These melt-in-the-mouth vegan lemon shortbread cookies have a brilliant lemon flavor and they need just six ingredients!
These vegan lemon shortbread cookies are to die for. They are so crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth delicious, with a sparkling, lemony flavor. If you are a cookie monster that loves devouring buttery cookies like vegan shortbread cookies or vegan sablé cookies, these vegan lemon shortbread cookies kick it up a notch!
Table of Contents
Why you will love these cookies
- Amazing buttery, lemony flavor. Lemon + butter = utter deliciousness. The lemon juice and lemon zest combine with the vegan butter to create mind-blowing yum that will have you dipping your hand into the cookie jar once too often!
- Easy recipe. What makes shortbread cookies special is that they are as easy to make as they are tasty. These vegan lemon shortbread cookies are no exception. They need just five ingredients: all purpose flour, rice flour, vegan butter, sugar, lemon and pure vanilla extract and the batter comes together in one bowl.
- Perfect for gifting and sharing. One batch makes 16 large cookies (or you can make more smaller-sized cookies), so these cookies are perfect for baking and sharing, especially over the holidays.
- Soy-free, nut-free recipe.
Ingredients
- Unbleached all-purpose flour. Shortbread cookies need a flour that’s lower in gluten. Whole wheat flour or bread flour are not good substitutes.
- Rice flour. This helps cut the gluten a bit, giving the cookies a more crumbly texture. You can also use corn starch, tapioca starch or almond flour instead.
- Granulated sugar. Use any sugar of your choice. Darker hued sugars like coconut sugar and turbinado sugar will make darker hued cookies.
- Lemon juice and zest. These add all that amazing lemony flavor that sets these cookies apart.
- Pure vanilla extract. I love adding a little vanilla to lemon-flavored desserts because its sweetness complements the tangy flavor so beautifully.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to a week, and refrigerated for up to four weeks.
- Freeze: The vegan lemon shortbread cookies can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container or freezer-safe bags for up to four months.
Top tip
Refrigerating the cookie dough is very important because it gives the butter particles time to solidify and makes the dough easier to roll out. When you place the cold cookies in the hot oven, the heat melts those pockets of butter, creating that perfect flaky, crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture.
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Vegan Lemon Shortbread Cookies
These melt-in-the-mouth vegan lemon shortbread cookies have a bright lemony flavor and they need just six ingredients!
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Servings: 16 2 ½ inch cookies
Calories: 121kcal
Ingredients
For the vegan lemon shortbread
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Instructions
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Use a hand mixer or whisk to cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy, about a minute.
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Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and pure vanilla extract to the bowl. Beat together until well-incorporated.
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Add the rice flour and all-purpose flour to the bowl and beat briefly with the electric beater.
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Gather the cookie dough into a ball, wrap tightly in cling wrap, and refrigerate. After 30 minutes remove the cookie dough from the fridge.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius.
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Dust a surface and a rolling pin with powdered sugar and roll out the refrigerated shortbread cookie dough to a thickness of ¼th of an inch.
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Use a cookie cutter to cut out square or round shapes or any shape you desire. I used a 2-inch square cookie cutter. Gather up any scraps, pat into a disc, roll, and cut out more cookies.
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Place the cookies an inch apart on a baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to color very lightly at the edges. Smaller cookies will need less time.
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Place the cookies on a wire rack so they can cool down and firm up further. After 15 minutes, use a thin spatula to transfer the cookies directly to the wire rack where they can continue cooling.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 121kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 94mg | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 0.3IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 0.5mg
