Wallflower Kitchen

Vegan Recipes

Vegan Shortbread

Vegan Shortbread These delicious, buttery shortbread biscuits are so easy to make. Too easy, in fact.

It’s always too tempting to quickly whip up a batch of these to have “just a few” to nibble on and inevitably eat the entire lot to yourself… because it’s impossible to have “just a few”. 

Vegan Shortbread Vegan Shortbread

Shortbread always makes me think of Christmas, especially when sprinkled with snowy icing sugar. Is it just me?

That buttery, comforting taste of home baked biscuits and perhaps a British obsession with eating a ridiculous amount of biscuits at that time of year.

Yikes, I’m starting to get into the Christmas spirit already… I suppose I should just stay focused on summer, for now!

Vegan Shortbread

Vegan Shortbread

Vegan Shortbread

Yield: 20 cookies
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Simple, buttery vegan shortbread cookies, perfect for Christmas or to give as gifts!

Ingredients

  • 200 g dairy-free butter, I used Vitalite
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 100 g caster sugar
  • 300 g plain flour, sifted

Instructions

  1. Cream the butter, vanilla and sugar together. Stir in the flour and mix into a dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
  2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160c / 140c (fan) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
  3. Once the dough is chilled, roll out to approximately 1/2 cm thickness and cut into shapes. Place on the baking sheet, sprinkle with a little extra sugar and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown at the edges, turning half way through to ensure even baking.
  4. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving or decorating.
© Adapted from here

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Vegan Shortbread

Reader Interactions

Comments

All commentsReviewsQuestions

  1. Sarah Clark says

    Hi, First time with this recipe and the dough is very sticky and a loose consistency (if that makes sense) Not sure if its to do with the vegan butter I used.... Have put it back in the fridge and will give it longer to chill to see if that helps. Any ideas as to what may have gone wrong? Thanks
    Reply

  6. Sue says

    Please can I freeze the dough as I have made too much. If I can how long can I freeze it for as I won’t need it till just before Christmas. I have a dairy free customer who always has these with her cakes now.
    Reply

  7. Robert Papper says

    Hi absolutely love these cookies I made them for my vegan niece for our Xmas spread and she loved them so much she keeps asking me make time and time
    Reply

  8. LUZ BAEZA says

    Hi Absolutely love your recipes, I will try and make the biscuits, but will love to add sprinkles like the heart shaped ones you have, how and when do you add them so they will stick?
    Reply

    • Aimee says

      Do you mean sprinkles in the batter or on top as decoration? For the batter, simply add them into the mix (make sure they're bake-proof) and for decoration, add some royal icing and add the sprinkles on top immediately before it sets.
      Reply

  10. Rebecca says

    Just made these and added juice and zest of one small orange and handful of chocolate chips- taste and baked delicious. Didn’t actually chill for full 30 mins and still worked perfectly! Cut the cookies into Christmas tree shapes. Will definitely be using this recipe again and altering it for new flavours! Thanks for this simple recipe
    Reply

  12. Jess says

    Not sure what I did wrong here but it took about 45 minutes for mine to bake! I have a fan oven and so put it on 140c, I did turn it up after the first batch but even then these biscuits needed 15 minutes a side.
    Reply

      • Amy says

        I’m having the same issue, they have been in half an hour and they still look anaemic haha, have whacked up the temp to 160. I’m sure they’ll taste great though!
        Reply

  14. Missy says

    Hi, I was wondering if I could substitute shortening for the vegan butter. I need a dairy free option and have shortening on hand. Thank you!
    Reply

    • Aimee says

      Under the ingredient list, you will see "Metric - US" Click "US" to reveal the cups and oz measurements. For quick reference its:
    • 7.05 oz dairy-free butter I used Vitalite 1 tsp vanilla paste 0.5 cups caster sugar 2.4 cups plain flour sifted
      • Reply

  16. Matt Watson says

    Just made these with half caster/half demerera (as that's all I had in the cupboard), plus a few raisins and they were spectacular! Thanks for such a simple, great recipe, already saved to my favourites!
    Reply

  17. lacey says

    Just felt that I should inform you that I discovered this recipe two years ago and I always come back to your website whenever I'm in need of some baking goodness. Thanks for being so fab!
    Reply

  18. Kellyann says

    Hello im wondering if this recipe can be made into a gingerbread house minus the ginger and if it works with gluten free flour please
    Reply

  20. carolyn says

    The first time I made these bix they were brilliant but each subsequent time I tried they did not work out the same. I used exactly the same ingredients and made them in the same way. The first time they were nice and crumble and the dough was fairly soft to roll out but the next few batches were more like pastry and quite hard when baked. What have I been doing wrong?
    Reply

    • Vicki says

      Hey! You may be overmixing/kneading the dough! Both of these things can make the dough tougher. Hope this helps.
      Reply

  21. rebecca wilson says

    Hi, any chance you could make these into chocolate ahortbread with coco? would you just substitute some flour with coco?
    Reply

  22. Hope says

    I made this twice recently and it turned out too dry to be able to roll out for cookies even after being chilled? Does anyone have any advice? I followed the recipe so not sure what I did wrong? It did work out well in a square baking tin though.
    Reply

    • Robyn says

      Maybe leave the dough a little bit longer before you roll it out. You could also try playing around with it before you put it in the fridge. This worked for me.
      Reply

    • Joanne says

      I roll mine out straight away and cut into shapes then put on a baking tray and pop it in the fridge for 30 mins , works every time
      Reply

  23. Rachel says

    how well do you think this recipe would do being used as a crust in say a 9x13 pan? i’ve got millionaire bars on the brain! thanks!
    Reply

  25. Courtney says

    Helpppp. I've made them twice now and the "dough" is a crumbley mess. Even after being in the fridge it just crumbles. Doesn't resemble dough to roll out in any way. I ended up just making balls and cooking them that way but what am I doing wrong?? I'd love to use Christmas cutters.
    Reply

    • Aimee says

      Hi Courtney - you either need to add a bit more butter or add in a few drops of dairy-free milk (not too much though). Just keep adding small amounts of the butter and a few drops of the milk until the dough comes together. Be careful not to over-mix the dough though, otherwise it will become tough. Hope that helps - good luck!
      Reply

  28. Joy says

    I made these yesterday but doctored the recipe a tad. I used 50/50 refined coconut oil and vegan margarine, also 50/50 standard self raisong flour and gluten free plain flour (gluten free gives a crumbly texture). I added a pinch of pink salt to make the biscuits buttery. Also added some finely chopped crytalised ginger and the zest of two lemons. They're very tasty indeed. Thank you xx
    Reply

  29. Greg says

    Thanks for recipe! So buttery yum, To make even simpler, put dough in refrigerator in the shape of a 1 inch Diameter cyclinder. After half hour slice up and put on tray Thank you very much
    Reply

  30. Andrea says

    Thanks for this. I've just found this blog and today I managed to make these biscuits with my cmpa and egg allergic toddler. It was so nice to be able to do safe baking with her and to have something tasty at the end.
    Reply

  31. Matily says

    This is the best vegan biscuit recipe I've found so far - and the simplest! I like flavoured biscuits more than plain so I've been adding different flavours each time. So far I've tried it with chocolate chips (medium good), ginger (very good) and orange and cardomon for Christmas (excellent), today I've just done a little mixed spices. Thank you for the recipe.
    Reply

  32. Danielle Degville says

    Hello. Thank you for this recipe. It's incredible! I topped with cinnamon sugar and it was very tasty. Can you freeze these to keep them? (If i haven't eaten them all...)
    Reply

    • Aimee says

      So glad you enjoyed them Danielle! I'm not 100% sure but I'd say they can be frozen just fine, just like any other cookie :-) Love the idea of topping with cinnamon sugar, by the way.
      Reply

  34. Marie-klaude says

    I'm ready to make those but have no idea what vanilla paste is...I've never heard of it. Where do I find it and can I substitute with something else?
    Reply

    • Aimee says

      Hi Janet, caster sugar is regular sugar but more fine. It's in between granulated and powdered. You can use regular sugar but make sure to use the same weight (not cup measurements). Hope that helps!
      Reply

  37. jude Nevard says

    I doubled the amounts and made an apple and cinnamon tray bake by squashing half into the bottom of a tin and spreading chopped apple, sultanas and cinnamon with a bit of brown sugar then piling the rest on top and pressing flat. It was awesome. Thank you for the recipe '
    Reply

  38. kylieanne says

    i am a school student and this recipe saved my life in my food lesson so thank you because I couldn't find any other meal that looked nice so very bit thank you xxx
    Reply

    • Aimee says

      Hi Ksana, if you can't find dairy-free butter, then you could try oil, although I haven't tested this myself. The taste won't be "buttery" though. Let me know if you try it!
      Reply

  40. Emma says

    Hi Aimee or anyone else who may know, Is it possible to substitute a teaspoon vanilla paste with a teaspoon organic vanilla essence? Hoping to make tomorrow for Chrissy. Thanks in advance.
    Reply

  42. Sally says

    I am making these as we speak for my vegan friend! I'm using them as the base for a vegan twix bar haha I have had to cook them for a lot longer than listed so if anyone is reading this, don't stress if you need to keep them in for double the time. Could just be my oven but they are coming out so nicely regardless :)
    Reply

  44. Lex says

    Second time making these, currently in the over so fingers crossed! Added dark chocolate chips this time :o the first batch a few weeks ago was so gorgeous I couldn't help myself! Thanks for the simple recipe :) Lex xo
    Reply

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