Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies

These gluten free shortbread cookies are subtly sweet and buttery with a melt-in-your-mouth texture! They're easy to make and customizable too.

I've always had a special place in my heart for shortbread. It's subtly sweet flavor and buttery texture puts other cookies to shame.

If you've tried any of my gluten-free recipes, you know I take gluten-free baking very seriously. Cookies should taste amazing, period.

And these gluten-free shortbread cookies taste delicious! It took some solid self control to just eat one. I wanted to eat the whole batch. And I hope you do too!

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter - Shortbread cookies contain a high ratio of butter to flour. This is what gives them they're buttery and slightly crumbly texture.
• Sugar - Just enough to sweeten them a little bit, but not as much as a sugar cookie.
• Kosher salt - A little bit of salt enhances flavor!
• Gluten-free all-purpose flour - My brand of choice is Bob's Red Mill's 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. It's what I use for all my gluten-free cookie recipes! I highly recommend you use it for this recipe too. Not only because it tastes great, but because all gluten-free flour blends behave differently in recipes.

Instructions

This gluten free shortbread recipe is very easy!

• Cream the butter and sugar: It should get lighter in color and increase in volume. I creamed mine for three minutes.

• Add the remaining ingredients: Add the vanilla, salt, and flour to the butter. Traditional shortbread recipes don't contain eggs!
• Beat again: Beat until the flour combines with the butter into clumps. Don't keep beating until it forms into a ball or the cookies will be tough.

• Form a disc and chill: Use clean hands to form the clumps into a round disc. Chilling the dough first prevents the shortbread from spreading too much in the oven.

• Roll and cut: Roll the dough out ½ inch thick, a little bit thicker than you would for a sugar cookie. Cut the dough into circles.
• Bake: The cookies should rise in the oven but not darken much. If you like a crispier cookie, you can bake them longer than 15 minutes.

Tips

• Don't overwork the dough. If you work the dough too much, the cookies will be tough instead of tender.
• You don't have to roll out the dough. If you don't want to cut the cookies into shapes, you can skip rolling it out. Just form the dough into a log instead of a disc before you chill it. Cut the log into slices and bake!
• Don't just pick up any random gluten-free flour blend. This is super important! If you're new to gluten-free living, not all gluten-free flour blends taste good. Some are downright terrible! My favorite is Bob's Red Mill's 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in the blue bag. You can find it at Walmart, Target, Lowe's foods, and on Amazon.
• Don't move the cookies while they're hot! Let them set up for 10 minutes first so they don't fall apart.

Storage

Let the cookies cool completely before you store them. For a longer shelf life, you can freeze them. I do this all the time! Then I can enjoy a cookie anytime the craving strikes.

• Store cookies in a zip-top bag or airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature.
• Freeze cookies in a zip-top bag or airtight container for up to 3 months. After that, you risk freezer burn. I like to label mine with the date so I know how long they've been in there.

Variations

• Dip 'em! When dipping cookies, I like to use Ghirardelli melting wafers. They melt nicely and you don't have to worry about tempering. That said, they are not labeled gluten-free. If this concerns you, stick to a brand that's labeled gluten-free.
• Mix-ins: Shortbread taste great with mix-ins! Try chopped pecans, chocolate, pistachios, walnuts, dried cranberries, orange zest, etc.

Gluten Free Cookie Recipes

• 21 Irresistible Gluten Free Cookies
• Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Gluten Free Funfetti Sugar Cookies
• Gluten Free M&M Cookies