Classic shortbread gets a dairy free twist in these crisp, tender cookies made without traditional butter. Dairy free shortbread cookies still have that buttery shortbread texture you love, with a lightly sweet flavor that makes them perfect with a cup of coffee or tea. Whether you need a dairy free cookie or just want to try something a little different, they are easy to make and always a good idea!
Shortbread has always been a holiday favorite for me, and I love when there's a batch waiting in the kitchen to share with family and friends...if I don't eat them all first! Making them dairy free means more people can enjoy classic shortbread without sacrificing the tender texture and buttery flavor that make it such a nostalgic cookie. It's the kind of recipe I always have in my holiday baking lineup because it's a cookie everyone can enjoy.
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Ingredients for cookies
- Dairy free butter
- White sugar
- All-purpose flour
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredients for optional glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Dairy free butter
- Fruit juice such as orange or lemon
See recipe card for quantities.
instructions
Step 1: Preheat oven to 325℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Step 2: Add the flour and mix until all the flour has been incorporated. The dough may look crumbly at this point.
Step 3: Use your hands to bring the dough together, then form it into a log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the log in parchment paper. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, until firm.
Step 4: Cut the chilled dough into 18 equal slices, about ½ inch thick, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. If the slices aren't perfectly round, gently shape the edges with your fingers to make them more uniform or use a cookie cutter ring to gently swirl around the cookie to create more rounded edges.
Step 5: Prick the cookies several times with a fork to get that signature shortbread cookie look. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown.
Step 6: Make the glaze. Place the dairy free butter in a medium bowl and microwave in 15 second increments until melted. Add the powdered sugar and lemon juice to the melted butter. Stir until smooth and well combined. Transfer the glaze to a decorator's squeeze bottle, or use a spoon or knife to drizzle the glaze back and forth over the cooled cookies.
Substitutions and Variations
- Gluten free - to make these cookie gluten free, you can use a gluten free one-for-one flour like Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour or King Arthur's Gluten Free Measure for Measure flour.
- Vegan - to make dairy free shortbread cookies vegan, you will need to use a certified vegan plant butter and organic sugar.
- Flavored dough - for milder extracts such as vanilla, add 1 teaspoon. For stronger extracts such as almond, lemon or peppermint, add ½ teaspoon. You could also add the zest of 1 medium-sized fruit instead.
- Flavored glaze - if you're flavoring the glaze, lemon juice or orange juice is festive and adds a nice flavor. You could also use plant based milk and an extract to make a flavored glaze.
Dairy Free Vs. Vegan Butter
Is dairy free butter the same as vegan butter? Not necessarily. If you are looking for vegan butter, you'll need to make sure the butter is certified vegan. I use Country Crock Honestly Dairy Free butter a lot in baking, but it is not certified vegan. Country Crock does make plant based butters that are certified vegan, but they contain avocado or olive oil. Neither of which are great flavors for plain shortbread cookies. I truly love Miyoko's plant based butter. But it is not always great for baking, so I do not recommend it in this recipe. I have used it and the structure is fine, but it doesn't have the best buttery flavor for baked goods.
Equipment
A hand mixer or stand mixer is helpful for this recipe.
Storage
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 to 7 days.
Next Level Tips
- Don't be afraid to flavor the dough or the optional glaze. I love using part vanilla and part almond extract in cookies. Vanilla is a standard flavor and almond adds a little more interest, and combining them is delicious. Use ½ teaspoon of vanilla and ½ teaspoon of almond extract.
- Why glaze? The cookies are sweet enough that they don't need a glaze and certainly don't need frosting. But glaze adds a layer of flavor and also some visual interest.
- But don't try to be perfect with the drizzle. I love drizzle art. And what makes drizzle artistic? It's the lack of perfect lines that actually makes the cookies look fun and interesting!
- If you want to color the dough, you can follow the directions for coloring dough from my colored cookie dough sugar cookie recipe.
FAQ
Yes, you can make the dough a day ahead of time. You'll just need to let the dough log warm up enough to shape it a bit and slice it. You can also freeze unbaked dough. Allow the dough to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Also, instead of wrapping the dough in parchment paper, I would recommend wax paper instead if freezing.
Yes, you can add extracts or zest to the dough. For milder extracts like vanilla, add 1 teaspoon. For stronger extracts such as almond, lemon or peppermint, add ½ teaspoon. You could also add the zest of 1 medium-sized fruit instead.
Yes, just roll the dough out to about ½ inch thickness and use the cookie cutters of your choice. Keep in mind that significantly smaller cookies will take less time to bake and significantly larger cookies may take longer to bake. If you're using different cookie cutters, bake similar-sized cookies together in the same batch.
No. It's mostly for appearance's sake. It does help really thick shortbread cookies bake evenly by allowing steam to escape. But for the thickness of the cookies shown, it is mostly for appearance. I prefer it as I do think it adds some visual interest plus it's a great indicator of exactly what type of cookie it is. Like if you added these to a holiday cookie plate, people would know they are shortbread cookies by the fork pricks.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Dairy Free Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Shortbread cookies
- 1 cup dairy free butter room temperature
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Drizzle Glaze
- 2 tablespoons dairy free butter melted
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon or orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the flour and mix until all the flour has been incorporated. The dough may look crumbly at this point.
- Use your hands to bring the dough together, then form it into a log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the log in parchment paper.
- Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours until firm. While the dough is still in the parchment paper, roll it on the counter to make the dough log even more rounded.
- Cut the chilled dough into 18 equal slices, about ½ inch thick, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. If the slices aren't perfectly round, gently shape the edges with your fingers or use a cookie cutter ring to gently swirl around the cookie to create more rounded edges.
- Prick the cookies several times with a fork to get that signature shortbread cookie look.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown. Check at 15 minutes. Thinner sliced cookies may be done while thicker sliced cookies will take longer. (I bake mine for 18 minutes.) Allow to cool on the baking sheet before moving.
Optional glaze
- Place the dairy free butter in a medium bowl and microwave in 15 second increments until melted.
- Add the powdered sugar and the lemon or orange juice to the melted butter. Stir until smooth and well combined.
- Transfer the glaze to a decorator's squeeze bottle, or use a spoon or knife to drizzle the glaze back and forth over the cooled cookies. Allow drizzle to harden before stacking.
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