I created these delicious little dairy-free, gluten-free shortbread rounds for my mum when she was diagnosed with coeliacs disease just over a year ago. At the time she was struggling to adjust to the gluten-free diet as everything she fancied had gluten in it. I wanted to reassure her that coeliacs disease didn’t mean she had to miss out.
My mum famously doesn’t have a sweet tooth, so when asked for her favourite flavours in biscuits, she opted for nuts – almonds in particular. They mellow out the sweetness of the shortbread and we think that they work really well in these delightful free-from shortbread biscuits. She loved them and we have been making them on a pretty regular basis ever since.
They are really easy to make, free-from all allergens except tree-nuts – you can edge them simply with demerara sugar or seeds if there are tree-nut allergies in your home. They look super cute, taste even better, as they melt in your mouth with vanilla goodness and have a contrasting delightful crunch of nuts round the edge.
nutty edged shortbread
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Yield:
4 batches of 18 -
Cooking Method:
baking -
Prep Time:
25 mins -
Cook Time:
14 mins
Allergens:
tree nutDietary:
dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, soy-free, vegan
These dairy-free, gluten-free shortbread rounds with a nutty edge are carefully balanced - the shortbread melts in your mouth, while the edges are crunchy with nuts.
I always bake these shortbread treats in batches so they can be enjoyed fresh from the oven. It makes sense to me, therefore, to split the dough and store the parts I'm not using in an air tight container ready to bake at a moments notice.
Ingredients:
- 4 oz sunflower spread
- 4 oz icing sugar
- 6 oz gluten-free self raising flour
- 2 oz corn flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- EDGING
- 2 Tbs golden granulated sugar
- 1 Tbs ground almonds
- 1 Tbs roast chopped hazelnuts
Method:
In a bowl beat the spread and sugar together until creamed. Now add the flours and vanilla and beat until nearly combined - it's really important not to over work this dough.
ready to roll! Place half of the mix onto a square of cling film and use the cling film to create a shortbread dough sausage. Repeat with the remaining half on a new piece of cling film and pop both sausages in the fridge for at least an hour.
When you are ready to bake them, pop the oven on to heat up to 150°C (fan). Prep a baking tray with baking paper.
In a small bowl combine the sugar and nuts for the edges. Get one of the shortbread sausages out of the fridge and undo the cling-film. Pour your nuts and sugar mix onto the cling film and spread it along the edge of the dough sausage, now roll the dough through the mix so all the edges all get coated. Once the edges are covered you can cut slices to create round biscuits (go for about 7mm a slice).
When you have the number of shortbread biscuits you want pop them on the waiting tray, and into the oven to bake for 14 minutes. (Wrap the remaining dough up and pop it back into the fridge to use another day.)
When they come out of the oven place on a cooling rack and share as soon as they are cool enough to handle.
Notes:
If you're in urgent need of a shortbread fix pop the oven on at the start of process to heat to 150°C (fan) and you can work with the dough right away - be warned the dough will be softer and therefore harder to work with than if you let it rest in the fridge as recommended above.
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