place halves cut-side down on frosting in a 6×6 square.
Chocolate Glaze
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt together chocolate and butter on low heat. Stir until smooth, and then drizzle over cherries.
- Refrigerate until glaze has set.
- Cut into 36 squares (6×6) with a cherry on each square.
