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Espresso Cookies are a classic buttery shortbread cookie with a buttery crunch and rich espresso flavor made with staple ingredients and espresso powder. Latte Cookies easy to make and make a beautiful gift for the holidays.

I’m excited to bring you new Christmas cookie recipes.

So far I’ve shared these easy Christmas cookie recipes:
Do you love Christmas cookies as much as we do? You’ve got to try my chocolate chip pecan snowball cookies! It’s a classic, timeless cookie recipe with a delicious chocolate twist.

This year I’m sharing another very giftable Christmas cookie recipe – Espresso Cookies! Espresso Cookies are beautiful cutout cookies with rich espresso flavor and a nice buttery crunch.

Espresso Cookies or Latte Cookies are incredibly delicious and easy to make. They’re a twist on traditional shortbread cookies made with staple ingredients – butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, salt and of course, espresso powder!

Table of Contents
Espresso Cookie Ingredients
- Butter – Salted or unsalted, your preference. Softened. You can get my tips to soften butter here.
- Sugar – White granulated.
- Vanilla Extract – Adds a hint of flavor.
- All Purpose Flour – No need to sift.
- Espresso Powder – The main ingeredient that offers flavor and beautiful specks. I use this espresso powder because it blends so seamlessly into recipes, but if you’re in a pinch with something easy to find in your grocery store, this espresso powder will do, too!
- Salt – Salt brings out all the other flavors in baked goods.

How to Make Espresso Cookies
- Prep – Preheat oven.
- Combine Sugars and Butters – In a mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine sugar, butter and vanilla.
- Add Dry Ingredients – Add flour, salt and espresso powdered until combined.
- Make Dough Discs – Shape dough into a disc, wrap and refrigerate.
- Roll and Cut – On a floured surface, oll out dough and cut into shapes.
- Bake.
- Fill – Allow to cool and add the optional espresso cream filling for an extra indulgent treat. It’s so good I could eat it by the spoonful! The espresso cream filling is made with water, espresso powder, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla.

Tips
Store
- At Room Temperature – Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.
- Freeze – Store in an airtight container or freezer bag, unfilled, up to 3 months.


How to Gift Latte Cookies
I used a traditional scallop cookie cutter, but you can make a variety of shapes using a coffee mug cookie cutter, travel coffee cup cookie cutter or traditional Christmas shapes.


I have created free printable gift tags that say “Wishing you a latte joy” and “Sending you a latte love”. You can get them right here!

They stack beautifully and are easy to package in cellophane bags tied with a beautiful ribbon.



If you love latte a latte, you’ll also love this easy Latte Bread. You can make 6 giftable latte loaves in just 5 minutes hands on time.

More Gift Ideas
- Holiday Cheer Christmas Wine Gift Tags
- Wishing You a Sweet Christmas (subscriber only, subscribe here)
- Printable Recipe Cards Gift
- Latte Joy Espresso Cookies with Latte Joy Gift Tags
- Christmas Gift Tags
- Gift Card Wrapping Ideas

Wishing you a latte joy this holiday season.
Want more? Receive the best ideas directly to your inbox and connect on Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
More Shortbread Recipes
Did you make this? Rate the recipe and tag me on social @julieblanner!

Espresso Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Optional Espresso Cream Filling
- 2 tablespoons hot tap water
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder heaping
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, butter and vanilla.
- Add flour, espresso powder and salt. Mix until combined.
- On floured plastic wrap, press dough into a disc shape (like a thick plate) wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- On floured parchment paper, roll dough to ¼" thick.
- Cut dough into shapes and peel excess dough dough away. Transfer parchment paper filled with cutouts on cookie sheet.
- Bake 15 minutes or until set (based on a 3" cookie).
Tips
Variations
Cream Filled – Combine cream filling ingredients. Spread onto cooled cookie and top with another cookie.Tips
- Cutouts – Use various cookie cutters to create unique shapes. Larger cutouts will require additional baking time while time will need to be reduced for smaller cutouts.
To Store
- At Room Temperature – Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.
- Freeze – Store in an airtight container or freezer bag, unfilled, up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
Deanna F says
Mine turned out much darker. I think I rolled them too thin also. I’ll try again sometime. Thank you for sharing!
Julie Blanner says
It sounds like they were thinner, so they over-baked. I hope you enjoyed the flavor!
Mary Wong says
Can’t wait to make these for my holiday cookie boxes. They look fabulous! For the cream filling, I do not see in the directions how to use the two tablespoons of hot tap water?
Thank you.
Julie Blanner says
Hi Mary,
My apologies that I am just now catching up with some comments. The hot water goes in the cream filling that you sandwich between the cookies!
Hope you have a beautiful weekend,
Julie
Jocelyn says
Can you top the cutouts with royal icing?
Julie Blanner says
Of course!
Sabrina says
love these cookies, so adult and beautifully photographed, and the espresso powder is a nice-ly different ingredient, thank you
Sophie says
In the ingredients, the recipe lists 3 tbsp espresso powder followed by 1 tsp espresso powder. Should be one or the other? Love the gift ideas!
Julie Blanner says
Both I just don’t have a great way to list it in my recipe card. Sorry for the confusion.