These gluten free Scottish Shortbread Cookies are everything that I look for in a shortbread recipe. They use nourishing, real food ingredients, are flaky, gently sweet, rich, and delicious! Gluten-free shortbread cookies have an advantage over their wheat peers – they don’t have any gluten to toughen them. This means it is easy to get that perfect flaky texture!
I was looking for a recipe that fit my children’s dietary needs, but that held together well. This one fits the bill! In fact, it was so successful, I think I am going to use this same recipe for cut out Christmas gluten-free sugar cookies this year!
I love that it uses pure maple syrup as the only sweetener. And because it is free of gluten, cane sugar, eggs, and even nuts, it makes a great cookie for those with many allergies.
I feel a certain nostalgia over shortbread cookies. Not only were they a favorite for me growing up, but when I was in the hospital on bed rest with my second daughter, my body was craving healthy fats (that is, butter), and so my mother would bring me shortbread cookies whenever she came to visit me. Just one of many reasons shortbread cookies are one of my favorite cookie recipes!
Because shortbread is so rich, it only needs to be lightly sweetened – a fact I appreciate since so many special treats are very saturated with sugar.
Notes on Ingredients:
- I used sprouted brown rice flour. If you can’t find it locally, you can (affiliate links) order it from Amazon. You can probably use brown rice flour or white rice flour as well (don’t use sweet rice flour in replacement though).
- I made this nut-free by making my own sunflower seed flour. See how to make it here. You can also use almond flour with good results, I’m sure!
- Tapioca Starch helps make a great texture, and keeps it really flaky too! See notes below for replacement ideas.
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Gluten Free Scottish Shortbread Cookies
- 1 cup sprouted brown rice flour,
- 1 cup of finely ground nut or seed flour (See notes above)
- ¼-1/2 cup tapioca starch, plus extra for rolling (you could probably replace with arrowroot flour or sweet rice flour, if desired)
- ½ cup of butter, softened
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla, gluten-free
- ¼ teaspoon unrefined salt
1. In a medium bowl, whip the butter until smooth and fluffy with a hand mixture. Drizzle the maple syrup over the butter and add the vanilla extract. Mix in until smooth. Add the flours, tapioca starch (I started with ¼ cup), and salt, and mix until just combined.
2. Test the mixture by rolling a small portion into a ball. Is it too dry? Add a little more maple syrup. Is it too wet? Add some more flour until it becomes slightly moist, but firm, and is holding its shape when pressed into a ball. (I started with the ¼ cup of tapioca starch, and then added the second ¼ cup, and it was perfect. The moisture level of your cookies will vary by what nut or seed flour you use, so adjust the recipe as needed. It’s a very flexible recipe!)
3. Preheat the oven to 350F
4. Form the dough into two balls. If it’s too hard to handle, you can refrigerate until the dough is chilled. Take two sheets of parchment paper. Lightly dust one with tapioca starch, place one of the dough balls on the sheet, then dust the top of the dough with tapioca starch. Place the second sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough ball, and then roll out using a rolling pin until about ½ an inch thick. Remove top parchment paper, and cut out into desired shapes. (I used a 1 ½ inch biscuit cutter, and it was perfect).
5. Use a spatula to carefully remove cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a fork to artfully poke holes in the cookies.
6. Put in oven and cook for about 12-15 minutes, or until the cookies are set and just barely browning on the sides. Remove from oven, and cool.
7. Repeat with second half of the dough.
Keep in an airtight container. Will keep about a week. You can also freeze the dough, if desired.
- 1 cup sprouted brown rice flour,
- 1 cup of finely ground nut or seed flour (See notes above)
- ¼-1/2 cup tapioca starch, plus extra for rolling (you could probably replace with arrowroot flour or sweet rice flour, if desired)
- ½ cup of butter, softened
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla, gluten-free
- ¼ teaspoon unrefined salt
- In a medium bowl, whip the butter until smooth and fluffy with a hand mixture. Drizzle the maple syrup over the butter and add the vanilla extract. Mix in until smooth. Add the flours, tapioca starch (I started with ¼ cup), and salt, and mix until just combined.
- Test the mixture by rolling a small portion into a ball. Is it too dry? Add a little more maple syrup. Is it too wet? Add some more flour until it becomes slightly moist, but firm, and is holding its shape when pressed into a ball. (I started with the ¼ cup of tapioca starch, and then added the second ¼ cup, and it was perfect. The moisture level of your cookies will vary by what nut or seed flour you use, so adjust the recipe as needed. It’s a very flexible recipe!)
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Form the dough into two balls. If it’s too hard to handle, you can refrigerate until the dough is chilled. Take two sheets of parchment paper. Lightly dust one with tapioca starch, place one of the dough balls on the sheet, then dust the top of the dough with tapioca starch. Place the second sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough ball, and then roll out using a rolling pin until about ½ an inch thick. Remove top parchment paper, and cut out into desired shapes. (I used a 1 ½ inch biscuit cutter, and it was perfect).
- Use a spatula to carefully remove cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a fork to artfully poke holes in the cookies.
- Put in oven and cook for about 12-15 minutes, or until the cookies are set and just barely browning on the sides. Remove from oven, and cool.
- Repeat with second half of the dough.
- Keep in an airtight container. Will keep about a week. You can also freeze the dough, if desired.
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This is a wonderful recipe! I used organic palm shortening instead of butter, regular brown rice flour and sunflower seeds, which I turned to flour in a food processor. The cookies turned out great, and have a lovely shortbread texture.
Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear! Thank you for sharing. 🙂 And thanks for sharing your substitution success too!
hey Anna Thank you for this.. I have been looking for a recipe like this for a while.. Can I use a grain free flour other than the brown rice flour??? Cassava works well with almond flour? Or Coconut flour???
thank you so much