These crisp and buttery gluten-free shortbread melt in your mouth. Using almond flour gives them a light, snappy, tender crumb. This recipe is so versatile, you can make it plain as cut-out cookies or slice and bake, or add in your favorite mix-ins like cocoa powder, peppermint, or orange zest and chocolate chunks! We also love them simply dipped in dark chocolate.
What if you could make your entire festive holiday cookie platter out of just one cookie dough? This gluten-free shortbread cookie recipe is a classic solid base recipe that is delicious in its simplest buttery form and you can also easily divide and dress it up with flavor add-ins, chocolate dip/drizzle, or even different shapes.
Unlike most cookies, they're made without eggs. Instead, the simple dough is made with butter, sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla. The high fat content gives it that melt-in-your-mouth texture.
I tested this recipe with both powdered sugar and granulated sugar (there are folks who swear one is better than the other for making shortbread) and found that I moderately preferred the texture of the granulated sugar shortbread over the powdered sugar version. It was less sandy and had a snappier bite! This is not a hill I'll die on though - they're pretty difficult to tell apart.
The Flour blend I use to make these cookies:
- For these shortbread cookies, I chose a high-fat flour, super-fine blanched almond flour, as the base. It adds the crumbly texture and subtle nuttiness that's reminiscent of traditional shortbread.
- Sweet rice flour is the "binder" that works with the almond flour to hold the dough together so you don't end up with a cookie that crumbles before you can eat it.
- Cornstarch creates a lighter crumb, and I found that in this shortbread, it gave the tender, crumbly texture I was looking for.
Recipe
Crisp & Buttery Gluten-Free Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (140 g) super-fine blanched almond flour
- ½ cup (80 g) sweet rice flour, also called mochiko; do not substitute white or brown rice flour
- 3 tablespoons (24 g) cornstarch*
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (78 g) granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling (optional)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, for drizzling (optional)
- Zest of 1 orange
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: almond flour, sweet rice flour, 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, scraping down the sides as needed. For the optional chocolate chunk orange variation, mix in the orange zest.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides, mixing until the dough comes together and is pliable. If using, fold in the chocolate chunks.
- 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 (or a litttttttle more). Place on a baking sheet and chill in the fridge for at least an hour or in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Once chilled, use a ruler to help cut out rectangles or squares that are exactly the same size (I cut 2.5 x 1 -inch rectangles) 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, taking care not to overbake. The top outside edges should be just golden brown. 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, taking care not to overbake. (Note: the slice-and-bake cookies take a bit longer as they tend to be cut thicker than the rolled shapes). The top outside edges should be just golden brown. 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:
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.Gluten-free shortbread variations
Cut-out cookies
Roll out the dough to ⅛-¼ inch thick, chill it until firm, then cut it into shapes. You can simply cut it into equal squares or rectangles or use cookie cutters. Keep in mind that bigger shapes will require longer baking time. One bonus of cut-out cookies is that you can roll out the dough on parchment paper before chilling it, shortening the chill time significantly. This method tends to create slightly thinner cookies that bake up quicker.
Slice-and-bake cookies:
Roll the dough into a log, with about 1.5-inch diameter, using plastic wrap to guide the dough into an even log. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, until completely firm. When you're ready to bake, slice the cookies into ⅛-¼ inch even slices. Slice-and-bake cookies are perfect for when you want flavor add-ins like chocolate or nuts. Plus, slicing a cookie dough log is a lot less fussy than rolling out and cutting dough. This method tends to create slightly thicker cookies that require extra baking time.
Flavor variations
Chocolate shortbread cookies
Get the full recipe and for my gluten-free chocolate shortbread cookies here!
Plain Shortbread
The base recipe here produces buttery shortbread cookies that can be rolled and cut out or sliced and baked. Dip or drizzle the final cookie in chocolate or leave it be.
Orange chocolate shortbread cookies
Start with the base recipe and mix in zest of an orange and 2 ounces finely chopped bittersweet chocolate and use instructions for the slice-and-bake option, rolling the dough into a log.
Rae -
So I’ve made these more times than I like to count. They are simply heavenly! I’m a huge shortbread fan and these hit all my boxes. (The original and chocolate ones are my faves.) Thanks for sharing this recipe! :)
Kavita -
Can tapioca starch/flour or arrowroot flour be used instead of corn starch
Sarah Menanix -
I have not tried it, but I think it should work. Tapioca flour tends to be a bit less crisp than corn starch when baked, so that would be my only concern!
Jasmine -
I made a batch of the chocolate version but used hazelnut meal instead of almond flour. Will definitely make again