As far as gluten-free recipes go this is a beautifully simple recipe. With just a few ingredients, these shortbread biscuits are very easy to make. It’s worth noting that I rest the dough in the fridge overnight (at a minimum you can rest it for 2hrs). I generally rest all my doughs for cookies and biscuits as this stops them from excessively spreading while baking.
I’ve given two methods for cutting your shortbread one rustic and the other a little more refined. Dipping them in chocolate is also completely optional and for flavour variations, you can add the zest of an orange or lemon.
ingredients
- 165g non-dairy butter, I like the brand Naturli
- 80g light muscovado sugar
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 250g gluten-free flour, all-purpose
- ½ tsp. xanthan gum, leave out if your flour contains xanthan
- generous pinch of salt
To finish
- 50g non-dairy chocolate of your choice
- 2 Tbsp. crushed pistachios, crushed hazelnuts or flaky salt
process
Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla and sift in the flour and salt. Mix to combine and form into a smooth dough.
For a more refined look
Chill the dough in the fridge for 2hrs or overnight. When you’re ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 160C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Dust the dough with a light sprinkle of flour and place between two pieces of parchment paper or cling film. Roll the dough out to about 1cm in thickness. Cut the dough into your desired shape with a knife or cookie cutter. Transfer your shortbread biscuits to the lined baking tray (I always recommend baking in batches rather than putting two trays in the oven at once).
Bake the shortbread biscuits for 20mins. Transfer to a cooling rack.
For a more authentic look
Grease and line a 28cm x 22cm tray with baking paper. Press the dough into the tin and smooth to an even thickness with wet hands/off-set spatula/plastic baking spatula. Cut the dough into rectangles, prick with a fork and chill in the fridge for 2hrs or overnight.
When you’re ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 160C. Bake the shortbread biscuits for 20mins. Leave the biscuits in the tray, cool for 5mins and then rescore them with a sharp knife. Let the biscuits cool completey before removing from the tray.
To finish
Once the shortbread biscuits have cooled, melt your chocolate using the double boiler method. Dip your biscuits into the chocolate or leave them on the cooling rack and drizzle with the chocolate. Finish with crushed nuts or sea salt.
