Vegan Shortbread Fingers
Vegan shortbread fingers – this easy vegan Scottish shortbread is buttery, crumbly and utterly delicious. It is simple to make too and just uses a few basic ingredients so there is no need to miss out on the classic biscuit even if you are vegan.
Servings 24 fingers
Ingredients
- 235 g (1 cup) vegan block butter (NOT the spreadable kind. I use Naturli Vegan Block)* slightly softened
- 115 g (½ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- a big pinch salt
- 250 g (2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 100 g (¾ cup + 1 Tbsp) cornflour (cornstarch)
- granulated sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Grease a 23cm / 9inch square cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
- Whisk together the vegan butter and the caster sugar with an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy, then whisk in the vanilla extract and a good pinch of salt.
- Sift together the plain flour and cornflour (cornstarch) then add them to the butter mixture. Stir with a spatula until it forms a dough, it may seem like it is too much flour but it will combine eventually. Don't knead the dough, just mix it until no dry patches remain.
- Tip the dough into the prepared tin and use your hands to pack it down as firmly and as evenly as possible. You can flour your hands if it is sticking.
- Use a sharp knife to slice the dough into fingers and prick them several times each with the tines of a fork.
- Place the tin in the fridge to chill for at least half an hour, until the dough is firm. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/325°F/gas mark 3.
- Bake the shortbread for 45 minutes to 1 hour (mine takes 1 hour). It should be pale golden and firm to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with granulated sugar. Leave the shortbread to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then use a very sharp, pointy knife to re-slice the previous cuts.
- Carefully lift the shortbread fingers out of the tin and place them on a wire rack to cool completely. Once they are completely cool, store the shortbread in an airtight container.
Notes
- 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!
- *The butter should be very slightly softened but not warm, just soft enough that if you press it with a finger it makes an indentation. You can even use it straight from the fridge if you are using an electric mixer.
- Because shortbread contains so few ingredients, swapping any of them out will likely have a big impact on the taste and texture of the resulting biscuits. I recommend making the recipe exactly as written, with no changes or substitutes.
- Make sure that you slice the shortbread into fingers when it is still warm. If you leave it to cool first it will be difficult to slice and likely to crumble.