Skip to main content

Basic Vegan Shortbread Recipe



 I like to have basic recipes that I can easily alter and add to. Especially when it comes to cookies, because then I can tailor them to a holiday or season or even just my mood. There are a million different cookie moods, am I right? This recipe is not only super simple, it makes a great base recipe for shortbread that you can use for endless flavor combinations.

I love shortbread as a vehicle for garden flavors because it isn't too sweet to handle herb combinations, but you can easily dive into sweet as well. It's basically a perfect base cookie to let your imagination run wild with. And imagination in the kitchen, is one of my main goals during any type of cooking or backing. Kitchen work is an artform, poured out from love for the people we cook for and the food we use as our palette. Having a set of good, tried and true base recipes, gives us the canvas for that art. 

This is also a great recipe for very young children to help with because it is so simple. The dough is easy to roll out and not too sticky so little hands can be welcomed without too much concern for mess or the need to concentrate on a long list of ingredients and measurements. I have had my children in the kitchen with me since they were teeny, tiny little things and have been rewarded with teens and preteens who are not only comfortable in the kitchen, but happy to be there. So, if you have very tiny tykes, this is a great recipe to get them involved and grow their own love of working with food.


On a final note, this recipe is easy to make swaps to. You can easily swap out gluten-free flour, swerve confectioners sugar for traditional sugar, and swap different extracts for different flavors. Experiment. It's how the best kitchen creations come into being, after all. 


Basic Vegan Shortbread

Makes approximately 3 dozen little cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 1/4 cup vegan butter (softened)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 325 and line two baking trays with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour and powdered sugar, then add in the butter and vanilla, mixing on low to medium speed until the dough is well blended. You can also simply stir them together. The dough may look slightly crumbly but it will come together well when you squeeze it together with your hands. The butter makes the dough slightly greasy so it doesn't stick to your hands.

3. Place a sheet of parchment paper down on the counter and lightly dust it with flour. Place half the dough down on the floured parchment paper and roll it out to about 1/3 of an inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the shape of your choosing. You can get creative here for making a seasonally or holiday themed cookie. Place cut out cookies onto the parchment lined baking trays.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, just until the bottom is lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool for five minutes on the tray before moving them to a cooling rack.


Notes

The parchment paper really helps you be able to get the cookies to the baking tray without breaking them. I lift the parchment paper and peel the cookie off. Parchment paper on the baking sheet not only makes for easier cleanup, but also helps ensure even cooking of your cookies.


Variation Ideas

Strawberry Basil: Swap vanilla extract for strawberry extract and add 1 tsp of dried basil leaves to dough.

Lemon Lavender: Add 1 tsp dried lavender buds and the zest of 1 lemon.

Cinnamon Maple: Add 1 tsp cinnamon and swap the vanilla for maple extract.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cinnamon Cardamom Dutch Baby

This post may contain affiliate links. I make a small profit if you click the link and make a purchase, which in turn helps support my family and the life we are working to build. So if you choose to click and buy, thank you. It means a lot to us. Dutch babies are popular breakfast at our house. They're quick to make and a delicious and healthy start to the day. They also use up a few eggs when our chickens are providing more than we really know what to do with! Interestingly enough, while Dutch babies may have come from the German Pfannkuchen, the version most popular today originated in the early 1990's at a cafe in Seattle, WA. Manca's Cafe, owned by Victor Manca, is where the name Dutch Baby originated with one of his daughter's and the cafe claims they owned the trademark to the term as early as 1942! However the history goes, these have been a favorite of my family for over a decade and my kids are never sad when I announce we're having Dutch Babies for breakf...

Two Hour, No Knead Artisan Bread

When I think of a lovely little witch's cottage, I am immediately drawn to smells. Incense smoke and lemon cleaners. Honeysuckle in the summer and pine in the winter. And always, through it all, the scent of freshly baked bread. Rare is the day there's not a loaf of bread baking in my oven. It is a staple of of evening meal, the loaf sliced right as we fill our plates, the golden pad of butter sitting on the table. Some days it's a sourdough loaf I've worked on for since the night before. Sometimes a quick and simple Italian or French loaf. But more often than not, as my day is filled with other chores, tending animals and gardens and children and home, it's this bread. Perfectly crusty on the outside. To die for soft and springy on the inside. That rich yeasty taste you crave from a homemade bread. I firmly believe the difference between a house and a home is the bread that gets eaten there. This one makes the arena of homemade bread open to...

Plant Based "Chicken" & Broccoli Alfredo

This is a quick, delicious, and quite healthy dinner. Featuring plant based soy curls as the "chicken" and a cashew based Alfredo sauce, it serves great as a one pot dinner or paired with garlic bread and a garden salad.