Gluten free shortbread biscuits

Had a little bash at making some gluten free shortbread biscuits and was delighted with how well they turned out, so thought I’d better get on and share the recipe with you.

I considered adding other ingredients to the shortbread, but decided that it was better to share a great basic recipe, and let you decide how you may want to enjoy these yummy, buttery biscuits. Whether that be to leave them plain, or jazz them up with other tasty bits and bobs you fancy. I’ve added a few suggestions at the bottom of the page to start you off.

You’ll spot that I have included xanthan gum in this recipe. It isn’t an ingredient I often use (it’s already added to most gluten free self-raising flours). However, for things like shortbread, scones and fruit cake, xanthan gum is beneficial, as it holds the crumb together well and prevents things from being too crumbly when you bite into them. 

Ingredients

110g (4oz) butter, unsalted or salted will work – It’s a matter of personal taste (leave the butter to soften at room temperature for a couple of hours before you use it) 
50g (2oz) caster sugar (*icing sugar can be used instead)
175g (6oz) gluten free plain flour, sifted
1 level teaspoon xanthan gum
Teaspoon *vanilla extract or paste
Extra caster sugar to sprinkle over the biscuits

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5/170C Fan.

Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper onto a large flat baking tray (approximately 10 x 15 inch).

In a large bowl cream together the softened butter and sugar and then add the vanilla extract.

Add the gluten free flour and xanthan gum and mix well. The mixture should all start to come together. At this point it’s best to get your hands in, and like you do with pastry, gently squeeze the mixture together until it forms a ball.

Transfer the shortbread dough onto a clean surface lightly dusted with gluten free flour. It’s best not to over dust with flour, as you don’t want to alter the consistency of the biscuit.

Roll out the dough to approx ¼ inch thickness. Then using a cutter of your choice cut out the biscuits. I originally used a 3 inch cutter when I first noted down the recipe, but have since switched to using a 2.5 inch cutter as I think it gives a much better size biscuit.

With a palette knife, gently lift and lay the biscuits onto the baking tray. For a traditional shortbread look, prick them all over with a fork. If you prefer a smooth finish leave this bit out. I find it’s best to chill the biscuits for 20 minutes at this stage.

Remove the biscuits from the fridge and sprinkle with caster sugar and pop them into the oven.

Bake until pale golden-brown. It will take about 20 minutes for the 3 inch size and 16-17 minutes for the 2.5 inch ones. Of course, if you do smaller or larger biscuits you will need to adjust the cooking time. Tiny biscuits, the sort that are nice to slip on a saucer to go with a coffee, would only take about 8-10 minutes to bake.

Allow the biscuits to cool completely before removing them from the baking tray.

Recipe notes and suggestions:

Gluten free shortbread biscuits keep really well in an airtight container and will be good to go for at least a week. 

I’ve also tested these shortbread biscuits with Stork baking block instead of butter. They turned out really well and would be a great alternative if you need to make them dairy free in addition to gluten free. 

Grated orange zest added to the basic shortbread mixture would enhance the flavour of these biscuits beautifully. Orange flavoured shortbread would also work really well served with a delicious rich chocolate mousse. 

Finely grated lemon zest would be another winning ingredient to add to this simple shortbread recipe. You could then, if you like, transform the fragrant biscuits into a rather posh pud, by adding a spoonful of lemon curd, a little crème fresh and some fresh raspberries.

Culinary lavender in shortbread (not something I’ve ever tried) is apparently a big hit with many people too.

Should you add any of the ingredients above, I’d recommend you miss out the vanilla essence so not to confuse the flavours.

*Chocolate chips, *fudge pieces, *dried fruit or *nuts would of course be perfect to pop into the shortbread mixture before rolling it out.

I’ve made these shortbreads and added *crystallised ginger and *dark chocolate pieces… very tasty indeed!

These shortbread biscuits would be perfect for children to have fun decorating. Just leave off the additional sugar before baking, so they have a nice flat surface to work with.

And for my final suggestion to enhance these yummy biscuits, would be to dunk them into melted *chocolate or pipe over melted chocolate squiggles. 

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Thanks for checking out this recipe. I’ve also shared a quick demo of me making a batch of these shortbread biscuits over on my YouTube channel. Click here to watch.

For now,
Liz x

*Check this product to ensure that there are no gluten containing ingredients, ‘may contain’ or ‘not suitable’ for a coeliac/gluten free diet warnings on the pack.

Credit and thanks to BBC Food website for the original shortbread recipe that I worked with.