Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to cream together the butter with ½ cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and continue mixing until smooth and silky.
Reduce speed to low and add the flour, salt and mini chocolate just until mixed.
Use a small cookie scoop (1 Tb) to measure out small balls and roll between palms to get a round shape.
Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are slightly darker and top of the cookies are no longer shiny.
Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Roll warm cookies in remaining 1 cup powdered sugar and allow to finish cooling, then repeat this step again for extra “snowy” finish.
Notes
*Room temperature butter is necessary to create a smooth base that won’t spread when cooking.*Powdered sugar is ideal for this shortbread cookie as it gives the cookie a light and airy texture. In a pinch, granular can be used too.*Pure vanilla extract is preferred for this recipe.*Use high quality cocoa powder for this recipe.*Mini chocolate chips are ideal for this recipe because of the small size of the cookie. Regular chocolate chips are just too big. In a pinch, you can chop regular chips and use those.*Mixing the flour in last ensures it won’t be overmixed.*Rolling cookies twice gives optimal sugar cooking. 15 minutes is the perfect amount of time for the cookies to cool slightly. They should still be slightly warm which will help the first coating of sugar stick. A second coating after cooling will give the cookies an extra “snowy” finish.