Gluten Free Shortbread
Tender, buttery gluten free shortbread may become your go-to quick cookie! You'll need just five simple ingredients to make crisp, endlessly adaptable cookies that are wonderful with tea or nibbled as a snack.
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 206kcal
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, at least 65°F
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups gluten free flour (300) grams
Instructions
- Butter 2 8-inch round cake pans and line each one with a circle of parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla until well blended.
- Mix in the flour to form a smooth dough. Don't worry if the dough is crumbly at first - it'll come together as it's mixed.
- Divide the dough in half and press each half into the prepared pans (alternatively, wrap one half of the dough in plastic and set it aside to bake when the first round is done or refrigerate it for later). Prick the dough all over with a fork so that any steam that forms is released during baking.
- Preheat the oven to 325℉, then bake the short bread for 35-40 minutes until the surface is set and slightly golden brown (the edges will be a darker golden brown). Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes, then gently turn it out onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, divide the shortbread into pieces. I cut 8 pieces from each round but you could cut them smaller if you wish. Then transfer the pieces to cool completely on a rack.
Notes
- Sprinkle with flaky salt - If you're a salt-lover like me, you may want to sprinkle your finished shortbread with flaky salt for that elusive sweet-salty combo.
- Another flour - Try using another gluten free flour such as oat flour or sorghum flour for the gluten-free all-purpose flour blend (use 300 grams of whatever flour you choose).
- Make them dairy-free - Swap the butter for non-dairy butter.
- Add citrus - I love to make these into fragrant little lemon shortbread bites! Add the zest of 1 organic lemon to the dry mix. You can use any other citrus fruit you like - orange, clementine, lime, etc.
- Try other glazes - A simple melted chocolate drizzle is the easiest and quickest way to dress up these cookies. I also like to make a quick lemon juice and powdered sugar glaze, especially if I'm making these as lemon shortbread cookies, to drizzle on top.
- Add-ins - You can try other add-ins to these cookies other than citrus zest! Try chopped chocolate or cocoa nibs, finely chopped almonds, chopped shredded coconut, and whatever else you can think of.
- Colors - If you want to make pretty pink Valentine cookies, add dried strawberries to the dough (make sure to process them to a fine powder in a food processor first) and cut the dough into hearts. You can also add food coloring if you wish to color your dough another shade of the rainbow.
- Flavors - Easy flavor additions include vanilla, almond, orange, or peppermint extracts.
Nutrition
Calories: 206kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 147mg | Potassium: 4mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 350IU | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg