Gluten-Free Vegan Shortbread
This Gluten-Free Vegan Shortbread recipe tastes rich and buttery – without the butter. This simple recipe is made with just FOUR ingredients and can be topped with chocolate for an extra-special holiday treat.
Who doesn’t love a good shortbread cookie? Rich, buttery, just crumbly enough, and typically made with just a few, simple ingredients.
It’s a must for the holiday season – no cookie platter or holiday dessert table really feels complete without some shortbread cookies on it.
I have a few shortbread cookies on my site, including one that is gluten-free and made with browned butter. It is so good and I would absolutely recommend that recipe if you eat butter, but unfortunately not on the menu for me anymore now that I’m dairy-free.
Time for a Vegan Shortbread recipe!
So, I got rid of the butter, made a few adjustments to get the texture I was after, and voila – just FOUR main ingredients, three optional ones for added pizazz, and just a teensy bit of work to get from dough to cookies in your mouth.
Let’s get into how to make these gluten-free vegan shortbread cookies – it’s simple and similar to making any other cookie recipe.
First, you’ll combine your fat and sugar of choice. I used coconut oil and coconut sugar, but vegan butter would also work in place of the coconut oil, and you could use any granulated sweetener of your choice for the sugar, such as maple sugar. I would avoid any liquid sweeteners, like maple syrup or honey, since it will affect the texture significantly.
Then, if desired, you’ll stir in vanilla extract. Not necessary, but adds an extra hint of vanilla flavor that I love.
Next up, add your flours. We use a combination of almond flour and cassava flour for this recipe. The combination of the two creates a tender, flaky, and delicious cookie that holds up well and isn’t too crumbly. That’s all for the dough! Press it into the pan of your choice. Then, it will sit for about an hour to let all the ingredients settle and absorb into the flour.
After baking, you can leave the vegan shortbread as is, OR do as I do, and add chocolate. I’m one of those add-chocolate-to-everything kind of people (gild the lily, much?) but if you prefer a plain shortbread, don’t do as I do and serve them as is! They’re still so delicious and perfect for serving with tea, coffee, or with your other holiday cookies.
Can you make these ahead of time?
Absolutely! These gluten-free vegan shortbread freeze phenomenally well. Just make sure you seal them in an airtight container before you do for maximum freshness. I have batches in my freezer right now from recipe testing and they are still absolutely delicious.
I hope you love these tender, flaky, chocolate-covered gluten-free vegan shortbread recipe as much as I do!
If you try them out, tag me on Instagram @bakeritablog to show me your masterpiece, and leave me a comment below to let me know what you think :D happy holidays, lovely friends!
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Gluten-Free Vegan Shortbread
- Prep Time: 60
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Description
This Gluten-Free Vegan Shortbread tastes rich and buttery – without the butter. This simple recipe is made with just FOUR ingredients and can be topped with chocolate for an extra-special holiday treat.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (100g) refined coconut oil or vegan butter, slightly softened
- ½ cup coconut sugar, or maple sugar, or other preferred granulated sweetener
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- ¾ cup (105g) cassava flour
- ½ cups (48g) blanched almond flour
- Pinch of salt, optional
- 3 ounces dark chocolate, melted
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 square baking pan with parchment paper, or lightly grease a 14″ x 4.5” tart pan with a removable bottom with coconut oil.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil or butter with the coconut sugar. Mix until completely smooth and incorporated. Add in the vanilla extract, if using. Add the flours and salt and stir until completely incorporated and a smooth dough forms.
- Press the dough into the prepared pan and smooth out the top.
- Chill the dough for at least 1 hour at room temperature. If you’re letting it set for over one hour, move it into the fridge.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Bake the shortbread in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown around the edges.
- Let cool completely before removing the cookies from the pan.
- Once cool, lift the cookies out of the pan. If leaving them plain, cut into your desired shapes.
- If you want the chocolate topping, smooth the melted chocolate evenly over cookie and let cool slightly before cutting. I’d recommend cutting when the chocolate is cool, but not completely firm so it doesn’t splinter. Once cut, transfer the chocolate-covered cookies to the fridge to let the chocolate firm up completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for a few days, or in the freezer for longer storage.
Hi! I’ve recently had to go nut-free. :( Do you have any recommendations for substituting almond flour? I’ve loved every recipe of yours I’ve ever made! :)
Hi Carla! For this recipe, using all cassava flour should be just fine :) in most recipes, cassava or oat flour are good substitutes, but slightly more absorbent than almond flour, so you can usually use a little bit less. Feel free to reach out with other questions about substitutions in my recipes :) enjoy!
This is so helpful for this recipe and ones to come! :) Thank you so much!
Hi! Can I replace regular AP flour for the cassava flour? Or would you use all almond flour? Thanks so much!
Hi Amy, I haven’t tested either way so I can’t make any guarantees, but AP flour would probably be less crumbly if you’re not worried about the recipe being GF!
If i wanted to replace the cavassas with something else what would you recommend? I don’t need to be gluten-free and i know you said AP might work but i wondered if you had other ideas? what about buckwheat or oat? Thanks.
Hi Jacquie, oat should work well here!! Haven’t tried it so can’t guarantee, but cassava and oat flour have similar consistencies and absorbency so don’t see why it would be a problem!
Looks perfect for a holiday potluck I have next week! What kind of chocolate did you use and did it harden after cooling so they can be stacked on a serving tray? Thank you so much for your website and blog! I am new to gluten free vegan and I find a lot of inspiration from your posts. Cheers and Happy Holidays ❤️
Hi Michelle, I used chocolate from Hu Kitchen! Yes, the chocolate will firm up in the fridge so they can be stacked, as long as it stays cool :) I hope you love the cookies and anything else you try from my site :D happy holidays!!
Hi Michelle,
I have your cookbook and have tried three of your recipes so far. Those three turned out great. This recipe failed for me both times that I made it. The first time, I used vegan butter and oat flour instead of cassava flour that you showed for substitutions. It turned out to be a greasy mess. The second time, I didn’t make any substitutions and it still turned out a greasy mess, just not quite as greasy. I so wanted it to turn out like your picture.
Thank you,
Connie
Hi Connie, sorry you’re having issues! Cassava flour is definitely needed to help with any excess moisture. Is it possible the oil may have been overmeasured, or flour under measured? It’s hard for me to know exactly what the issue might be, but you can always try adding a little extra flour or reduce the oil slightly.
Hi,
I tried to make this, but the dough was very crumbly in the bowl. I could press it into the pan and it looked amazing, but came out crumbly after it was baked.
It also tasted really oily. Could I maybe replace coconut oil for coconut butter?
Thank you so much!
Hi Robbie, this cookie is definitely on the crumblier side of a regular cookie, but it shouldn’t be overly oily! Did you rest the dough for at least an hour? That helps everything meld together. Using blanched almond flour, not almond meal, is also important here. Subbing in coconut butter may help it stay together better and would definitely be less oily – totally worth a try :)
Thank you for replying. :)
Yes, I let it rest for an hour, but will try making it again with the butter. Maybe it will help.
It was tasty nevertheless.
Glad to hear it!! Thanks Robbie. I’ll put this on my list to retest, too :)