Perfectly crunchy vegan shortbread cookies. This small batch recipe contains just 4-ingredients and makes 8-9 shortbread cookies. Easy and insanely good!
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 base ingredient of all sorts of other cool desserts that I absolutely want to make. Like vegan twix bars (update: this is now made!) 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 cat babies (who funnily enough don’t like cookies), it would be a bit crazy to go making huge batches of things. Or not crazy at all, it depends on the day.
I even got adorable heart shaped cookie cutters for the job.
On the day of baking these our air conditioner died and since it was hot as heck, this was 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 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.
How To Make Vegan Shortbread Cookies
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
You simply add flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl, and then add in the vegan butter and rub it in with your fingers. Form it into a ball, flatten it out or roll it out on a flour dusted surface and cut out the cookies, and then bake.
The result? The crunchiest, most satisfying vegan shortbread cookies. Just about 8 or 9 of them.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your cookies stored in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within a week. They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Lemon Cookies
- Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Small Batch Vegan Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour (125g)
- ¼ cup White Granulated Sugar (50g) plus more for rolling
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
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 to around ½ inch thick. 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 more granulated 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 25-30 minutes* until lightly golden on top.
- Remove from the oven and allow them to cool and firm up directly on the tray before moving them.
Video
Notes
- Baking times: We have baked these cookies for up to 45 minutes for a wonderfully crunchy shortbread. But in some ovens this will be too long and they will burn. Also, if you have more than 8-9 cookies then your cookies will be thinner and may need an even shorter baking time. So keep an eye on them. But feel free to also bake them longer than the 25-30 minutes, while keeping a beady eye on them, if you like your shortbread super crunchy.
- Storing and Freezing: Keep your cookies stored in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within a week. They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
- Recipe adapted from Epicurious.
Very nice! Try it!
Thanks Ivy!
Can the white flour be swapped out for almond flour 1:1? This looks so super easy, I can’t wait to try it!
Hi Joyce, no almond flour does not work as a swap for regular flour at all.
We love these biscuits! I make them all the time, they have got us through! Thank you!☺️
Thanks Sara!
These were delicious! I made double the recipe. My son has a lot of allergies, so this was perfect.
So glad they worked out well Barbara!
Made this today and was very satisfied with the outcome. Glad that I made twice the amount so that it would be enough to go around. So delicious, will definitely make again. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Wonderful! Thanks so much Angelique!
Thank you for such a lovely and simple recipe. I added in a dash of vanilla and the house smelt divine! They did turn out a little crisp and hard around the edges after baking for about 28 minutes. But the middle was perfect and the texture was great.
Thanks again!
Thanks for sharing Sarah!
Love this recipe and make it with my little girls. Today we coloured the dough and made them into shortbread flowers. We also cheat and use a food processor ????
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Susie!
I made this. Now, this is my first time so cut them a little thinner, but the dough was very lovely to work with. I can’t wait to taste these cookies as they smell lovely already. My mouth is watering. Thank you so much for posting this, perfect for 2 people! Love it.
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing Fernando!
Just removed my second batch of these cookies from the oven. I did bake them for 45 minutes but kept checking them every 15 minutes. The first batch I forgot to sprinkle with sugar before placing in oven. They still taste quite good. The only change I made is I used coconut sugar as I don’t use white sugar ever. I enjoyed the ease of preparing these cookies and look forward to perhaps adding some crumpled fresh lavender blossoms or fresh rosemary into the dough next time. Thank you. OH, I also used regular butter as I am not vegan.
Thanks for sharing Cori!
I made these and was amazed at the simplicity and speed of the recipe ! I rolled mine but unfortunately made them a little too thin. This didn’t affect the taste though and I have never tasted anything so glorious ! Delicious treats. I shared the recipe with my vegan frieds on a Facebook site who all loved them! Today I am making another batch but I will leave them thicker this time. Thank you so much for your delicious recipes.
Thanks Patricia!
Love these!
I am a terrible cook, so wasn’t expecting them to turn out well. I am now sat here, with my partner, and we’re both enjoying them! She never eats my attempts at cooking so it’s a huge win!
Thanks for the recipe xx
So happy to hear that Marie! Thanks for the great review!
Recipe didn’t specify how thick or thin to roll them. I rolled them to about the thickness of a straw. Only needed 20 minutes or so to bake. I would imagine the 45 minute recommended time is for half inch cookies. I recommend setting a timer for 15 minutes and checking on them. They came out thin, crispy, buttery, and delicious.
Thanks for sharing Stephanie! So glad they were a success! 🙂
45 min seems very excessive for cooking time. I cooked them for 15 min and let them cool 15 min. They turned out great
I tried your recipe and it turned out great. I did add one teaspoon of vanilla and I used a one Tablespoon scooper to drop them on the try. I was able to get 15 cookies. I set the oven for 300 degrees and the timer for 15 min. I then turned the cookies and set the timer for 15 min. again. After 6 min. I could see the cookies were done so, I left the try in the oven but opened the door with my dish towel and allowed the cookies to sit the last 9 min. I then allowed them to cool and wowwww. The perfect bit of a vegan cookie.
Thanks for the quick and easy recipe that is just enough cookies for me.
Thanks so much Deborah! So happy to hear they were a success! 🙂
HI Alison, I absolutely love your recipes and this one has been on my MUST TRY list for some time now. I have really struggled with all of the shortbread recipes I’ve tried in the past, so I was wondering if I need to calculate any special measurements to increase this two or threefold, or can I just double/triple everything? THANKS for all the yummy goodies that you share with us all.
You can absolutely double or triple the recipe if you like. 🙂
really nice. I loved how easy squeezy it was. Thank you for the recipe
Awesome! Thank you! 🙂
My first bake in 2020 — big success thanks to your recipe! Thank you Thank you.
I agree with others that it goes really well with almond. But instead of adding extract, I put sliced raw almond on top after shaping the cookies, then pressed them down slightly to secured the almond. Thanks to the low temp. bake, the nuts were not burnt at all but were toasted perfectly! Oooo… the aroma!! soooo good!!!
Awesome! I’m so happy they worked out well! Thanks so much for the awesome review. 🙂