Stalwart shortbread with chocolate chip accent Homemade Holidays
By: Eva Wasney Posted: 3:00 AM CST Friday, Dec. 12, 2025

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2025 (220 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jaymi Derrett isn’t exactly sure where she found her recipe for mini chip butter crisps. Was it printed on a package of butter? Or maybe it was included in a promotional dairy calendar?

Regardless, the recipe has played a starring role in her baking repertoire for more than 25 years.

“I wrote it down and this is what my recipe looks like now,” Derrett says with a laugh, holding up a stained, yellowed card.

These cookies are akin to buttery shortbread with a touch of chocolate. They’re easy to prepare, freeze well and have been a hit with everyone who has tried them — friends, family, co-workers and otherwise.

“I even had a 12-year-old babysitter come look after my kids. I left them out for a little snack and she wanted the recipe, so they’re usually quite popular,” Derrett says.

Mini Chip Butter Crisps

500 ml (2 cups) flour

2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) salt

250 ml (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

250 ml (1 cup) icing sugar

10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Sift the flour and salt together, set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in icing sugar and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients gradually and mix until smooth, taking care not to over-mix. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Form into 1-inch balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten cookies with the bottom of a glass that’s been dipped in flour.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool.

— Jaymi Derrett

Homemade Holidays is an annual Free Press tradition featuring 12 festive desserts published over 12 days in December. Click here to find this year’s batch of reader-submitted recipes. You can also visit wfp.to/recipecards to purchase a digital download of the cookie recipe cards to print your own recipe booklet at home.

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Eva Wasney
Reporter

Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva.

Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.