Vegan Shortbread

Love Scottish shortbread but on a dairy-free diet? Say hello to your new favourite sweet treat, this crumbly vegan shortbread! With just 5 ingredients, this is a foolproof recipe that’s perfect for novice bakers or little helpers!

Being Scottish, shortbread has been a staple sweet treat in my house for as long as I can remember, particularly around Christmas time. My family and I used to give and receive boxes of Paterson’s shortbread every year, so even to this day, it feels like a festive treat, no matter what time of year it is!

I created my vegan shortbread recipe a while ago but with Burns night having just passed here in Scotland, I thought it would be the perfect time to update this post and photos!

All the flavour, none of the dairy!

In case it isn’t clear yet, shortbread is a traditionally Scottish biscuit (or cookie) made from flour, sugar, and plenty of butter. Normally, that butter would mean dairy, but thanks to the genius invention of vegan margarine, making dairy-free shortbread is surprisingly simple- almost a straight 1:1 swap, actually!

Shortbread is naturally egg-free and doesn’t usually include other non-vegan ingredients, which makes the process even more straightforward. If you’re using block-style vegan butter, you might need to add a small splash of soy milk to help the dough come together, since block butter contains less water than margarine.

I also swapped a bit of the flour for cornflour, which makes the biscuits extra crumbly and perfectly shortbread-like. The end result? A batch of beautiful, dairy-free shortbread biscuits that taste just like the traditional version. So good!

How To Make Vegan Shortbread step-by-step

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F and line a large tray with baking paper.

Step 2: In a large bowl, mix together 100g of caster sugar, 200g of dairy-free margarine and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well until the mixture is pale and fluffy.

Step 3: Next, add 280g of all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons of cornflour (cornstarch). Mix it into the margarine mixture until it starts to stick together, then use your hands to form a ball of dough.

Step 4: Place the dough into the fridge for 30 minutes. This will give it time to bind together and allow the vegan margarine to firm up, making it easier to roll out. Chilling the dough also helps the shortbread to hold its shape better as it bakes.

Step 5: After the dough has been chilled, gently knead it to get rid of any cracks then roll it out onto a floured surface, until it’s around 1/2-inch thick.

Step 6: To cut out your shortbread, you can either use a cookie cutter for fun shortbread shapes or use a knife to cut it into equal-sized fingers. They taste the same either way so it’s down to your personal preference!

Step 7: Place the dough shapes onto your lined baking tray then use a fork to dock each one. This helps the heat to escape during baking, preventing the biscuits from becoming soggy in the middle. Docking isn’t completely essential for this recipe but it does make a difference and it also makes them look more traditional!

Step 8: Bake your Scottish shortbread for 20-25 minutes (this will depend on the size of them so keep an eye on them). They will be pale in colour but you’ll know they’re ready when they become slightly firm around the edges. They will still be a bit soft in the middle at first but will become crunchier as they cool, so resist the urge to keep baking them at this point.

Step 9: Take a tablespoon or two of caster (superfine) sugar and lightly sprinkle it over the shortbread. Let them cool before removing them from the tray then enjoy!

Tips for perfect shortbread

• Use dairy-free margarine (not blocky vegan butter) for the best texture.
• Adding cornflour to the mixture gives that nice crumbly finish that Scottish shortbread biscuits are so well known for! If you don’t have any, you can swap it out for an equal amount of plain flour.
• Don’t skip refrigeration! Chilling the dough helps the shortbread hold its shape in the oven and makes the dough easier to manage.

FAQs

More dairy-free shortbread recipes:

• Lemon shortbread
• Chocolate shortbread
• Cranberry shortbread
• Chocolate chip shortbread
• Millionaire’s shortbread
• Empire biscuits

I hope you like my vegan shortbread as much as I enjoyed making it. If you decide to make it at home, please leave me a comment and/or rating to let me know how it goes- I love to hear from you. Happy baking! xo