Crisp & Buttery Gluten-Free Chocolate Shortbread

Crisp and buttery, these gluten-free chocolate shortbread cookies melt in your mouth with every bite. A cocoa powder, butter, and almond flour base gives the cookies a snappy bite with a tender crumb, helping them hold their shape beautifully. This recipe is versatile and can be made in slice-and-bake form or cut-outs. You can even split the dough and add orange zest or peppermint extract for additional flavor!

This gluten-free chocolate shortbread recipe began as one of the many mix-in variations of my classic gluten-free shortbread recipe, but has become so beloved by my family over the years that it finally earned its own spotlight. It has the same snappy bite and tender, melt-in-your-mouth crumb as the original, but now with a deep, rich cocoa flavor.

Almond flour is the power player ingredient in this recipe; I found that its higher fat content creates the classic shortbread melt-in-your-mouth texture. Dutch process cocoa adds that dark, almost espresso-like chocolate note, and the butter rounds it out with a creamy richness.

This tried-and-true recipe has so much versatility

The dough can be rolled out and cut with a knife or cookie cutters, or rolled into a log for quick slice-and-bake cookies. Photos below show cookies rolled and cut into squares and as slice-and-bake rounds finished with chocolate and flaky salt.

You can add peppermint extract, drizzle or dip the cookies in chocolate, sprinkle them with flaky salt or crushed candy canes, or fold in chocolate chunks or orange zest. You can build an entire cookie platter for the chocolate lover in your life!

Recipe

Buttery Gluten-Free Chocolate Shortbread

By: Sarah Menanix

yields: 24 cookies

prep time: 10 minutes mins

cook time: 13 minutes mins

Chill Time: 1 hour hr

total time: 1 hour hr 23 minutes mins

These gluten-free chocolate shortbread cookies are crispy and buttery; they melt in your mouth with every bite. An almond flour base gives the cookies a snappy bite with a tender crumb, while helping them hold their shape as either cut-outs or slice-and-bake cookies. You can also split the dough to make different flavors, like adding orange zest or mint!

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1¼ cups (140 g) super-fine blanched almond flour
• ▢ ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (50 g) sweet rice flour, also called mochiko; do not substitute white or brown rice flour
• ▢ ⅓ cup (36 g) dutch-processed cocoa powder
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (24 g) cornstarch*
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ▢ ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (78 g) granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling (optional)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Optional Add Ins

• ▢ ¼ tsp peppermint extract
• ▢ Zest of 1 orange
• ▢ 4 oz (⅔ cup) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

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INSTRUCTIONS

• In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: almond flour, sweet rice flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until completely combined, 1-2 minutes.
• Mix in the vanilla extract (and peppermint extract or orange zest, if using), scraping down the sides as needed. Note: you can also leave out the add-ins and split the dough later to mix in these flavors if you only want half the dough to have peppermint, for example!
• With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides, mixing until the dough comes together and is pliable.
• You can either roll the dough out for cut-out shortbread cookies (squares or rectangles look nice!) or roll the dough into a log for slice-and-bake shortbread cookies. Decide how you want to make them and see the instructions below.
• For cut-out shortbread cookies, roll the dough out on a sheet of parchment paper into a rectangle about ⅛-inch thick. Place on a baking sheet and chill for at least an hour (or 15 minutes in the freezer). Once chilled, use a ruler to help cut out rectangles or squares that are exactly the same size (I cut 2-inch squares here) and place on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet, 1-inch apart. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Chill the baking sheet with cookies while you preheat the oven to 325°F.
• When the oven is hot, bake for 13-15 minutes, until the edges feel set when gently touched. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For slice-and-bake shortbread cookies, roll the dough into a log about 1.5 inches in diameter using a piece of plastic wrap to guide the soft dough into shape. Wrap up with the plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, until completely firm. Once chilled, unwrap the log and cut the dough into rounds, ⅛ - ¼ inch thick. and place on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet, 1-inch apart. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Chill the baking sheet with cookies while you preheat the oven to 325°F.
• When the oven is hot, bake for 18-22 minutes, until the edge is completely set when gently touched (Note: the slice-and-bake cookies take a bit longer as they are cut thicker than the cut-out cookies). Let cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• If dipping or drizzling chocolate over the cookies, melt and temper the chocolate as described in the notes below. Once cookies are cool, dip them in or drizzle with chocolate and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet until the chocolate is firm (speed this up in the fridge, if needed!).
• Store gluten-free shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. These cookies keep really well, without tasting stale or dry as time goes on. Or store in an airtight bag or container in the freezer for up to several months, bringing them to room temperature on the counter before serving.

Video

Notes

Substituting the Cornstarch:

Traditional shortbread cookies are made with white rice flour rather than corn starch to give them that light snappy texture. I've tested the recipe both ways and they were nearly identical, so I kept cornstarch as it's more readily available. Feel free to substitute the corn starch with white rice flour by weight.

Chocolate Drizzle or Dip

Microwave tempering: Place 3 ounces of the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stir, then microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring between, until the chocolate is completely melted. Add the reserved chopped chocolate and stir to melt. If there are stubborn pieces that don't melt, microwave for 15 more seconds and stir again. 

Stovetop tempering: Fill a small saucepan with a few inches of water and set a heat-proof bowl over the top so a large portion of the bowl is touching the water. Being careful not to get any water in your bowl, add 3 ounces of the chopped chocolate. Cook, undisturbed, until a little more than half is melted, then stir until the rest melts. Cook for a few minutes longer until the chocolate stings a little when touched on your wrist or just below your lower lip. Remove the bowl from the heat (again being careful not to get any water in it) and add the reserved 1 ounce of chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts. Let sit, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate feels just a bit cooler than your body temperature when touched to your wrist.

 

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a review and rating to let me and others know how you liked it!

Making Melt-in-your-Mouth Chocolate Shortbread

This recipe is so simple and foolproof, you can make it no matter how skilled you are in the kitchen.

Cream the butter and sugar, then mix in the vanilla extract. You'll add peppermint extract or orange zest here if making a variation!

Add the sifted dry ingredients...

...and mix until the dough comes together and is pliable, scraping down the sides and bottom as needed.

To turn the dough into cookies, you have two options:

Roll the dough out into a rectangle, about ⅛-inch thick, and chill.

Cut into equal-sized cookies (These are 2-inches x 2-inches)

OR

Roll the dough into a log about 1.5-inches in diameter, using plastic wrap to help shape it. Chill completely.

Slice into ⅛ to ¼-inch rounds.

Place on a baking sheet 1 inch apart, and sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Bake!

Optionally drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with flaky salt.

TIP: If you want to make many variations at once, you can make the full batch (or double or triple the recipe), then split it before adding the mix-ins like peppermint extract, orange zest, or finely chopped chocolate.

Want to make a whole platter of mix and match? Make my classic gluten-free shortbread recipe with all its variations at the same time - it uses the same base recipe as these chocolate shortbread cookies!