Before I had food allergies, the only kind of shortbread cookies I knew were Lorna Doone and the kind you get from Knott’s Berry Farm. In fact, I never even had the thought of making these at home.
But as with many items since being diagnosed, I grew a strong longing for these last year and decided to learn as much as I could to make the most perfect allergy-friendly shortbread cookies. And now, I get to share that delicious recipe with you.
I promise you when your friends and family try these, they won’t even know they’re gluten-free vegan! And this recipe makes so many cookies that you can make some now and make some for later.
At first thought, you may not think that shortbreads are a cookie to make around the holidays but the origin of this cookie is actually Scottish and is typically made for Christmas and Hogmanay celebrations. Where does the “short” part in the name come from? This is because these cookies are more biscuit-like with a crumbly texture.
One of the reasons I enjoy making these cookies are because they don’t require leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda so the ingredients are more likely to already be in your cabinet. I always think that I’m not going to want to eat these cookies because when working with the ingredients, the don’t seem very enticing. But as soon as one touches my lips it’s hard to stop eating. And when they’re dipped in chocolate? Oh, count me as out of control!
So enough chatting, let's get started on our gluten, corn, and dairy-free shortbreads!
In a standing mixer bowl, cream together butter and sugar until it has a fluffy texture. Then slowly add vanilla to mixture. Add in dry ingredients and continue to stir until dough is formed.
Once all your items are blended you should have a dough that is an off white color. Use your fingers to gather dough into one large ball. The dough should be moist but not sticky or wet and you should be able to smell that delicious vanilla.
Transfer your dough onto a floured surface. I prefer to put down a piece of parchment paper so that transfers and clean up are easy.
Roll it out in even strokes on each side until you have a flat disc that is about ½ inch thick. As this will be going into the fridge, feel free to break the ball into 2 pieces and roll them out separately so they’ll be able to fit. Cover dough with parchment paper and transfer dough and paper to a baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
Remove dough from the fridge and transfer to a flat floured work surface. Using cookie cutters or cookie press, cut out shapes and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and space them about 1-inches apart (think of it as socially distancing your cookies). Place baking sheet in pre-heated oven at 350° and bake for 12 minutes.
When your cookies are done and have cooled, you can eat them as is or you can decorate. I chose to decorate these by dipping them in chocolate. The recipe on how to temper your chocolate to dip the cookies is below along with the cookie recipe. Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Storage
Store cookies in an airtight container and place in the fridge up to 30 days.
