This gluten free shortbread recipe was sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. All opinions are my own.
Traditional style gluten free shortbread made with only five ingredients: gluten free oat flour, butter, vanilla, sugar, and salt. Pure and simple, with a perfect crunch and a tantalizingly buttery aroma.
Gluten Free Shortbread
Has gluten free shortbread left you unsatisfied? I tried as many versions as I could find or buy, yet (inevitably) the shortbread looks delectable but tastes like sweetened chalk.
After a short but intense rant about this situation, I did what I always do. I made batch after batch of shortbread cookies until I hit on a gluten free recipe that satisfied me.
You might be surprised to find out that I turned to oat flour to make this shortbread. Most gluten free shortbread recipes call for blends of rice flour; that’s what gives them their bright white color. I was inspired to try oat flour because oats are a key ingredient in many Scottish recipes.
Bob’s Red Mill had sent me multiple bags of their Gluten Free Oat Flour, which was very helpful because I went through quite a lot of oat flour while tweaking my shortbread recipe.
There were a lot of tweaks.
My first batch of shortbread didn’t have any sugar topping. As I was carefully taste testing the batch by eating my way through a stack of cookies, I realized that some large sugar crystals would be the perfect touch. I retrofitted the remaining cookies with a sprinkle of large turbinado sugar crystals before I ate them.
The next time, I wised up and added a sprinkle of turbinado to the cookies just before they went into the oven.
I also discovered that every ingredient powerfully influences the flavor. When I picked up a carton of my favorite brand name butter instead of using the store brand, the cookies tasted noticeably better. So I recommend using good quality salted butter for this recipe.
If you don’t have a cookie cutter, you can use an standard shot glass to cut the cookies from the rolled out cookie dough. I did this quite a few times before I finally broke down and bought a set of real cookie cutters.
Be sure to visit Bob’s Red Mill to pick up your Gluten Free Oat Flour and plenty more gluten free products. I use them and love them.
Gluten Free Shortbread
Traditional style gluten free shortbread made with only five ingredients: gluten free oat flour, butter, vanilla, sugar, and salt. Pure and simple, with a perfect crunch and a tantalizingly buttery aroma.
Ingredients
- 2.75 ounces granulated sugar
- 5.25 ounces Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
- 4 ounces salted butter room temperature (softened)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar the kind with large crystals of sugar
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Whisk together the sugar, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
-
Add the butter to the mixing bowl and drizzle the vanilla over the butter. Mix with a fork (or "cut in") until a dough forms. Note: if the butter is a bit cold, the ingredients will not become a dough until you knead them together with your hands.
-
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/3 inch. Cut out rounds with a 1 3/4 inch cookie cutter. Note: if the dough is too soft to cut cleanly, refrigerate it for a 15 minutes or so until it firms up.
-
Place the rounds evenly and equally between the two baking sheets. Keep in mind that the cookies will spread slightly. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of each cookie round, then bake the cookies for 13 minutes.
-
Remove from oven and let cool completely. As soon as the cookies are completely cool, store them in an airtight container.
cakespy
When I went to ireland years ago they had “oatcakes” at this one cafe that were like oat shortbread cookies which I freaking LOVED. I went to that cafe every day. In looking for oatcakes, they exist on the internet, but nothing like what I tried at this one little cafe. These shortbread cookies look just like them though!! OMG thank you!
Katie Moseman
Oh, cool! I hope they turn out like the ones you had. Also I hope I get to go to Ireland someday. 🙂
Rukmini Reddy
Thank you for the sorghum pancake. It was good. i also tried making it a savory type by not using sugar and added little bit if cumin And had it with spicy Tomato chutney . i have to try the oat cookies and others.
Charlene
Ah, yes: Bob’s Red Cross- Contamination Mill. They used to be a good brand.
For those who need truly gluten-free (and soy-free, and nut-free) oat flour, look for Only Oats.
Katie Moseman
I also like GF Harvest.
Lisa
Do you think it would be okay for me to pulverize whole oats in a food processor to make oat flour? I so want to try this recipe but anything gluten free is hard to find in the store & ordering it online will take too long. TIA
Katie Moseman
I haven’t done it myself, but theoretically it’s possible. They might be slightly more “rustic” than the cookies made with fine-milled flour, but would have the same flavor.
Karens Kuisine
Hello Did you try making your own oat flour?
I used my vita mixer all the time to make oat flour.
It worked beautifully I add a bit of cinnamon
And make mine a bit crunchy/ crispy not burnt
I also use a food processor to grind my oats to a bit course side to use as bread crumbs on airfryer chicken fish etc.
PJ Leary
I too have multiple batches of GF shortbread in a pottery pan. It’s sawdust crumbly when done. Unsatisfactory. Tried the oat flour, both self processed and Bobs GF Oat Flour. Self processed oats were way too grainy despite looking like flour when pulsed.
I’m at a loss what to try next.
If you baked your recipe in an 8” pan , about 1/2 thick, how long would you bake ?
Thanks for any suggestions and your GF baking!
Katie Moseman
Probably at least 20 minutes. I’d wait until the edges got good and golden before I took them out – it may take some trial and error to figure out the right cooking time, because you never really know how they’re going to set up until they cool down. If oat flour isn’t working for you, I’ve also used gluten free sorghum flour to make these.
Amy
I followed your recipe to the letter and weighed my oat flour and sugar and butter on a scale. The “cookies” tasted good and looked beautiful after cutting and placing on the baking sheet lined with parchment. However, as they baked they all spread out and it just looked like a very flat sheet pan cake – extra extra thin! I am going to try again but use more oat flour. Maybe the butter was too soft? Any ideas?
Katie Moseman
Very strange! Especially when using weight. However, as a baker who uses gluten free flours, I’ve noticed that the same type of flour can vary wildly from brand to brand in terms of its ability to absorb moisture or fat – thus the same recipe can turn out differently. My guess would be that you’re correct – there simply wasn’t enough flour to absorb the butter as it heated up. When I get a chance, I will retry this recipe and see what happens.
Renee Langlois
I would like to try this, but I don’t have a scale. Can you tell me how many cups of oat flour and sugar? Thank you!
Katie Moseman
About 1 1/4 cups of oat flour and 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.