Raspberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

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Today I have a great recipe for these beautiful raspberry shortbread sandwich cookies. I sandwiched mine together with chocolate hazelnut spread, but you could also use chocolate ganache.

If you’re a fan of tasty shortbread recipes, you may also like my chocolate chocolate chip shortbread.

For ease of browsing, you can find all my cookies and bars recipes in one place. Thanks so much for visiting! And especially this week, since it’s #SummerDessertWeek!

Scroll down after the recipe to find recipes from all the other talented participating bloggers, and learn how to enter for chances to win this year’s giveaway!

This post and recipe was created for #SummerDessertWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.

Vertical image of 3 raspberry pink sandwich cookies with chocolate filling stacked on a white plate with more stacks of cookies in the background.

What You'll Find in This Post Click to view ToC

Why This Recipe Works

The magic of these cookies is that I made them with pure freeze-dried raspberry powder. Using the powder, which is generally sold as a supplement or to add to smoothies, does a few things for this recipe:

Since it doesn’t contain any liquid, raspberry powder provides a punch of raspberry flavor without making the cookie tough. So you get a true, crumbly and sandy shortbread without sacrificing huge fruit flavor.
It makes the cookies a gorgeous color. As you can see from the photos, the powder truly makes a stunning cookie. They even look a bit like macarons to me, but they are pure raspberry-butter goodness.
Experiment with other freeze-dried fruit powders to make your favorite fruit flavored shortbread.
They’re filled with Nutella, so if you think raspberry-chocolate-hazelnut sounds like a dreamy combination, these shortbread sandwich cookies are for you. If you don’t like Nutella, you can leave them as plain cookies, or consider sandwiching them together with some dark chocolate ganache.
This is an easy-to-make recipe that only contains 6 ingredients.

How to Make Them

Like most shortbread, you really need minimal equipment and ingredients to make them. Here’s the rundown:

Ingredients

salted butter: Use the best quality salted butter you can find. I used a salted cultured butter from Vermont Creamery. Other good choices are Kerry Gold or Plugra. If you don’t want to use salted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon salt (at least–taste the dough to make sure) per stick of butter.
powdered sugar: I like the fine texture I get from powdered sugar, but you could also use granulated sugar. You can even consider pulsing granulated sugar in your food processor or blender to make your own powdered sugar.
freeze-dried raspberry powder: This is the magical ingredient in these cookies. It provides huge raspberry flavor and gorgeous color in an all-natural product.
cake flour: Since cake flour has a low-protein content, your cookies will stay nice and tender, sandy, and crumbly–exactly what shortbread should be!
chocolate hazelnut spread: You can use Nutella of course. I used Pernigotti Gianduia, which has a bit more hazelnut flavor than Nutella. Or you can make your own spread. For instance, I have this recipe for cocoa cashew spread that would be lovely. Check out my Nutella comparison post to get the lowdown on several different brands you might consider, as well.

Procedure

Collage of 5 images showing rolling out dough, cutting the cookies, and piping on the filling with text overlay.

These cookies are not hard to make at all. Here’s what you’ll do:

Cream the salted butter and powdered sugar together until smooth.
Blend in the raspberry powder and vanilla until evenly incorporated.
Add the flour and mix in on low speed until you get a shockingly pink, slightly sticky but stiff dough.
Divide the dough into 2 discs, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for an hour.
Working with 1/2 of the dough at a time, roll out between 2 sheets of parchment paper until it’s about 1/4″ thick.
Cut and bake at 325 until dry and set, about 12 minutes. You can reroll the scraps to use as much of the dough as possible.
Cool and sandwich the cookies together with chocolate hazelnut spread, ganache, or even raspberry jam.
Enjoy!

Tips for Success

This dough starts out a bit soft, so it really is best to refrigerate it for an hour or so before rolling it out.

I have a wonderful set of graduated round cutters that I never want to be without. Not only can I cut all sizes of round cookies, but I can use them as egg rings, cut out pieces of spongecake, use as small ring molds, etc.

I made my cookies using the third from the smallest size in this set of graduated cutters.

Take care not to let the cookies brown. Even just one extra minute can make a difference. They will still taste just as good, but the color won’t be as vibrant.

Raspberry Shortbread Q & A

Raspberry shortbread stacked on a white plate with a clear Tupperware container of more cookies and a bright pink napkin in the background.

Can I halve (or double) the recipe?

Yes. Shortbread is very forgiving, and since there’s no leavening in it, you can scale up or down just using simple math. If you scale down to 1 stick of butter and use a small cutter like I did, you’ll end up with 20-22 sandwich cookies, which is a respectable number. If you need 100 sandwich cookies, you can use 5 sticks of butter and scale all the other ingredients up accordingly.

Can I make these gluten-free?

Yes. Substitute a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend for the cake flour. Gluten-free flours tend to make great shortbread since the whole point of “shortbread” is to keep the gluten strands short so the cookies are tender, crunchy, and crumbly. With zero gluten in your flour, this becomes really easy!

Can I make these cookies vegan?

Yes. Just substitute a salted vegan butter for the conventional butter. Do make sure it is in stick form. Most spreads in tubs contain too much liquid to work well in shortbread.

Do I have to use raspberry powder?

You can buy freeze-dried raspberries to use in this recipe, but they’ll just get broken up during mixing, and you will end up with an uneven raspberry color. For the most uniform and intense coloring without using any dyes, I recommend sticking with raspberry powder.

How long do they keep?

These little guys will stay fresh for about a week when tightly sealed and stored at room temperature. Freeze for longer storage (up to 3 months).

Are these cookies super crunchy?

Not really. They are sandy and crumbly, but the cookies do leach out a bit of moisture from the chocolate hazelnut spread which makes them a bit softer.

Questions?

If you have a question/questions about this or any other post, whether recipe or technique, don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’m happy to help.

You can leave a comment on the post, and I will respond within 24 hours. If you need an answer more urgently, please email me, and I will respond within about 4 hours (unless I’m sleeping) and often much more quickly than that.

Either way, I will answer as completely as I can. That’s why I’m here!

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4 shortbread sandwich cookies on a white plate. One has a bite taken out of it showing the Nutella filling.

A Note About Measurements

NOTE: Most of my recipes are written by weight and not volume, even the liquids.

Even though I try to provide you with volume measurements as well, I encourage you to buy a kitchen scale for ease of measuring, accuracy, and consistency.

This is the scale I use, love, and recommend. If you’re unsure, please read my post about how to use a food scale.

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Sponsor product used: Dixie Crystals Powdered Sugar

Raspberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

Yield: 40 small sandwich cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Chill Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 27 minutes

These raspberry shortbread sandwich cookies get their intense raspberry flavor and color from 100% natural freeze-dried raspberry powder. The raspberry flavor really shines in these cookies, and that bright-tart flavor is beautifully complemented by the mellow, nutty Nutella filling.

They're rich, so make these cookies small--no more than 1 1/4" in diameter. That way you can eat 4-5 without feeling too badly about it!