We have a brand of shortbread cookie in South Africa called ‘Eat Sum More’. Cool name right? Not vegan though, sadly.
I knew I had to nail down a good recipe for vegan shortbread cookies because shortbread is the basis of all sorts of other cool desserts that I absolutely want to make! Like vegan twix bars and millionaire shortbread! Yum yum yum!
And this folks – is it! This small batch recipe for vegan shortbread cookies is the bomb diggity.
I love that it’s a small batch too because recipes that make like 3 dozen cookies are just not for me.
Considering the fact that it’s just me and Jaye and our two cat babies (who funnily enough don’t like cookies), it would be a bit crazy to go making huge batches of things.
I even got adorable heart shaped cookie cutters for the job.
On the day of baking these our air conditioner died and since we currently live in Dubai, this is quite a big deal.
As I was working with this cookie dough, the vegan butter that forms quite a large part of this recipe was melting inside the dough and making it really rather hard to keep the nice little heart shapes I was going for!
So if my heart shaped cookies look a little rough around the edges – this is why! It was about 100 degrees (or more) in my kitchen!
Nonetheless the end result was awesome. This recipe is super simple, being just 4 ingredients.
You simply add some flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl, and then you add in the vegan butter and rub it in with your fingers. Then your form it into a ball, and then flatten it out on a flour dusted surface and cut out the cookies, and then bake on low heat for 45 minutes (don’t worry, I’ll provide a few more details in the actual recipe section 
)
The result? The crunchiest, most satisfying vegan shortbread cookies. Just about 8 or 9 of them.
I think you’re going to love these shortbread cookies, they’re:
- Perfectly crunchy
- An ideal small batch
- Just 4-ingredients
- Super easy
- Insanely good!
Absolutely ideal to have with a cup of tea or coffee for an afternoon snack or as dessert.
So what do you think of these vegan shortbread cookies? Let me know in the comments!
If you’ve made them, let me know how they turned out!
And if you happen to put any pics on instagram please tag me #lovingitvegan so I can see them too!
Thank you!
For more awesome cookie recipes, check these out!
And loads more! Type ‘cookies’ into the search bar to find all the cookie recipes we’ve done.
Small Batch Vegan Shortbread Cookies
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Prep Time: 15 mins - Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
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Yield: 9 -
Category: Dessert -
Cuisine: Vegan
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Perfectly crunchy vegan shortbread cookies. This small batch recipe contains just 4-ingredients and makes 8-9 shortbread cookies. Super easy and insanely good!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup (50g) Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup (112g) Vegan Butter/Margarine
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (149°C).
- Sift the flour and add it to a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and salt and mix together.
- Then add the vegan butter, rubbing it in with your fingers. It will first be crumbly and then gradually will form into cookie dough.
- Form the cookie dough into a ball and then flatten it out on a flour dusted surface and cut out some cookies. You can either use a rolling pin or your hands to flatten it out. The dough is quite fragile, so if you use a rolling pin, you can roll and sort of press at the same time. Dust the top of the dough with flour so that the rolling pin doesn’t stick. Roll the cookies in sugar and place onto a parchment lined baking tray.
- Roll the remaining dough into a ball again and flatten out again, cutting out more cookies and then repeat.
- At the end you’ll cut out your final cookie, and whatever’s left won’t be enough for a last cookie, so just roll into a small ball, roll it in sugar and add it to the baking tray as a bonus cookie.
- You should have around 8-9 cookies.
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, remove from the oven and allow them to cool for around 30 minutes before eating.
Notes
*Recipe adapted from Epicurious.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 124
- Sugar: 5.5g
- Sodium: 146mg
- Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 1.1g
- Carbohydrates: 16.2g
- Fiber: 0.4g
- Protein: 1.4g
Can’t wait to make this recipe with my little girl and I love the heart-shaped idea too. Thank you this looks so good!
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Sure! Hope you enjoy baking them! 🙂
Thank you for this great recipe that turn out better with each batch
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You’re very welcome! 🙂
This looks so yummy and wonderful…and the best part – easy! I was wondering if you can use coconut butter in place of the vegan margarine?
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I don’t know – it might work out great or it might not. If you try it, please let us know how it turned out! All the best!
Great simple recipe for surprise guests…
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Which vegan butter do you use? I found that some of them were too salty for baking. Thank you for your great recipes!
Hi Lisa, I’m currently using an Australian brand called Nuttelex, but I would generally use whatever is available which depending on where I am in the world, there may not be too many options. 🙂 You’re very welcome! Glad you like the recipes!
If I use coconut sugar instead of refined sugar do you know if these would still work out okay?? I usually susbstitute the sugar when I bake and everything works out but these cookies might be different so I just wanted to double check. Thank you 🙂
I think it should be fine, and if it affects anything, it might just affect the color of the cookies when they’re baked as coconut sugar is darker in color. I can’t be completely sure, as I haven’t tried this, but I would guess it would be an easy swap.
Oh my gosh, my daughter made these for Christmas this year and they are the best shortbread cookie Ive ever had! She made some plain which were a flaky, buttery, sweet, shortbread to die for as well as some she added cranberries to which were just as amazing. Everyone in the family agrees these are a favorite cookie for sure. Ill be making these a lot, Thank you.
Great! So glad they came out well! The cranberry addition sounds like a great idea! 🙂
I made these last night and they were perfect! I used earth balance as my butter and I rolled them in cinnamon and sugar. I just made little balls that were approximately 1tbs and I smashed them into rounds. I made about 12 small cookies, soo yum!
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That’s great Amanda! Glad to hear! 🙂
Me and my 3 year old just made these and we love them! They taste great! We made them in the size and shapes of animal crackers and alphabets! Took a little longer but they are super cute!
Yay! That sounds awesome Jaime!
I tried using coconut oil instead of margarine or vegan butter (because I did not have any of them at home at that moment) and it did not work, so next time I’ll try the vegan butter.
Hi Erika, thanks for posting, it’s good to know that coconut oil doesn’t work as a substitute.
Hi there, can I just confirm the 45 minutes cooking time? Seems alot for cookies so wanted to double check. Thanks
Yes, it’s right. It is much longer than usual for cookies, but it’s because it’s done at a low heat.
Brilliant thank you very much! My husband and I have had trouble following vegan baking recipes online, because they’ve obviously not been recipe tested, but all the one’s we’ve tried from your site have been exactly as you have described. Just wanted to say thank you for all your recipes and the work you do.
That is so wonderful to hear – thank you so much! 🙂
That’s quite alright. I am chronically ill so wasting time and energy (and money!) On recipes that don’t work is a huge pain in the bum, so I very much appreciate someone taking the time to be thorough. Hopefully I’ll be making these shortbread soon with my husband or carer, excited!
Hello! Would you please verify this is granulated sugar (rather than powdered sugar)? I just want to make sure before I mess something up. Thanks!
Yes! Regular granulated sugar. 😊
I made a double sized batch of these, for a friend’s birthday and they are delicious!! I used Vitalite vegan butter which is quite soft, so I had to add a bit more flour, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly, including cooking time. They are by far the best vegan shortbread I have found. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Brilliant! So glad to hear! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
These were amazing!!! I ran out of my vegan butter (almost had enough), so I filled the rest of the cup with vegan shortening, and they turned out just delicious for my strawberry shortcake with homemade coconut whip. Thanks for a great recipe!!
Great stuff! Glad it worked out well! Thanks for posting. 🙂
Hello,
I made these today. And they burnt at the recommended bake time. Proper oven temperature and everything. Was it 4 to 5 minutes because 45 minutes seems like a long time.
Hi Katie, oh no, what a pity! Were they very burned or just slightly? The thing is ovens can vary tremendously, so keeping an eye on them is a good idea as well so you can get to know how long they take in your oven. An oven thermometer is also a good idea so you can check that your oven is baking at the temperature you set it to, as they can be calibrated incorrectly. I am just going to get one of these myself as I am using a new oven lately and am not sure it’s calibrated properly. 45 minutes is the correct time for this as it bakes at a fairly low temperature, which is why it goes for much longer than cookies usually would.
Hello,
And they were like hockey puck burnt. I had to babysit so I left my mother in charge of the cookies. Just pulling them out when they were done I made them and set the timer. My oven very well may be off. It only took 16 minutes in my oven on 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Not sure if you live in the U.S. or not so I included the degree (Fahrenheit). Oven thermometer may be out of my reach if they are pricey. I am a 5th year college student. So no money lolz.
Thank you for the quick reply,
P.S. They turned out a lovely golden color this time around. I hope the wee ones will like them.
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If you cooked them at 350 the first time that would explain why they were burnt. They are supposed to be baked at 300 for 45 minutes. Glad they came out well the second time! 🙂
Thanks. I am bad with numbers usually I have my mom check my writing lolz. And yeah they were great the little ones loved them I made shortbread jam Mummy cookies for our Halloween party last night.
Hi,
I would love to make these but unsure where to get Vegan butter in Dubai. Do you buy your butter in Dubai? And if so where? Thank you!
You have great options in Dubai – Waitrose and Spinney’s sell Nuttelex, an Australian brand of vegan butter. The All Day next to Bahar in JBR sell Earth Balance – a US brand of vegan butter. Waitrose have an own brand of vegan spreads that are also great for baking. And then failing all that, some of the hard blocks of margarine in Dubai are also free of animal products, but those don’t work quite as well I’ve found as the spreadable ones. Also, Bio Organic in Tecom sell all kinds of things, like vegan cheeses etc, not sure about vegan butter as I was well covered on that front, but they have lots of other great ‘hard to find’ ingredients.
HI Alison, my shortbreads expanded in the oven and became flatter and flatter. Taste was ok but very buttery. May be need to use less fat?
Thanks
I’m not sure why that would happen unless perhaps your oven was a bit on the hot side? Otherwise not sure! You could try using less butter but then you’d need to add in something else to compensate and I don’t know how that would work out.
So happy I discovered this recipe. They were delicious and easy to make!
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Awesome! Thanks Kayla! 🙂
Hi!! Do you think this would work with gluten free all purpose flour? 🙂
I haven’t tried it with gluten-free flour, but an all purpose blend should work in theory! Let us know how it turns out if you do try it! 🙂
Hi,
I thought that I would respond to this question. Thinking I had regular flour in my pantry only to find gluten free flour I decided to go ahead with the recipe. I am pleased to say that these turned out wonderful and would highly recommend these to anyone wanting to try gluten free.
Thanks again for a fantastic recipe.
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Oh excellent! That’s wonderful news! Thanks so much Lynn! 🙂
I’m really excited to try this recipe! I have a question though.. I want to try making some checkerboard shortbread cookies for the holidays. Would you recommend adding some cocoa powder or melted chocolate into the dough? Thanks!
I have never tried this, I think either one could work though! Let us know if you do try it and how it works out! That would be awesome to know! 🙂
I made these and they are absolutely amazing.
Mind blowing how yummy they are.
I made 12 cookies from these proportion but mine were thinner.
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Ooooh that’s wonderful Malva! So happy to hear! Thanks for posting! 🙂
They were gone before the night fell. So here I am making a double batch now. My three little monsters (kids) loved them.
Thanks so much
You’re so welcome! So glad they were such a hit! 🙂
How long do they keep for? Thinking of making them to put in a hamper for a birthday present!
About a week in an airtight container. 🙂
I was looking for a small sweet treat to go along with my homemade yogurt. I had nothing to measure the butter (student life…) so I used 7 tablespoons. I rolled the dough, cut the forms and then, the epiphany, why not use jam?! This recipe works like a charm as thumbprint cookies! Pear, lemon, raspberry I CAN’T STOP! Thank you !
Hahaha, this is awesome news Pauline as I have been thinking of doing some vegan thumbprint cookies! Thanks for sharing your success with it! 🙂
Delicious cookies! I used Earth Balance vegan butter and they came out great. I questioned the baking time, but you were right, 45 minutes on the button! I didn’t have the right shape cookie cutter, so I rolled the dough into a chunky log, then cut off 1.5-2″ chunks, then pressed them with my hand, then cut into quarters and they look very nice. Thank you for yet another fabulous recipe! Your site is fantastic.
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Thanks so much Laura! So glad they worked out great! Thanks for posting. 🙂
Hi! Should the butter be at room temperature like many traditional shortbread recipes? Thanks so much 🙂
Sure, this will be helpful. Since you are rubbing it in with your fingers though, even if it isn’t, it will just make the process a bit slower. But definitely if the butter is a bit softer, it will speed things up a bit!
I was just wondering what the difference would be if I used powdered sugar instead of granulated?
Thanks! I cant wait to try it
I haven’t tried that, but it might be great! Let us know how it works out if you try it! 🙂
Awesome and easy recipe
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Made these tonight and they were delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe. I added a wee bit of vanilla and lemon extract to the cookie and made a mixed berry compote to go in the middle of the cookie. They are so addicting! I’m staring at them now, lol. If anyone is debating on making them, please do. They’re buttery, rich, and have the perfect amount of sweetness. I can’t wait to make them again, but next time, it will be for my co-workers.
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Oooh sounds so delicious! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Thank you Alison
I really loved these cookies. I added lavandar flowers to the dough and topped with chocolate (vegan). They were well received by my guests. very easy and very tasty.
Suzy
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Wonderful Suzy! Thanks for posting! 🙂