Ginger shortbread cookies - these easy vegan slice-and-bake shortbread biscuits with crystallised ginger and chocolate are simple to make but so delicious and sophisticated.
They are the perfect biscuit to have with a cup of tea or coffee and would make a great addition to a festive cookie tin.
Shortbread has to be the ultimate type of biscuit. It is rich, buttery, crumbly, moreish and very versatile; it lends itself very well to all sorts of flavour variations.
Here I have added chopped candied ginger to a basic shortbread dough, giving the cookies a nice warming kick.
Drizzling them with melted dark chocolate makes them all the more delicious, and they look fancy too!
Ingredient Details:
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.
Cornstarch: The addition of some cornflour (cornstarch) gives the shortbread a much nicer, melt-in-the-mouth texture. You can swap it for an equal weight of plain (all-purpose) flour if you don't have any.
Vanilla: Use a good quality vanilla extract for the best flavour. If you have it then vanilla bean paste would be amazing instead.
Crystallised (candied) ginger: This is the kind of candied ginger that is dry and coated in sugar, NOT the kind that comes in syrup (stem ginger).
Chocolate: Optional, but obviously chocolate and ginger are a match made in heaven and it makes the biscuits look pretty. Make sure the one you use is vegan friendly.
How To make Ginger Shortbread Cookies:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
Step 1: Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.
Step 2: Sift over the flour and cornflour and mix it all together until it is smooth, but hasn't yet formed a ball of dough.
Step 3: Stir in the crystallised ginger until it is evenly distributed, then bring the dough together into a ball.
Step 4: Shape the dough into a log about 5 cm (2 in) thick - use your hands and roll it on a lightly floured surface to get it as even as possible.
Step 5: Wrap the log in baking parchment and refrigerate for about an hour.
Step 6: Use a very sharp knife to slice the log into approx 8mm thick slices. Place them spaced apart on a couple of lined baking sheets.
Step 7: Bake for 20 minutes until golden.
Top Tips:
USE SCALES. As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scales 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.
For extra ginger flavour you can add 2 teaspoons of ground ginger to the dry ingredients.
If you want shiny chocolate then you will need to temper it. I don't bother because it's a faff and is difficult to do with small quantities of chocolate. (And I hate doing it!).
FAQ's:
These ginger shortbread cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for at least a couple of weeks.
The wrapped dough will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let it sit out at room temperature for about half an hour or so before slicing it if it gets too firm.
The unbaked cookies can be frozen. Cut out the cookies 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 Shortbread Cookies:
- Vegan shortbread fingers
- Pumpkin spice shortbread
- Vegan cranberry orange shortbread
- Vegan chocolate orange shortbread
- Vegan pecan snowball cookies
- Spiced oat biscuits
- Vegan hazelnut shortbread
- Vegan vanillekipferl
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Ginger Shortbread Cookies (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 125 g (½ cup) vegan block butter slightly softened
- 60 g (¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon) caster or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 125 g (1 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 60 g (½ cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 75 g (2 ½ oz) crystallised (candied) ginger finely chopped
- 75 g (2 ½ oz) dark chocolate finely chopped
Instructions
- Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.
- Sift over the flour and cornflour and mix it all together until it is smooth, but hasn't yet formed a ball of dough.
- Stir in the crystallised ginger until it is evenly distributed, then bring the dough together into a ball.
- Shape the dough into a log about 5 cm (2 in) thick - use your hands and roll it on a lightly floured surface to get it as even as possible.
- 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 a baking sheet with baking parchment.
- Use a very sharp knife to slice the log into approx 8mm thick slices. Place them spaced apart on the baking sheet.
- 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.
- Melt the chocolate, either in short bursts in the microwave or in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.
- Drizzle the chocolate over the cooled biscuits and allow to set before storing in an airtight container.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details, make ahead instructions and step-by-step photos.
- USE SCALES. As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scales 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!
Tara
Hi, could I use non vegan butter for this recipe?
Liz
I made these the other day and they're lovely. They're perfect with a cuppa.
Thank you for another great recipe.