Gf & Vegan Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
If you love shortbread you’ll LOVE these cookies! I learned about the concept of whipping the butter and sugar for a good 4-5 minutes before adding the flour really makes quite the difference in the cookies turning out so light crisp cookie to the point that they melt in your mouth with each bite!
(Check out the whipped shortbread cookies that I posted in the club too!) Similar concept although the recipe is a little bit different. Both cookies are absolutely delicious.
When you make these- you are going to think I’m crazy and must have typed the wrong dough amount. Rolling them out they look like little mini baby cookies..but them shockingly they double in size in the oven!! So trust the process..I promise they will turn out perfect as long as you use the gram measurements.
Lets talk ingredients:
Better Batter Original Blend: I opted for this flour as I have found its a dream for bread recipes and is rises so nicely! Natalie (the company owner) has since released a new artisan blend that does not have any gum in it. It uses psyllium husk instead. I bought a bag- but have not done enough testing with it to know if it will sub properly cup for cup in my bread recipes using the original blend.
I typically buy my better batter on amazon. This time of year it seems to sell out as Amazon keeps running out of stock for a day or two! But, I believe Walmart carries it in the store & I have ordered it from the Walmart website to ship to my house. I’m always nervous to order from Walmart (Never do store pickup haha. Its always a nightmare at my store anyways). But, shipping direct to my house seems to be pretty quick and dependable.
Butter
You can make these cookies with regular salted butter If dairy isn’t a concern for you. IF you are making them dairy free like I did please use Earth Balance Butter Sticks. You may try other brands but know that there is a lot of variety brand to brand and they don’t all perform the same. Earth balance is the best when it comes to mimicking how real butter works.
Can you use another gluten free flour blend?
I know this much - no gluten free all purpose blend is the same or performs the same. There’s big differences between better batter and King Arthur (which have become my go to’s). So if you make changes the cookies will turn out quite different. Cookies are especially finicky and the smallest changes can make them spread too much or not enough. But by all means feel free to experiment and please let us know how it goes in the comments.
I find its best to not chill this cookie dough- it dries it out to the point that it becomes pretty crumbly and hard to work with. Plan to make these cookies right away after you mix up the dough. As you go if you find the dough is crumbling too much or they are breaking and cracking when you add the little thumbprint - get a small bowl of water and dip your fingers in before rolling out every ball. This will add just enough moisture to smooth out the doughs surface and make it much easier to work with (plus the cookies will turn out flawless.)
Along the way you will end up with some cracks in the dough when you press the thumbprint in. Simply press the dough back together and you’ll be golden.
Better Batter so kindly offered me a 35% off promo code to share with all of you! This can be used as often as you would like for every single purchase made directly on BetterBatter.com Use the code: BakingAngell35
Gluten Free & Vegan Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Salted Butter or Vegan Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
- 2/3 Cup + 3 Tbsp (174 grams) Organic Cane Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 Tsp Almond Extract (or more vanilla)
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 2 1/2 Cups + 1 Tbsp ( 436 grams) Better Batter Original Blend.
- 1/2 Cup or so Jam of choice for filling.
- 1/2 Cup + 1 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
- 2.5 Tsp Water * a portion of this can be an extract if you wish. Almond or Vanilla.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment.
- Add to the bowl of your stand mixer the butter & and sugar. Beat them on high using the whisk attachment for 4-5 minutes.
- Add in the remaining ingredients: Vanilla, Almond, Flour & salt. Mix until a smooth dough forms.
- Using a tbsp scoop heaping tbsp sized balls (for reference mine are about 1 tbsp + 1 tsp each).
- Divide the scooped dough between two trays. You'll end up with around 16 Cookies per tray. Evenly space them out as they do spread quite a bit. Roll each one into a perfectly smooth ball. (Putting your hands in water now and again if you need to add moisture to create a smooth surface.) Using a pointer finger (thumbs are too big!) carefully press a hole into the center of each. Mending any broken edges by pressing them back together.
- Spoon jam of choice into each cookie (or place jam into a piping bag or baggie in place of a piping bag.) You'll need about 1/4-1/2 tsp of jam per cookie.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time 12-14 minutes until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool fully then make the glaze whisking together the powdered sugar and water. Drizzle on each cookie. Allow to set then store at room temperature, the fridge or freezer in a sealed container.
Notes
If your dough gets too dry and you struggle to form a smooth ball or it cracks a lot when you press the little hole in- you can combat this by getting your hands a little bit wet. Rework the dough adding the smallest amount of water and the dough will be good as new!
No chiling of the dough is needed! It will actually dry the dough out and make it harder to work with.
Gluten Free & Vegan Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Salted Butter or Vegan Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
- 2/3 Cup + 3 Tbsp (174 grams) Organic Cane Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 Tsp Almond Extract (or more vanilla)
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 2 1/2 Cups + 1 Tbsp ( 436 grams) Better Batter Original Blend.
- 1/2 Cup or so Jam of choice for filling.
- 1/2 Cup + 1 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
- 2.5 Tsp Water * a portion of this can be an extract if you wish. Almond or Vanilla.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment.
- Add to the bowl of your stand mixer the butter & and sugar. Beat them on high using the whisk attachment for 4-5 minutes.
- Add in the remaining ingredients: Vanilla, Almond, Flour & salt. Mix until a smooth dough forms.
- Using a tbsp scoop heaping tbsp sized balls (for reference mine are about 1 tbsp + 1 tsp each).
- Divide the scooped dough between two trays. You'll end up with around 16 Cookies per tray. Evenly space them out as they do spread quite a bit. Roll each one into a perfectly smooth ball. (Putting your hands in water now and again if you need to add moisture to create a smooth surface.) Using a pointer finger (thumbs are too big!) carefully press a hole into the center of each. Mending any broken edges by pressing them back together.
- Spoon jam of choice into each cookie (or place jam into a piping bag or baggie in place of a piping bag.) You'll need about 1/4-1/2 tsp of jam per cookie.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time 12-14 minutes until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool fully then make the glaze whisking together the powdered sugar and water. Drizzle on each cookie. Allow to set then store at room temperature, the fridge or freezer in a sealed container.
Notes
If your dough gets too dry and you struggle to form a smooth ball or it cracks a lot when you press the little hole in- you can combat this by getting your hands a little bit wet. Rework the dough adding the smallest amount of water and the dough will be good as new!
No chiling of the dough is needed! It will actually dry the dough out and make it harder to work with.