These Vegan Shortbread Cookies are crisp and crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth buttery and perfectly salty-sweet! They're undetectably dairy-free and the simple recipe is easy to make: they come together in one bowl and require just 6 ingredients! They're also gluten-free and refined sugar free.
Although they may look fancy and complicated to make, shortbread cookies are actually one of the simplest cookies to make. They require just a few ingredients and the process is simple: just combine the dough, roll it out, cut out shapes and bake.
I experimented with so many different ways to make gluten-free vegan shortbread cookies, using different types of flours, and it was so hard to get the texture right.
I eventually discovered that the best combination was ground almonds (almond meal or almond flour) and brown rice flour. The ground almonds create that essential crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth texture, whilst the brown rice flour creates a crispy, crunchy texture. You honestly won't be able to believe that this shortbread contains no butter!
You need to use brown rice flour, not white rice flour, which creates a soft cookie (like my Sugar Cookies) rather than a crunchy one.
Traditionally, shortbread is usually made with just flour, butter and sugar, so it doesn't contain milk. However, this vegan shortbread does contain a small amount of plant-based milk (1 tablespoon) to help the dough bind together.
Yes, you can use vegan butter in place of the coconut oil in these cookies.
Where can you buy brown rice flour?
If you can't find brown rice flour in your local supermarket, you'll be able to find it in local health stores or online.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together the ingredients for the cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl.
- Lay out a sheet of greaseproof baking paper on a counter.
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until about 1 cm/1/2 inch thick.
- Use a circular cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the dough - you will probably have to roll the dough a few times until you use it all up.
Tip: You can use any other shape if you don't want to use a circular one.
- Transfer the cookies onto a rectangular baking tray.
Tip: Line the baking tray with greased baking paper to make sure the cookies don't stick.
- If you wish, use a skewer to poke decorative holes in the surface of the cookies.
- Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch (bearing in mind that they will firm up more once cooled and out of the oven).
- Leave to cool completely before putting away to store.
Tips for serving
These cookies will be slightly soft straight out the oven and they firm up as they cool down. So they're best left to cool completely before serving so you get the crunchy texture. They can be left to cool on the baking tray, there's no need to transfer these to a wire rack.
How long do these Shortbread Cookies keep for?
These Cookies taste best eaten within the day but keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a few days - they do become softer the longer you leave them, though. So I wouldn't recommend making these ahead.
This Vegan Millionaire Shortbread can be made ahead though, as it keeps well for a couple of days.
Can you freeze these?
You can freeze this cookie dough to use another time, but the cookies themselves can't be frozen.
Substitutions you can make
- You can replace the coconut oil with coconut butter or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- The ground almonds (almond meal) can be replaced with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version, use ground sunflower seeds instead of ground almonds and use a nut-free milk. Or use my Coconut Flour Cookies recipe instead.
Tip: The brown rice flour CANNOT be replaced with white rice flour or any other gluten-free flour - it is essential for creating a crunchy shortbread texture.
Ingredients you can add to the dough
- Grated orange zest.
- Grated lemon zest.
- Matcha powder.
- Chopped pecan nuts.
- Chopped macadamia nuts.
- Chocolate chips.
- Dried cranberries.
- Desiccated coconut.
You can also use this shortbread recipe as a base for making Vegan Millionaire Shortbread or Vegan Twix Bars.
More gluten-free vegan cookie recipes
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Blueberry Breakfast Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Oatmeal Cookies
- Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Cookies
- Carrot Cake Cookies
- Millionaire Shortbread
- Pumpkin Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make this recipe
Vegan Shortbread Cookies (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 30 g (⅛ cup) coconut oil (or sub coconut butter or vegetable oil)
- 10 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other similar sweetener)
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 cup) brown rice flour **
- Generous pinch salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (340 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.
- Add the maple syrup, milk, ground almonds, brown rice flour and salt and mix well - add an extra splash of milk if it’s looking too dry to combine.
- Lay out a sheet of greaseproof baking paper on a counter and roll out the dough until about 1cm (½ inch) thick.
- Use a circular cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the dough - you will probably have to roll the dough a few times until you use it all up (you can use any other shape if you don't want to use a circular one).
- Transfer the cookies onto a baking tray lined with greased baking paper.
- If you wish, use a skewer to poke decorative holes in the surface of the cookies.
- Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until firm to the touch (bearing in mind that they will firm up more once cooled and out of the oven).
- Best left to cool completely before eating as they crisp up as they cool.
- Leave to cool completely before putting away to store.
- Tastes best eaten within the day but keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a few days (they do become softer the longer you leave them).
Video
Notes
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Rima
I’m allergic to nuts, can I use Oat flour or Sweet Potato flour instead of Almond Meal?
Rhian Williams
You can use ground sunflower seeds instead of the almond meal, or use my coconut flour cookies recipe instead: https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/coconut-flour-cookies/
Ruth Parham
Hi Rhian, I made these today using grated orange zest. They taste great but they have come out more chewy than crunchy, I'm not sure what I did wrong? I used a different oil but apart from that I didn't change any ingredients. Do you have any tips please for making them crunchy? Thanks!
Rhian Williams
Hi! I'm sorry to hear that. Did you use brown rice flour? And did you leave them to cool completely before eating? These get crunchier as they cool down.
Vinutha
Hi. I'm Vinutha from India. Any substitute for maple syrup pls?
Rhian Williams
Any other liquid sweetener or sugar!
Tia
Hi, can I replace brown rice flour with oat flour? Alternatively, can I use only almond meal for this recipe, omitting brown rice flour?
Rhian Williams
You can't use all almond meal, but you can replace the brown rice flour with oat flour, I think!
Rachel
I just made these and they came out so well! I’ve been looking for a recipe just like this.
I used a little less maple syrup for preference, and used almond flour. I added sunflower seeds and lemon zest. The texture and crispiness is perfect! I baked them for maybe 2 minutes too long, so I’ll keep that in mind next time and check right at 20 minutes. thanks so much!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for sharing your substitutions too, so helpful to know!