These 4-ingredient Vegan Shortbread Cookies taste buttery, light, crisp, and melt in your mouth! Enjoy them around the holidays or year-round with a cup of tea.
The holidays are a time for indulgence, which means baking batch after batch of these Vegan Shortbread Cookies! They’re made with 4 simple vegan ingredients and are just as buttery and delicious as classic shortbread.
This shortbread cookie recipe reminds me of when my mom would whip up a batch of her Scottish shortbread around the holidays to serve with tea. While she would whip the butter and sugar by hand, I went with the easier route of using powdered sugar instead. The buttery, melt-in-your-mouth results are so similar, you’ll have a hard time believing they’re vegan!
Enjoy these vegan holiday cookies all season long or year-round! They’re:
- Made with just 4 ingredients.
- Buttery, soft, crisp and light.
- Perfect for gifts and great for freezing!
Looking for more vegan cookies to bake around the holidays? Then you must try my Gingerbread Cookies and Sugar Cookies and Pecan Bars!
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Vegan shortbread ingredients
- Vegan butter - Make sure to use salted vegan butter (stick form not in spreadable tub) rather than unsalted. If you were to use unsalted butter and add salt separately, the salt wouldn’t dissolve properly (because of the lack of liquid in the dough) and you’d end up with very salty cookies.
- Powdered sugar - Shortbread becomes light, airy, and sweet when you make it with powdered sugar instead of creaming granulated sugar with butter.
- Vanilla extract - For a touch of sweetness and flavor.
- Flour - All purpose is best!
How to make vegan shortbread cookies
The secret to making the best vegan shortbread cookies is to bake them low and slow. Baking at just 300ºF in the oven, you’ll end up with shortbread cookies that are crispy, lightly golden brown, and buttery. They practically melt in your mouth!
- Cream the butter and sugar: Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add the flour: Gently stir the flour into the wet mixture using a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined. You can use your hands to fully incorporate the flour until you end up with crumbly cookie dough.
- Form the cookies: Transfer the dough to a baking pan and spread it into an even layer. Using a sharp knife, score the dough into 24 squares. Dock each square 3 times with a fork.
- Bake and enjoy! Bake the cookies until they’re lightly golden. Cut through the score marks and let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack before serving. For full ingredients and instructions see printable recipe card below.
Customize the flavours
The buttery flavors in classic Scottish shortbread pair well with lots of add-ins. Get creative and experiment with the flavours:
- Cranberry orange: Chopped dried cranberries and orange zest.
- Lemon rosemary: Fresh chopped rosemary and lemon zest.
- Pistachios or almonds: Roasted and chopped pistachios, almonds, or both!
- Chocolate dipped: Dip the end or the whole cookie in melted dark chocolate.
- Matcha shortbread: Add up to 1 teaspoon of matcha powder when you add the flour to the dough.
Tips for success
- To bake individual cookies: When you get to step 3 in the recipe, form the cookie dough into a log or brick. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least 40 minutes. Slice the chilled dough into ¼ to ½ inch thick cookies and bake on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet at 300°F until lightly golden brown.
- Instead of scoring the dough, roll the cookie dough with rolling pin out onto a lightly floured surface and use a cookie cutter to cut out your desired shapes.
- Use your hands to make sure the cookie dough is pressed to the edges of the baking pan and is in one even layer.
- Docking (or poking) the cookie dough with a fork will help release moisture and give the cookies a light texture and prevent puffing.
- Sprinkle the baked cookies with a little granulated sugar for extra sweetness!
Frequently asked questions
While I haven’t tested it, you can try making gluten free vegan shortbread cookies with a 1:1 gluten free flour blend instead of all purpose flour.
The cookies will keep for 2 weeks or longer when stored in an airtight container at room temperature on the counter.
Yes! Vegan shortbread freeze really well baked or unbaked. Just wrap the dough well in plastic or keep the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Looking for more vegan cookie recipes?
Enjoy everyone! Happy Day! Please feel free to comment below and give this recipe a rating. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
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Print
Vegan Shortbread Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 24 Cookies 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These 4-ingredient Vegan Shortbread Cookies taste buttery, light, crisp, and melt in your mouth! Enjoy them around the holidays or year-round with a cup of tea.
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted vegan butter, room temperature (sticks not tub)
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½ cup powdered sugar
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½ teaspoon vanilla
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2 cups all purpose flour
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granulated sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300° Set a non stick 9x13 baking pan aside
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In a large mixing bowl cream the butter, sugar and vanilla with a hand mixer for a minute or so until light and fluffy.
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Add 1 cup of flour. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula. Once combined add rest of flour and mix by hand until it just comes together and is crumbly. Do not form into dough (this makes it easier to spread evenly in the pan)
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Pour into the baking pan and spread evenly, breaking up large pieces of dough with fingers if necessary. Press down firmly and evenly. With a sharp knife score into 24 squares and dock each square 3 times with a fork.
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Bake until light golden brown, 50 minutes. Remove from the oven. Cut through score marks. Sprinkle with a little granulated sugar if you like. Remove cookies from pan to wire rack. Cool completely before serving. Enjoy! Step by step photos, FAQ, Tips and suggestions in above post and See notes section for alternative baking methods
Notes
- Use vegan butter sticks not spreadable tub form
- To make individual cookies: in step 3 form into a dough. Then shape into a log or brick form. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 40 minutes. Slice into ¼ to ½ inch thickness. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 300° until light golden brown. (Can also roll out dough and use cookie cutters)
- To store and freeze: Will keep for 2 weeks or longer in an airtight container on the counter and they freeze well for up to 3 months!
Adapted from my Mom’s Scottish Shortbread recipe❤️
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 50 Minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Mixing bowl, Oven
- Cuisine: Scottish, British
jacquie says
do you have a brand of vegan confectioner sugar that you would recommend? I know some people just blitz vegan granulated sugar in a food processor but i don't have one.
Thanks.
Verna says
I quite often use Redpath icing sugar found in Canadian Walmart and I'm sure other grocery stores as well. Enjoy Jacquie!
Rita says
This is a great shortbread recipe,I like the cookie sheet idea
Verna says
Thank you so much appreciate the feedback