I was about to tell you that gluten-free shortbread are my favorite cookies. And then I thought of chocolate chip cookies. And sugar cookies. And lemon wafers. And then I realized that cookies are my favorite cookies.
Funny how that works!
Shortbread cookies, I must say, are right up there. Before going gluten-free, I’d often pick up a box of Walkers shortbread. They now make a gluten-free version. They are good! But they are pricey. So I still prefer making my own. I freeze the extras and then whenever I want a shortbread cookie, I head to the freezer.
Shortbread cookies are an old cookie. How old? Historians date shortbread to the medieval times. The first printed version appeared in 1736!
Made with flour and butter, two expensive ingredients, shortbread was often reserved for Yuletide baking. And to this day, Walkers sells more shortbread during the holiday season than any other time of year.
I’m guessing—and go with me here–that in 1736 people didn’t pull out their KitchenAid mixer to whip up a batch of shortbread. But I’m no historian. So what do I know?
While I use–and recommend using!— an electric mixer for making shortbread, there are some things to keep in mind to make the very best gluten-free shortbread.
Gluten-Free Shortbread Rule #1
Don’t overmix
Shortbread cookies are dense affairs. Over-mixing the butter causes their texture to become too light and crumbly. When preparing the dough, don’t cream the butter and sugar so much that it becomes light and fluffy.
Gluten-Free Shortbread Rule #2
Take your time
Since these cookies contain no eggs, there’s no moisture to coax the ingredients quickly into a dough. Once the dry ingredients are added to the butter and sugar paste, it takes a little while for a dough to form. At first the dough seems incredibly sandy–you might even worry that it’s not coming together—don’t fret like I did the first time I made a batch! The dough does come together after two or three minutes of mixing. Don’t rush it and don’t give up. The wait’s worth it.
Gluten-Free Shortbread Rule #3
Re-rolling is welcome
With no gluten to make things tough, you can roll and re-roll this dough until every last piece is used. Since these cookies are so rich, I make about two dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies from one batch, gathering and re-rolling the dough as needed to get this many cookies.
Gluten-Free Shortbread Rule #4
Use Butter (optional, sorta)
In my opinion, dairy-free shortbread is a skip. Butter is an essential ingredient in these cookies. Made with a dairy-free fat, I don’t think shortbread cookies are worth the time or the calories. Without butter, shortbreads main flavor, they just taste kind of flat. However, if you like the taste and texture of coconut oil or a different dairy-free fat, go ahead and give it a try. When selecting a dairy-free fat, be sure to use a solid fat, not a liquid oil.
Gluten-Free Shortbread Rule #5
Enjoy ’em, today or next week
Happily, gluten-free shortbread store really well. After you bake a batch, allow them to cool and then store them in an airtight container. They are good for a ridiculously long time! So you can make a batch now and still enjoy them next week or the week after!
Gluten-Free Shortbread
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups white rice flour (5 1/3 ounces; 151 grams)
- 1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2.5 ounces/ 70 grams)
- 1/2 cup cornstarch cup cornstarch (2 ounces/ 56 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum this prevents the cookies from spreading
- 14 tablespoons butter, softened (7 ounces; 198 grams)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces; 148 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In small bowl, whisk together white rice flour, sweet rice flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and xanthan gum. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla extract together, on medium-low speed, until a thick paste forms, about 30 seconds. Shut off stand mixer. Add dry ingredients. Turn on mixer and mix until a dough forms, about three minutes.
- Lightly white rice flour your countertop. Turn dough out onto counter and shape dough into a disk. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out, about 1/4-inch thick. Cut using a round cutter and place cookies on prepared baking sheet, about two inches apart. Chill cookies for ten minutes.
- Bake until cookies are lightly golden brown on the edges and aromatic, about 30 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for five minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool. Repeat using remaining dough.
- Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Kellie says
I need to bake about 100 of these, as minis, maybe an inch in diameter. Would you change anything in the recipe to make them smaller? Perhaps shorten the bake time? Thank you.
Elizabeth says
Hello!
No, I wouldn’t modify the recipe. I’d just shorten the baking time by a minute or two.
Enjoy!
Lorelei Bachman says
This recipe made a delicious and beautiful batch of shortbread. I halved the sugar and found them the perfect sweetness for my family’s taste. I also used rice flour alone and real butter. Leave them on the sheet to cool- they are very delicate while warm. For those wondering, I formed a log, wrapped it well and froze until needed. They sliced and baked perfectly. I would say they are even better than Walker’s.
Ena says
These turned out so much better than I expected! Super impressed! They didn’t fall apart completely (like gluten free short bread normally does for me) and are so tasty and soft. 1 teaspoon of salt was a bit too much for me, they turned out a little salty, so I think half a teaspoon might be better next time. That is just nitpicking anyway, this is an amazing recipe, 10/10!
Tania says
These are amazing!!!!
pierre says
Great recipe! I did have to make 2 adjustments to prevent the cookies from spreading. When I added 15 grams of sweet rice flour and another 1/4 tsp xanthan gum they came together perfectly. Thank you.
Patricia says
I made this cookies today and they are delicious! The only problem is they spread out flat in the oven with the butter. I did follow the recipie exactly and refrigerated before I baked them. They look nothing like the pic! Any suggestions thank you very much! Pat
Elizabeth says
Urgh. I’m so sorry you’ve had this happen. I’ve tested this recipe and re-tested (and re-tested)so many times. I’d love to get a common cause of the cookies spreading for some and not for others. May I ask what brand of flours you used? Thanks!
Patricia says
I use Bobs Red Mill flours, would they maybe retain shape if I add more Xanthan gum and I was thinking a little extra flour (almond) The cooking time is half hour at 300 maybe if I cooked at a higher temp? Thanks Pat
Patricia says
Elizabeth: I tried these cookies again today. I substituted the 1 1/3 cups of white rice flour with one cup white rice flour and 1/3 cup almond flour. I also put in 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum and used icing sugar instead of regular sugar. They kept their shape (yah) and tasted amazing! Pat
Jenny says
These are AMAZING. We iced them as well. Also delicious.
And to make it simple we used bobs red mill 1:1 gluten free flour. Works great.
Just curious about the approximate calorie count per cookie if you know it?
Thanks.
Elizabeth says
Glad you liked them! I’m not sure about the calorie count. Sorry!
Lysiane says
These are amazing, thank you for the recipe! I had to use brown rice instead of sweet rice, and tapioca instead of corn starch, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t affect the taste… And I don’t have a stand mixer so I worked the dough by hand for about 5 minutes, then made a log and sliced it (but that was mostly out of laziness). Totally worth it.
Kim says
Could you use all sweee rice flour instead of two types of rice flour,
Elizabeth says
You can but the cookies will have a different texture. They will be a bit gritty if you use all sweet rice flour.
Toni Paxton says
I am “baking-challenged”. NOTHING I make is edible. I’ve been banned from making desserts for holiday meals. These were so yummy and so simple! Full disclosure: instead of breaking out my cookie cutters I turned it into a slice-and-bake. It wasn’t pretty. Some of them came out pathetically small (my hubby called them cookie shots! ). But they are soooooo good! I’m definitely making these again… next time the right way!
Elizabeth says
Ha! This comment made me smile. Glad you liked them. Hopefully they’ll lift your baking ban. 😉
Dale says
Thanks this recipe is yummy. I did have a problem with the dough crumbling. I guess a little more XG might help?
Elizabeth says
No, crumbling has more to do with the temperature of the butter and/or the hydration of the dough. You can either mix it a bit longer, that usually helps. Or, if that doesn’t do it, add a teaspoon or so of water.
LM says
Delicious! I didn’t have any sweet rice flour so I combined rice flour with brown rice flour and a little chickpea flour, and mixed icing sugar with coconut sugar, and used 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum and they kept their shape beautifully. I feel drawn to ice them too. Thank you :-))
Eleanor says
I read a comment earlier up where someone had used 1C rice flour + 1/3C almond flour. I’d rathe rnot have to buy some sweet rice flour, and was wondering if anyone has made it without the sweet flour? ie. If i just use 1 1/3C rice flour like the recipe says and replace the sweet rice flour with almond, do you think it will work out?
Elizabeth says
You could use almond flour or you could replace the sweet rice flour with an equal amount of white rice flour.
Matt says
This is a great recipe. No one knows they’re gluten free. I used the recipe to make little animal cookies and I’ve made large birthday number cakes. Everyone always comments how great the cookies are.
Rootietoot says
I am always a little skeptical of gluten free baking, having made a lot of things that just weren’t good. These, however, are delicious. I had to add an extra tablespoon of butter to get the dough to come together. I also baked them for 45 minutes instead of 30 (I like mine with a little bit of browning). Be careful taking them off the pan, as they are very tender. Oh Rats, I had to eat the broken ones. Once fully cooled, though, they held together nicely. They don’t taste exactly like Walkers, but they are delicious and I am very happy with them. My husband (the one with the wheat allergy) declared them Worth Making Again, and I have no reservations about packing them up as gifts even for my family who have no allergy issues.
Susie says
These are my favorite Christmas cookies for cookie exchanges and gifts. I use raspberry jam between two cookies. Beautiful and amazing! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Brigitte says
My kids and I love this recipe! We’ve been making your shortbread cookie recipe exactly as written since you first published it. It’s versatile too – I’ve made them into lemon shortbread by adding grated lemon zest and switched the vanilla extract to lemon extract. Delicious!
Simon says
To sweet and far, far too salty. They also have a gritty texture which I’m not keen about.
Elizabeth says
Sorry you didn’t enjoy these.
The gritty texture would come from the rice flour you used.
As for the salt level, a teaspoon of salt for 2 1/3 cups of flour is standard for shortbread cookies.
Kathy says
I used a heart shaped cookie cutter and served them at a large family get together smeared with jam, clotted cream and sliced strawberry on them. Oh my goodness! So meltingly lovely they all went very quickly! I’m making a batch today just for me 🙂
Thank you, great recipe!
Monica says
Hi. Can I use another type of flour instead of the sweet rice ?
Thanks in advance
Elizabeth says
You could replace it with an equal amount of white rice flour. The texture will be a little different but the cookies will still taste yummy!
Rachel Clarke says
Hi,
Am I misunderstanding this recipe “cream butter, sugar, and vanilla extract together, on medium-low speed, until a thick paste forms, about 30 seconds. “30 Seconds? I am used to creaming butter and sugar until pale and creamy which is a good 10 minutes. please advise before I start. My thoughts are the sugar not broken down by beating would be grainy and crushy/gritty.
Elizabeth says
Hi Rachel,
The creaming method’s purpose is to aerate the mixture. When butter and sugar are creamed for a long time, air gets trapped in the mixture, which helps to leaven baked goods. In this case, since the desired texture of shortbread cookies are dense, we don’t want the butter-sugar highly aerated. So a short creaming time works really well!