Pumpkin spice shortbread - these delicious spiced vegan shortbread cookies are so easy to make with just 4 ingredients. They have a crisp, crumbly texture and a buttery, lightly spiced flavour.
You can use this recipe to make slice and bake biscuits, or roll it out and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
These vegan pumpkin spice shortbread cookies are very, very more-ish and insanely easy to make!
They have a tender, crisp, crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture and a buttery, warming spiced flavour.
You only need a handful of basic ingredients to make these biscuits, they are made using a basic shortbread 1-2-3 ratio recipe with added spice. They are perfect for Autumn/Winter with a cup of tea or a mug of mulled wine!
What Do I Need To Make Pumpkin Spice Shortbread?:
Pumpkin spice blend: I use a shop bought pumpkin spice blend. In the UK it is readily available online or you can use a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. You can use mixed spice instead, though the flavour will be different.
Vegan butter: It is very important that you use a BLOCK butter/margarine, not the spreadable kind in a tub as that won't give you the best texture; you may end up with chewy shortbread.
Because shortbread are such a simple biscuit, most of the flavour comes from the butter so you should also use one that you like the taste of. I swear by Naturli Vegan Block, but Flora Plant block or Stork block will also work.
Caster sugar: You can use granulated sugar instead if you don't have caster.
Don't use brown sugar, coconut sugar, sweeteners or liquid sugars as that will affect the texture of the cookies.
Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour is best here. I haven't tried making these gluten-free.
How To make Pumpkin Spice Shortbread:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
Mix together the flour, pumpkin spice and sugar in a large bowl.
Add the cold, diced butter and rub it in using your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs and no lumps of butter remain.
Use your hands to bring the dough together into a ball.
Form the dough into a log about 5-7cm thick - use your hands and roll it on a surface to get it as even as possible.
Wrap the log in baking parchment and refrigerate for 1-2 hours until firm.
Use a very sharp knife to slice the log into approx 5mm thick slices.
Place the cookie slices slightly spaced apart on a couple of parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.
Top Tips:
All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
Do not overwork the dough as that will develop the gluten in the flour resulting in chewy biscuits. Just mix it until it is fully combined then use your hands to bring it together.
These cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for at least a week.
If you want, you can make the dough in a food processor rather than rubbing the butter in by hand.
Can I Make Cut Out Cookies With This Recipe?:
If you want to make cut out cookies rather than slice-and-bake ones you can wrap the dough and chill for about 30 minutes (don't bother forming it into a log), then roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
Place the cookies spaced apart on a couple of parchment lined baking sheets and pop them in the freezer for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven. This helps to stop them from spreading as they bake.
The baking time may vary slightly depending on the size and shape of your cut outs. They are done when they are lightly browned around the edges and on the underside.
Can I Make The Dough In Advance?:
The log of dough will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let it sit out at room temperature for about half an hour before slicing it if it gets too firm.
Alternatively, cut the log into slices and freeze them in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-proof container. The cookies can be baked straight from the freezer, no need to defrost them first.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes:
- Vegan gingerbread biscotti
- Vegan cranberry orange shortbread
- Vegan pecan snowball cookies
- Vegan shortbread fingers
- Vegan chocolate orange shortbread
- Vegan linzer cookies
- Vegan vanilla sugar cookies
- Vegan lemon sandwich cookies
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
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Pumpkin Spice Shortbread (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- 100 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 200 g (7 oz) vegan block butter (I use Naturli Vegan Block) cold and diced
Instructions
- Mix together the flour, pumpkin spice and sugar in a large bowl.
- Add the cold, diced butter and rub it in using your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs and no lumps of butter remain.
- Use your hands to bring the dough together into a ball. Don't knead it, just handle it enough so that it forms a smooth dough.
- Form the dough into a log about 5-7cm thick - use your hands and roll it on a surface to get it as even as possible. If needed you can dust the surface with a little flour.
- Wrap the log in a piece of baking parchment, twisting the ends tightly to form a cracker shape. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours until firm.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4 and line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
- Use a very sharp knife to slice the log into approx 5mm thick slices. (If the dough has become too firm to slice, let it sit out at room temperature for about half an hour before slicing it).
- Place the cookie slices slightly spaced apart on the baking sheets and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned around the edges and on the underside.
- Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cold store in an airtight container.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos as well as instructions on how to make cut out cookies rather than slice and bake ones.
- All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
Vicky
Made these last night and they worked a treat! Really crumbly and "buttery". I used Flora Plant Butter.
Instead of rolling into a log and slicing I pressed into the base of a round cake tin lined with parchment (made half the recipe quantity and a 20cm tin) to make more of a Scottish style shortbread round. Pricked with a fork before baking and it came out lovely.