Can I substitute any of the ingredients?

Refer to the Ingredients Substitution section

What are the best gluten-free flours to use for this gluten-free shortbread?

For this recipe, the homemade grain- and gluten-free flour blend consists of almond or tigernut flour with arrowroot starch to achieve the desired taste and texture. It cannot be substituted with a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. Moreover, this recipe is free of yeast and gums often included in those blends. Want to learn more about baking with grain-free flours and making your own blends? I teach you how in The Basics .

Can I make the dough in advance? Can I freeze the shortbread dough?

You can make the dough the day before using. Keep the ball of dough in plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature before rolling it out and cutting into cookies (no need to re-chill). Alternatively, you can freeze the dough in plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag for up to 30 days. Allow the dough to thaw in the fridge for 12 hours before using.

Gluten-Free Vegan Shortbread Cookies • Heal Me Delicious

Description

My easy Gluten-Free Vegan Shortbread Cookies are rich, sweet, crumbly, and a must-make holiday cookie! These simple, buttery cut-out shortbread cookies are grain-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and can easily be nut-free and AIP-compliant.

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 3/4 cup almond flour or 1 cup tigernut flour (nut-free, AIP option)
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup palm shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (optional)
sea salt flakes (optional, for garnish)

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.
To the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, add almond flour, arrowroot starch, sea salt, maple syrup, palm shortening, and vanilla. Mix until combined.*
Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a rectangle between 1/4 – 1/2 inch in thickness.
Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and refrigerate sheet of rolled out dough for 5 minutes.
Use a cookie cutter of your choice to cut out the cookies.
Transfer the cookies on the sheet of parchment paper to a baking sheet. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes.
Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool before handling or they will break. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Melt dairy-free chocolate chips in the microwave. Drizzle melted chocolate over one side of the cookies or in any design that you’d like and sprinkle with sea salt flakes (optional).

Notes

*Or make the dough manually by combining the almond flour, arrowroot starch, sea salt, maple syrup, and vanilla in a large bowl. Then cut in the palm shortening with a pastry cutter and bring the dough together with your hands.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Category: Cookies
Method: Baked
Cuisine: Scottish-inspired