Today I want to pamper you with an easy and quick recipe to prepare!
Do you know the famous horseshoe cookies? They are delicious pastry cookies that we can also prepare at home.
Made with a butter shortcrust and enriched with dark chocolate glaze. It’s really easy to make these glazed treats, and they are so delicious that they disappear in no time!
Believe it or not, I baked them the other night when almost everyone was asleep! The next morning my boyfriend couldn’t resist and ate them for breakfast! 😮
You should have seen my face when I woke up (still hadn’t taken the photo!) and found half of them gone! 😮
Despite receiving a good scolding, he replied: “you should have hidden them, I couldn’t resist“!! I couldn’t really blame him!! They were too tempting to ignore!!
So if you’re looking for a cookie that combines the classic goodness of butter shortcrust with a delicious and original decoration, these horseshoe cookies with chocolate glaze are the perfect choice!
Easy to make, lovely to look at, and great to offer for breakfast, a special snack, or dessert! They’re also perfect for holidays or as a homemade gift.
Moreover, to make them you don’t need any molds so we can make them without any difficulty!
Read till the end, you’ll find the complete recipe with tips, variations without butter or lactose, and a section with all the answers to frequently asked questions.
Are you a fan of homemade breakfast? Try these three cakes, the most appreciated by my readers:
Super soft Vegan Chocolate and Almond Cake
Giuditta Yogurt Cake without Butter
Fresh Blueberry Cake
And if you love cookies as much as I do, don’t miss these:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: about 25 cookies
- Cooking methods: Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 lemon zest (or orange zest or vanilla aroma)
Tools
- Bowl
- Small Bowl
- Baking Sheet
- Lemon Grater
- Cooling Rack
Preparation
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, grated zest of 1 lemon, and baking powder.
To flavor the cookies, I also used half a vial of almond aroma which goes perfectly with the chocolate that will decorate them.
Of course, you can use only lemon zest (which can be replaced with the zest of half an orange).
Mix the dry ingredients with a spoon, then make the classic well in the center.
Add the whole egg and mix until the flour has absorbed it.
Finally, add the almond aroma (only if you like it) and the cold butter in pieces.
Knead with your hands until you get a crumbly mixture.
Turn everything onto the work surface and quickly knead into a compact and smooth dough.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.
Then take the dough and slice it, possibly of the same thickness.
Cut each slice of dough into sticks of the same thickness (see photo below).
Take each stick and roll it with your hands into a cylindrical shape.
Do not make them too thin, or the cookies will be too flat. They should be nice and thick.
If each stick is too long, divide it in half and then bend it into a U shape.
Continue in the same way until the dough is finished. Arrange the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Leave some space between each cookie. If they don’t all fit in the baking sheet, bake them in two batches.
Bake in a static oven, preheated for at least 20 minutes, at 340°F for about 18 minutes.
The baking time varies from oven to oven and especially by the thickness of the cookies. If they are not too thick, they cook faster.
After 15 minutes, check. If they are already golden, remove immediately; otherwise, continue for a few more minutes.
Once ready, take them out of the oven and let them cool completely on a rack.
Then, glaze the horseshoe cookies (the most delicious part!).
Melt about 150 grams of dark chocolate in a double boiler (or for a few seconds in the microwave).
Dip one cookie at a time into the melted chocolate. Shake to remove excess chocolate.
Place the cookies on a rack so that the chocolate can dry.
If the chocolate isn’t enough to decorate all the cookies, melt more in a double boiler.
To help the chocolate dry faster, you can place the cookies in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
Your horseshoe cookies are ready! Beautiful and super tasty, it’s impossible to resist!
I hope you enjoyed this recipe; if you have any questions, write to me below, and I will answer you.
Article protected by copyright © – Gabriella Geroni © All Rights Reserved
Tips & Variations
Butter-free / Lactose-free: replace butter with 110 g of vegetable margarine or lactose-free butter, maintaining the same consistency.
Alternative glaze: you can use white chocolate or milk chocolate for decoration. For a more festive touch, add pistachio granules or colored sprinkles on the wet glaze.
Flavors: besides lemon zest, you can use orange zest, vanilla essence, or almond extract to give a different aroma to the cookies.
Alternative shape: you can make straight sticks or rings: the taste will be the same, only the look changes.
🌾 Gluten-Free Version
Here’s how to make gluten-free horseshoe cookies with a taste practically identical to the original.
🔹 Recommended flour mix:
180 g rice flour
40 g potato starch
30 g cornstarch
or use a ready-made gluten-free shortcrust mix (e.g., Schär Mix C or Mix Dolci).
Ensure it contains xanthan or fibers to provide structure; if not, you can add ½ teaspoon of xanthan gum.
🔹 Procedure (same as classic recipe).
If the dough tends to crumble, add 1–2 tablespoons of milk to make it more workable.
Bake at 340°F, but check 2 minutes before: gluten-free flours tend to brown faster.
💡 Result: slightly more crumbly and less elastic, but perfect for dipping in chocolate.
Olive Oil Version (no butter)
You can make horseshoe cookies with extra virgin olive oil, maintaining the typical shortcrust crumbliness.
The important thing is to use an oil with a delicate taste (such as lightly fruity, seed oil, or rice oil if you prefer a neutral flavor).
🔹 Modified Ingredients:
125 g butter → 90 g of light extra virgin olive oil
(or 85 g if using sunflower or corn seed oil)
The oil makes the dough crisper and less “melt-in-the-mouth,” but also lighter and suitable for those who don’t consume dairy.
🔹 Technical tips
Add 1 tablespoon of milk or cold water if the dough is too dry.
Knead briefly, as oil dough tends to compact faster.
If desired, let it rest for 30 minutes, but it is not absolutely necessary.
🍪 Horseshoe Cookies in Air Fryer
If you’re wondering if you can cook horseshoe cookies in an air fryer, the answer is yes!
They cook in half the time compared to the oven and remain crumbly inside and crunchy outside.
Great solution for those who don’t want to turn on the oven or live in small spaces.
🔹 Temperature and cooking times, what’s different compared to the classic oven:
Each air fryer model is slightly different, but on average, you can follow these parameters:
Temperature: 320°F
Cooking time: 8–10 minutes (depends on thickness)
Standard fan setting
Preheat: 2–3 minutes
💡 Practical tip:
After 7 minutes, check the color: the cookies should be just golden at the edges. Remember that they become crunchier as they cool.
🍳🥣🍫 Small trick for perfect cookies
If the air fryer tends to dry out desserts too much, you can place a small heat-resistant bowl of water in the basket. It will maintain the ideal humidity and prevent the cookies from becoming too hard.
Can I use whole wheat flour or an alternative flour (type 00 flour → …)?
Yes, you can substitute up to 30-40% of all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour or type 1 flour without major changes. The shortcrust will be slightly more rustic and darker.
If you use highly protein flours (e.g., spelt flour), check the consistency and perhaps add 1-2 tablespoons of milk to make a workable dough.The cookies need to be quite thick: how thick should they be ideally?
It is advisable for the sticks to be about 0.4 inches thick and then bent into a “U”.
If you make them too thin, they risk drying out too much in baking or losing the characteristic “softness” inside.What is the secret to keeping them crumbly and not hard?
Use cold butter and work the dough quickly to avoid warming it up.
Do not press the dough too much, let it remain slightly crumbly before forming the dough.
Do not overbake the cookies, as soon as you see the edges are golden, remove them from the oven, without allowing them to become too dark.
Let cool on a rack, so residual moisture evaporates.Can I skip the chocolate glaze?
Absolutely! You can skip the glaze and have simple butter shortcrust horseshoe cookies. In this case, you can dust them with powdered sugar or decorate them with melted white chocolate for a more delicate effect.
How to store the cookies and how long do they last?
Once completely cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, away from heat sources. They stay good and crumbly for about 5-6 days. If you want to keep them longer, you can freeze them (already glazed or not) in food bags. When needed, thaw at room temperature for a few hours.
Can they be prepared in advance for a party or buffet?
Yes, a great choice. You can prepare the dough the day before, store it in the fridge, and make the cookies the following morning. Or bake the cookies the day before and glaze them the next day: they will keep perfectly until the next day, and their flavor will even improve slightly.
What is the best butter to use?
It’s best to use good quality butter, with at least 82% fat, preferably cold from the fridge to obtain a crumblier and less elastic shortcrust. If you want a lighter variant, you can use clarified butter.
Is it possible to make them egg-free or vegan?
Yes, with some modifications: replace the egg with 50 g of plant-based yogurt or 60 g of apple puree + a pinch of agar agar, use vegetable margarine instead of butter, and ensure the chocolate is vegan (lactose-free). The result will be good, but the texture might be slightly different.
Can I reduce the sugar a bit?
You can reduce the sugar by up to 20–25% without compromising the structure.
🔹 From 130 g → 100 g of sugar
You will get cookies that are slightly less sweet but still balanced, especially if you glaze them with chocolate (which perfectly compensates for the sweetness).
Below 90 g the shortcrust risks being less crumbly, as sugar also contributes to the crunchy texture.
💡 Tip: if you reduce the sugar, you can add a teaspoon of honey (it helps with the browning and keeps the dough softer).
