Short and Sweet
Literally. These are vegan shortbread cookies…light buttery crispy and sweet. I use rice flour when I make shortbread so I used a little here as well. It helps to give these cookies that traditional sandy shortbread crunch. Earth Balance instead of butter keeps them vegan and just the right amount of orange and cardomom lend a hint of citrus and floral essence. Oh and the dark chocolate…yum!!
The Process
No special equipment is needed for these cookies! Start by creaming together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Zest a whole orange over the bowl and mix it in along with cardamom and salt.
Now, the first time I made these vegan shortbread cookies (and had them field-tested by work friends) we all agreed that the orange flavor was lacking. I didn’t want to add extract, nor did I want to zest another orange. So, I made a 5 minute syrup. 🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊
Here’s what you do: Simply slice in half and squeeze the orange you zested into a small sauce pan. Stir over medium heat for about 3 minutes to reduce the liquid by 75%. I started with about 3 tablespoons and ended with almost 2 teaspoons. I added a teaspoon to the mix (I could probably have added it all) and the flavor was really quite good.
So after you’ve mixed in the syrup, add in the flours and mix until no flour is visible. You should have a nice soft dough that you can easily gather into a ball. Form about a 6 inch disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about an hour.
While your dough chills, preheat the oven to 330 F., and line two large cookie sheets with parchment. Roll your dough on a lightly floured surface to about an eighth of an inch thickness. I didn’t have a cookie cutter, so used a floured glass with about a 2 inch diameter.
I fit about 20 cookies on each sheet and baked until the edges started to brown, about 20 minutes. Make sure you check around 17 or 18 minutes because you don’t want them to get too dark.
Once you’ve cooled cookies completely on the drying rack, you’re ready to add the chocolate.
Melt the chocolate and shortening in a glass bowl over a Bain-marie (fancy for a larger dish over a pan of simmering water). You can also heat in a microwave safe dish at 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies with a spoon. You can see to the right in the pic my less attractive practice ones…
Give these orange cardamom shortbread cookies about 90 minutes or so to dry, then they are ready for company. Or you.
Vegan shortbread cookies are buttery, crisp melt in your mouth cookies delicately flavored with citrusy orange and flowery cardamom. Dark chocolate drizzle elevates these delicious teatime treats.
- 1 cup vegan butter (room tempurature) I used Earth Balance
- ½ cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 orange's zest
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp orange syrup reduced from juice of orange
- 1¾ cup plain white flour
- ¼ cup rice flour
- ¾ cup vegan dark chocolate I used Enjoy LIfe
- 1 tbsp vegetable shortening or vegan butter
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In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and confectioners sugar until smooth.
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Add zest of one medium orange.
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Squeeze juice from the orange into a small saucepan.
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Over medium heat, reduce the juice by 75%. This should take 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
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Add one tsp of the reduiced orange juice to the butter mixture and mix well.
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Mix in the cardamom and salt.
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Add flours to the butter mixture and mix to combine so no flour is visible.
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Shape dough to a 6 inch disk and cover with plastic wrap.
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Place in refrigerator for at least one hour.
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Preheat oven to 330°F.
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Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Remove refrigerated dough, unwrap and place on lighlty floured surface.
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Rollout dough to about ⅛ inch thickness.
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Cut 2" cookies with cookie cutter or juice glass.
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Place cookies about 1" apart on prepared baking sheets.
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Bake for about 20 minutes (check at 18 minutes) until edges start to turn golden brown.
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Remove to wire rack and cool completely.
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When cookies have cooled, add chocolate and shortening to glass bowl placed over simmering water.
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Stir chocolate until smooth.
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Drizzle chocolate over cookies with a spoon and allow to dry.
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Enjoy! You make also freeze cookies in sealed container for up to 3 months.
