The Edgy Veg

vegan shortbread

vegan shortbread cookies recipe

Shortbreads are one of my favorite Holiday cookies. You could say that my mouth is a world-travelling cookie connoisseur. Last week, I talked about some of my favourite German cookies; today we have these rich, tender, crumbly traditional Scottish biscuits.

In its most basic form, shortbread is made with just four ingredients, flour, butter, sugar, and pure high-quality vanilla extract. When I created this vegan version, I wanted to stay as true to that as possible, and I think I succeeded.

But… once you know the rules you can break them right?! Oh yes, and break them I did.

After perfecting the traditional cookies as seen in the recipe below. I took half of them and dipped them in melted chocolate—because, why not?! The butter center was a heavenly addition to rich dark chocolate. It’s no wonder it’s called royal shortbread.

With another batch, I added 1 Tbsp of instant espresso powder for a rich cappuccino favor to half, and added 1 Tbsp of finely chopped orange zest for a fresh citrus flavor to the other. I have seen cherries added to the batter and I have seen the batter piped! Are you starting to realize why this is my favourite cookie? I have probably consumed 2-3 tubs of vegan butter over the course of this month- but I am totally okay with it. Happy Baking!

vegan SHORTBREAD recipe

3.3 from 3 reviews
Vegan Shortbread Cookies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
These delicious, buttery vegan shortbread cookies are so easy to make. It doesn't need to be Christmas in order to be tempted to quickly whip up a batch of these to nibble on. These vegan christmas cookies are so close to the real thing you can whip them up and no one will ever notice a difference.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Scottish
Serves: 2 dozen
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 °F, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a stand mixer or a large bowl, beat vegan butter until light and fluffy.
  3. Slowly add sugar and beat again until fluffy, scraping down sides of the bowl.
  4. Sift in flour and mix in vanilla extract. Mix until dough comes together.
  5. Remove mixer and knead the soft dough with your hands.
  6. Cover the bowl and freeze for 15 minutes to harden slightly.
  7. After the dough is hard enough to manipulate, roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and use cookie cutters to cut out cookies and place on the lined cookie sheet.
  8. Bake the cookies for 18 to 20 minutes, until bottoms brown lightly. Check them often.
  9. Remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool.

vegan SHORTBREAD recipe

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  • Tegwyn Hughes says:

    Made this recipe last night and found the consistency to be far too runny for a cookie dough. Read through the comments and worried my dough might spread in the oven, so added an extra cup and a half of flour (total of 4.5 cups). The cookies turned out beautifully, so try this if you’re struggling with the recipe!

  • Just curious has anyone frozen these? Or how long are they good for?

  • Hah, this recipe did not work for me AT ALL. They literally just melted into sloppy puddles in the oven. Followed the directions just as written, and I’m normally a pretty good baker. What a waste of stupid expensive vegan butter.

  • Hello, I am gonna cook these this week and I wanted to know whether I can use white sugar instead of cane sugar. 🙂 I would really uppreciate if you could let me know the required quantities in gramm as I do not really trust google in this. Thanks!

  • Would I be able to use gluten free flour for this recipe?

    • Gluten-free flour is typically more crumbly than wheat flour, but the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 flour should be okay. You just may end up with a slightly different texture

  • Hannah says:

    Hello, I have a question about the nutrition info. How many calories are in one of these cookies? Thanks for the recipe!

    • EdgyVeg says:

      We don’t provide calorie information on our website because we don’t want people to be fixated on calorie counting. That being said, there are several great apps that can determine the calories for you.

  • Cor'ee Jenkins says:

    What flour, butter, and sugar did you use???

    • EdgyVeg says:

      Hi Cor’ee! There are links to each of the ingredients in the ingredient list. Check them out!

  • Hi ! Happy New Year ! Do you think i could subtitute sugar for coconut sugar ? thanks

    • EdgyVeg says:

      Hi Lou! You can definitely use regular sugar. I just recommend coconut sugar as it is a healthier option.

  • Barbara Jones says:

    These are not working out for me at ALL! I followed directions, and the dough is too sticky to roll. I have a ball of dough sitting on my counter, with $7 worth ofvegan butter in it. I’m afraid it’s unsalvageable. 🙁

    • I’m sorry they turned out so sticky for you. Add more flour and everything will be fine. 🙂

  • Would I be able to use coconut flour? If so, what adjustments would I need to make?

  • Bridget Sampson says:

    I’m a foodie with a sweet tooth just became Vegan and I’m loving it! Best vegan cookies yet!

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