Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies
A gluten-free shortbread cookie that's so simple, super easy to make, and has a wonderfully sophisticated yet subtle flavor! Vegan and refined sugar-free.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 - 26 1½" cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
- ½ cup non-dairy butter, at room temperature OR coconut oil, softened
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp pure lemon extract
- dash of salt
- 2¼ cups gluten-free flour blend {I recommend Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend} {or make your own by combining: 1½ cups brown rice flour, ½ cup tapioca starch, ¼ cup sweet rice flour, ½ tsp guar gum} *see notes
- zest of 1 lemon
- ½ tbsp dried lavender flowers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Prepare a rolling area with two additional sheets of parchment paper for that, and have your cookie cutter(s) handy.
- Place butter in a large mixing bowl and whip it with a mixer until it's creamy. Add sweetener, vanilla and lemon extracts, and salt and mix once again to combine. Add in flour, lemon zest, and lavender, and use a wooden spoon to mix. Then get in there with your hands and mix everything together by working the dough until you can shape it into a ball {note: as depending on the flour mix you use there may be a slight variance, know that the consistency of the dough should not be sticky but should press together when pinched -- be sure to knead it really well first for some time -- if it's a little sticky, add a little more flour (try 1-2 tbsp); if it's a little dry add a little more sweetener (try 1 tbsp)}. Shape the dough into 2 balls and then flatten each into a disk.
- Roll out one of the dough balls between two sheets of parchment paper to ⅓" - ½" thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Carefully transfer to a prepared cookie sheets, spacing them ½" apart {they won't spread as they bake}. Gather up any dough scraps and repeat until all dough is used up. Repeat the process with the second dough ball.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 14-15 minutes, until the edges just begin to become golden. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. {Note: cookies will harden a little within minutes of cooling, so don't overbake}. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!
Notes
As per comments, seems like flour blends like Bob's Red Mill don't work the best for this type of recipe. The blend I used uses glutinous rice flour {aka. sweet sticky rice flour} which has a very fine consistency and gives a finer texture to the cookies. I've tested it out with Pamela's blend as well -- a brand I really like and which also uses glutinous rice flour -- and it worked well too. I haven't tried it with other brands. I recommend the two I suggested though because I know they work well.