• Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Lightly oil the surface with cooking oil spray and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, stir softened butter and powdered sugar with a rubber spatula until they form a creamy, smooth paste. You can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or an electric beater.
• Add flour, cocoa powder, and milk and stir to form a crumbly dough. Then, knead and squeeze by hand to form a consistent cookie dough.
• If the dough is too dry, add a bit more almond milk. If it's too sticky, add a little more flour, but don't over-add flour. The dough is soft and sticky, and that's normal. You just don't want a dough that is too moist.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each one into a log about 0.8 inches wide (2 cm).
• Use the back of a fork to press print all along the dough logs, leaving 0.2 inches between each print. That's where you will cut the cookies apart from each other.
• When the whole log has been marked with the fork, use a knife to cut cookies. One cut between each fork mark makes one shortbread cookie.
• Place each cookie on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C).
• Bake the shortbread cookies for 14 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C).
• Cool down on the baking sheet and then on a cooling rack before decorating.

Decorating Shortbread

• To decorate, melt 1/2 cup of dark or white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it in 30-second bursts, stir, and repeat until the chocolate is fully melted.
• Dip each chocolate shortbread end into melted chocolate, then into unsweetened desiccated coconut if you like. Place back on the cooling rack.
• Refrigerate the cooling rack for an hour to quickly set the chocolate shells.