Cranberry Lemon Shortbread Cookies (Vegan)
These are delicate little cookies that taste light, buttery, citrusy, and sweet. These adorable treats are perfect if you’re looking for something that’s egg-free, dairy-free, and simple to make.
Shortbread is so lovely, light, and buttery. Nothing comes together easier than a shortbread recipe, from the minimal ingredients to the ease with which the dough comes together. This recipe is no different. These little cuties are full of dried cranberries and lemon zest and drizzled with a tart lemon glaze. This is the perfect cookie for any spring-time gathering.
What you will need:
There are two stars in this recipe: dried cranberries and lemon. Combine these with a little flour, sugar, and butter, and that is all you will need. I suggest having 2 to 3 lemons on hand, or 3 if you want extra zest to decorate the cookies with.
- all purpose flour
- cane sugar
- powdered sugar
- lemon – zest and juice
- plant based butter with salt
- dried cranberries
- glaze: powdered sugar and lemon juice
How to:
Let’s start by zesting and juicing the lemons and setting the zest and juice aside. In a medium bowl, add the cane sugar and lemon zest. Fully combine the two by rubbing them together with your fingers or mixing them together with a fork. To the sugar mixture, add the butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. With a hand mixer, blend the ingredients together on medium to medium-low speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the flour to the wet ingredients and continue blending until half the flour is absorbed. Add the cranberries and continue blending until all the flour is absorbed and the dough becomes crumbly and pebble-like. Bring the dough together with your hands, form it into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out to a 1/4-inch thickness. With your favorite cookie cutter, begin cutting out the cookies. Re-roll the dough as many times as you need, but try to handle the dough as little as possible while doing so. I used a 2.25-inch round cutter and yielded 16 cookies. Once all the cookies are cut out, place them in the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 325F. Bake the cookies for 18 to 20 minutes. Once out of the oven, let them rest on the pan for 5 to 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
While the cookies are cooling, the glaze can be prepared. In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Stir the two together until fully combined and smooth. Once the cookies have completely cooled, the glaze can be drizzled across the tops. If you have any zest left over, a little can be sprinkled over the top of each cookie for a final look.
Helpful tools/tips:
A few suggestions to help you achieve the best possible bake: 1. Use a metal cookie sheet for these cookies. There will be less browning on the edges and bottoms. 2. Use cool room-temperature butter. Don’t let the butter get too warm; this recipe responds better to butter on the cooler side. 3. In the recipe card, I tell you to let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour before cutting out the cookies. I like letting the dough rest and cool down before cutting, but you can go right into rolling out the dough and cutting out the cookies after you bring the dough together. 4. If the cookies are resting on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator while the oven is heating up, bake the cookies on a separate cookie sheet. Putting a cold cookie sheet in the oven will affect the baking.
So, let’s get started. Please make, bake and enjoy!
Cranberry Lemon Shortbread Cookies (Vegan)
Ingredients
Shortbread
- 1½ cups / 180 grams all purpose flour
- 1 stick / 113 grams plant based butter (cool room temperature)
- 4 tbsp / 50 grams cane sugar
- 2 tbsp / 15 grams powdered sugar
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp lemon zest
- 4 tbsp / 40 grams dried cranberries – cut into smaller pieces
Lemon Glaze
- 3 tbsp / 22.5 grams powdered sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- To a medium bowl add the cane sugar and lemon zest; combine them by rubbing them together with your fingers or with a fork. To the sugar mixture add the lemon juice, powdered sugar and butter. With a hand mixer, blend the ingredients for 30 seconds to a minute on low to medium low speed (just until everything is barely blended and the butter becomes creamy). Add the flour and continue blending until half the flour is absorbed, add the cranberries and continue blending until the dough becomes crumbly but will hold form. Form the dough into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper. I suggest using a metal cookie sheet (the cookies came out too brown, especially on the bottom, when I used a ceramic pan).
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out to a 1/4 inch thickness. Using your favorite cookie cutter ( I used a 2.25 inch round cutter), begin cutting out the cookies. Re-roll the dough as many times as needed; try to handle the dough as little as possible during this process. Place the cookies in the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 325F. When the oven is ready, place the cookies in the oven and bake for 18 – 20 minutes. Once out of the oven, let the cookies rest on the pan for 5 to 10 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.**If you have the cookies on a cookie sheet while resting in the refrigerator while the oven is heating up, I suggest using a different cookie sheet to bake the cookies on. Putting the cookies in the oven on a cold cookie sheet will affect the bake.**
- While the cookies are cooling the glaze can be made. In a small bowl add the powdered sugar and lemon juice; stir until well combined and smoothOnce the cookies have completely cooled they can be glazed. If you have and zest left over a little can be add to the tops of each cookie for a final look.Store the cookies in an airtight container for 3 to 5 days.
