These easy to make vegan Valentine's Day shortbread cookies are melt in your mouth delicious. Topped with a lemon glaze that gives them a wonderfully tart and refreshing flavor. These vegan shortbread cookies look incredibly impressive and taste delicious. No one will ever guess they're vegan.
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The signature texture of a shortbread cookie is buttery, tender and melt in your mouth delicious. A sweet way to say I love you Valentine's Day treat.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Super Simple Ingredients. Easy to prepare with vegan butter, sugar, flour, salt and vanilla.
- Wonderful Flavor. These shortbread cookies have a lovely lemony zing from the icing glaze and a hint of berry from the dried strawberries.
- Make In Advance. This cookie dough can be made well in advance. It keeps for several days in the fridge and a month in the freezer.
Key Ingredients
- Flour - All-purpose flour is the best to use for shortbread. Do not use self rising flour, as we want the shortbread not to rise and be puffy.
- Powdered Sugar - Also known as icing sugar - powdered sugar gives the shortbread a super smooth, crumbly finish.
- Vegan Butter - we like to use Country Crock or Earth Balance non-dairy butter sticks.
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries - this garnish adds flavor and elevates the appearance of the cookies.
- Vanilla Extract - you could substitute out the vanilla extract for almond or pecan extract.
- Lemon juice - unspoken star, it adds a great zesty flavor to the icing and cookies.
Detailed ingredients, measurements, and instructions are provided at the end of this post in the printable recipe card. This recipe has not been tested with substitutions or variations not listed. If you make any changes, please share your results in the comments!
Preparation Tip
Chill before baking, the goal is to ensure the butter in the dough is cold when it goes into the oven. This will prevent the shortbread from spreading to much.
A 2 inch round cookie cutter will yielded 32 cookies. We used a 4 inch $6.00 heart shaped cookie cutter from Sur la Table that yielded 8 cookies.
Step By Step Instructions
STEP 1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, then set aside.
Let the butter soften to room temperature. Place butter in a large bowl. Beat the butter and add a ½ cup powdered sugar with a hand held blender on low for about 1 minute. Pour in vanilla and blend about 5 seconds.
STEP 2. In a separate bowl whisk together flour and salt until combined.
STEP 3. With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture. Beating for about 1 minute until dough comes together. (Pictured above)
STEP 4. Shape dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and let chill for at least 2 or up to 24 hours. This is the perfect recipe to make ahead. The dough can be stored up to three days in refrigerator.
STEP 5. Preheat oven to 350 degree.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, just until cool but pliable and able to bend slightly without cracking when pressed. If it cracks, it is still too cold. If it feels greasy or smears, it has warmed too much.
STEP 6.
Roll the dough between parchment paper, using a lightly floured surface only if the dough begins to stick. Flatten into a 1 inch thick puck, then roll to ¼ inch thickness using light pressure, rotating as you roll. If the dough resists or cracks, let it rest 3 to 5 minutes before continuing.
Cut dough out with a cookie cutter. We are using a 4 inch heart cookie cutter. Since we will be decorating this cookie we can skip the traditional process of docking (pricking the surface) the cookies.
STEP 7. Chill cut out cookies for at least 15 minutes in freezer until firm.
STEP 8. Place cookies in oven and bake for 17 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack.
Finishing Touches
You can add a drizzle of chocolate, decorate with dried flowers, dip them glaze, add sprinkles, nuts or icing.
Instructions For Lemon Glaze & Decoration
Step 1: Crush freeze dried strawberries.
STEP 2. Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl to remove any lumps. Pour 2 tablespoons lemon juice in. Stir and set aside.
STEP 3. We like to use an offset spatula to help evenly spread out icing. Spread icing over one cookie at a time.
Step 4: Immediately sprinkle tops of cookies with crushed strawberries and sprinkle. Icing will firm quickly. Let stand for about 15 minutes until glaze is set. Repeat icing and decorating each cookie until done.
Storing Instructions
Storing. These vegan shortbread cookies can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature. Enjoy within three days.
Prepare In Advance. Dough can be prepared up three days in advance.
Freeze. To freeze the shortbread dough, simply wrap it tightly in plastic wrap (cling wrap) and place it in a freezer bag or freezer safe container. The dough can be frozen for up to three months. To bake, simply thaw the dough in the fridge overnight before shaping, chilling and baking per instructions.
You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. Just be sure wrap very well. Make sure to keep in an air-tight freezer bag or container.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
📖 Recipe
Vegan Shortbread Cookies
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Print Recipe Leave A Review Pin RecipeIngredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup All-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Ingredients to cream
- ¾ cup Non-Dairy butter, softened - which equals about a stick and a half of non-dairy butter.
- ½ cup Powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Icing
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- ½ cup Freezer-Dried Strawberries - finely crushed
- 2 tablespoons Fresh lemon juice
- Water - you will need approximately another tablespoon of water to thin the frosting, add slowly until it reaches right consistency.
Instructions
Prepare the Dough
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Allow the butter to fully soften to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and powdered sugar with a hand mixer on low speed for about 1 minute, until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and mix for about 5 seconds, just to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt until evenly combined
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Beat for about 1 minute, until a soft dough forms.
Chill the Dough
- Shape the dough into a ball. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, making this a great make ahead recipe.
Roll and Cut
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F:
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, just until cool but pliable and able to bend slightly without cracking when pressed. If it cracks, it is still too cold. If it feels greasy or smears, it has warmed too much.
- Roll the dough between parchment paper, using a lightly floured surface only if the dough begins to stick. Flatten into a 1 inch thick puck, then roll to ¼ inch thickness using light pressure, rotating as you roll. If the dough resists or cracks, let it rest 3 to 5 minutes before continuing. Patience here helps maintain clean edges and ensure your cookie isn't dry, crumbly shortbread or too greasy.
- Cut out cookies using a cookie cutter. We used a 4 inch heart cookie cutter. Since these cookies will be iced, you can skip docking the dough.
Chill Before Baking
- Transfer the cut out cookies to the prepared baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes, until firm.
Bake and Cool
- Bake for 17 minutes, until the edges are set but not browned. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Lemon Glaze and Decoration
- Finely crush the freeze dried strawberries and set aside.
- In a small bowl, sift the powdered sugar to remove any lumps. Add the lemon juice and water and stir until smooth.
- Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the glaze over one cookie at a time.
- Immediately sprinkle the tops with crushed strawberries. The glaze will set quickly.
- Let the cookies stand for about 15 minutes, or until the glaze is fully set. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Notes
- 2 inch cookie cutter yields about 32 cookies.
- 4 inch heart cookie cutter yields 8 cookies.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Kddk
I had one these this week and couldn't believe how delicious they are. The cookie was slightly chewy which I like...the strawberry topping works really well with the glaze, too. This is a great intro to vegan baking. No one will know the difference when it comes to taste.