Looking for the cutest-ever tiger-striped shortbread cookies for the next Bengals game? I’ve got you.

These cookies look impressive but are actually super easy. You make the dough ahead of time, refrigerate, and then slice and bake!

Once the cookies are baked, you just melt some chocolate chips, dip the cookies in it, and add some orange sparkles.

And while you don’t HAVE to do the chocolate dip, I would strongly recommend it. The cookies are a pretty basic shortbread, so they’re a little blah without it.

I made these cookies for the Bengals game last weekend, but they’d be perfect for anything tiger- (or Tigger-) themed. Maybe to celebrate the Year of the Tiger? Please let me know if you make them, and how they turn out!

Tiger-striped shortbread cookies

Makes about 4 dozen cookies. Adapted from Southern Living

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
orange food coloring gel (I use Americolor)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (dark cocoa preferred)
black food coloring gel
1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
orange sprinkles

Stir flour and salt together in a medium bowl.

Place the butter, powdered sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until combined, then increase speed to medium-high and continue beating for a few minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla extract and a few drops of the orange food coloring gel and beat just until combined. Add more orange food coloring if necessary and beat to combine.

Add about a third of the flour mixture and beat on low speed just to combine, then add another third and beat on low again before adding the last third. Once all the flour is mixed in, dump the dough out onto a silicone pastry sheet or a very lightly floured surface (the dough isn’t very sticky so I didn’t need any flour for mine) and smoosh it/knead it a bit, just until the dough comes together in a ball.

Divide the dough into two parts, with one of the parts being a little bigger than the other. You’re shooting for one piece that’s 2/3 of the total dough and another that’s 1/3.

Put the smaller portion back in the mixer bowl and add the cocoa powder and a few drops of black food coloring gel. Beat until blended (you may need to add a bit more black food coloring, but don’t worry if the dough isn’t perfectly black. It will get darker as it sits and bakes.)

Separate the orange dough into thirds and the black dough into thirds, for a total of six pieces of dough. Roll/smoosh one of the orange pieces into a 15-inch long rope, then flatten it down slightly. Roll one of the black pieces into a rope about the same size, then put it on top of the orange one and flatten it out a bit. It won’t totally cover the orange, but that’s fine.

Continue rolling out the pieces of dough and stacking/flattening them until it’s all stacked up (the orange should spread out enough to cover the black layers but not vice versa), then (gently) roll the dough into a tube shape (you’ll need to press the ends together slightly as you’re doing this). Wrap in plastic wrap put in the fridge for at least two hours.

Once the dough is ready, reheat the oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

Put the dough on a cutting board and remove the plastic wrap. Use a sharp knife (I like using a serrated knife) to slice the dough log into ¼-inch thick cookies. Place the sliced cookies on the prepared cookie sheet, about an inch apart (they won’t spread much). If you aren’t able to bake all the cookies at once, put the plastic back on the remaining dough and return to the fridge until it’s ready to go in the oven.

Bake the cookies for about 13 minutes, or until they are set but just starting to get darker on the bottoms. You’ll want to swap the position of the baking sheets halfway through cooking to make sure they bake evenly.

Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely — but keep the cookie sheets with parchment handy. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds, stir, and continue to heat in 30-second intervals until chocolate is melted. Pour some of the sprinkles into a small bowl with a spoon.

Working one at a time, dip the side of each cookie in the melted chocolate (I used a spoon to remove the excess), then immediately top with sprinkles. Set the cookies on the parchment-lined cookie sheets to let the chocolate harden (this will take about a half hour). Store the cookies in an airtight container.

 

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