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Monday, October 10, 2011

Vegan Shortbread

I have a bad habit. If I see any cookbook or baking book in any place, I have to flip the pages at least once. We were visiting my relatives this weekend. At my sister-in-law's place, I saw couple of baking books and immediately started sifting through pages. I saw this shortbread cookies recipe. It is not vegan in the book and I converted that as a vegan one. I liked this for the reason that I didn't have to roll the dough and cut and all that. It can be made in one bowl and the preparation time is less than 5 minutes if you have a scale. I do not remember the title of the book, but the author of the book is 'Martha Day'.
One year back -  Chocolate Rolls
Ingredients:
(Volume measures are approximate. I weighed the ingredients and then measured)
Canola Oil - 2/3 cup (Or butter 5 1/2 Oz)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (3 1/2 Oz)
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups +1 TBSP (6 1/4 Oz) (Lightly spooned and measured)
Rice Flour - 1/4 Cup + 2 TBSP (2 Oz)
Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Vanilla - 2 tsp
Raw sugar - 2 TBSP to sprinkle (optional)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a 8" round pan with parchment paper. Run the sugar in a food processor or a dry grinder to make it a powder. Mix all dry ingredients together. Pour oil in the center and mix with a strong spoon. Add vanilla and combine. You might have to use your hands toward the end of mixing to make a smooth dough. Dump it into the parchment lined pan and press evenly with the back of the spoon or hand. Poke holes with a skewer and score into 8 wedges. I used my bench scraper which works better than a knife. Sprinkle with raw sugar if using.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 - 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then Score the wedges again. Remove from the pan and separate and allow it to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Notes:
This is not a very sweet cookie at all. If you like it to be sweeter, increase the sugar to 3/4 cup. I also felt that the cookies were too thick to my liking. Next time, I might pat them in a 8" square pan to get a little thinner cookies. You could also use whole wheat pastry flour (not whole wheat flour) instead. I didn't have any.
Linking it up to Kid's delight - Vegan and egg less bakes hosted by Priya, started by Srivalli.
Enjoy.
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26 comments:

  1. hotpotcookingOctober 10, 2011 at 10:43 PM

    Wow!! i like your shortbread. looks great.
    http://hotpotblogspot.com

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  2. Priya Srinivasan - I Camp in My KitchenOctober 10, 2011 at 11:58 PM

    Very tempting!!!Bookmarking them!!!!

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  3. JessicaOctober 11, 2011 at 12:47 AM

    This sounds perfect! I can't wait to try it!

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  4. SumOctober 11, 2011 at 1:49 AM

    Looks very easy breezy! As you said, the cookies do look thick... when i try i'll use a bigger pan and make it thinner, with more pieces... Nice recipe as it doesn't involve any making balls, arranging and so on...

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  5. Priya SureshOctober 11, 2011 at 5:53 AM

    Omg, wat an elegant vegan shortbread,cant believe its vegan..

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  6. alpanaOctober 11, 2011 at 7:46 AM

    Vegan Cookies.......what a treat......Thanks for sharing.

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  7. notyet100October 11, 2011 at 10:04 AM

    Ummm feel like picking one,..

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  8. KrithisKitchenOctober 11, 2011 at 11:24 AM

    Beautifully done.. I would love to try...
    Krithi's Kitchen
    Event: Serve It - Festival Potluck

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  9. LemonOctober 11, 2011 at 1:25 PM

    The shortbread looks great. Good idea making it vegan (never have tried this, but I can confirm I am a big lover of shortbread).

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  10. Jayanthy KumaranOctober 12, 2011 at 5:11 AM

    looks so soft n delicious..
    excellent try champa..:)
    Tasty Appetite

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  11. Prathima RaoOctober 12, 2011 at 7:40 AM

    An easy & tempting shortbread!! Im trying this out this week itself :)And if using butter, it should be melted or softened..?

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  12. ChampaOctober 12, 2011 at 8:07 AM

    Prathima,
    If using butter, you need to soften it and cream it with sugar and then add the dry ingredients. In that case, you don't need to powder the sugar in the mixie/blender. I converted it as an easy recipe.

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  13. chitraj.hegdeOctober 12, 2011 at 9:23 AM

    the short bread looks amazing..just looks like bought from shop....perfect short bread,,,,thanks..

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  14. Divya YadavaOctober 12, 2011 at 11:29 AM

    These look perfect - like what you would get in England..delish!

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  15. NishaOctober 13, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    Looks Amazing.. and so easy to make.. Gonna try it soon!!

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  16. NishaOctober 17, 2011 at 4:20 AM

    Hi Champa!
    i want to make thin cookies, may be in 8" square pan as u said.. how long will it take to bake the cookies?? Any test to know when they are done..?

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  17. ChampaOctober 17, 2011 at 6:01 AM

    I would say check at 20 minutes. It starts pulling away from the sides when done. Also, they firm up to the touch too.

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  18. NishaOctober 18, 2011 at 7:26 AM

    Hey! i tried this shortbread.. i baked in 8" sq pan, but i think there were still quite thick..
    taste was great and recipe is very simple..

    a few questions..
    how was the consistency of your dough? mine was very loose.. used canola oil, infact i was little worried, so used a little less.. i assume you used oil too..
    how did you get such nice and clean flat pieces? mine were not so nice.. they rose and had uneven tops..

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  19. ChampaOctober 18, 2011 at 7:35 AM

    Nisha,
    Thanks for the feedback. Maybe a 10" round pan will do the trick. Mine was loose, but not so loose that I couldn't press it. I pressed it with the spatula and it went smooth. Did you forget to poke holes? That is crucial for this since it will rise otherwise. Holes will prevent it. And I had scored them before baking and scored them again when they were still warm. Maybe oil was less and that is why you couldn't smooth it out?

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  20. NishaOctober 18, 2011 at 8:09 AM

    I could smooth out the dough very easily.. and poked holes too..

    It was just that it rose a little (not much) and top became uneven.. Did your rise too? Yours look perfect!!

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  21. ChampaOctober 18, 2011 at 8:25 AM

    Nisha,
    Yes, mine rose too. You can see in the close up picture that it has raised. If you baked it in glass dish, you needed to lower the temp by 25 F. I hope that is not the issue.

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  22. NishaOctober 18, 2011 at 8:36 AM

    I didnt use glass dish. But i baked in a microwave oven.

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  23. AnonymousDecember 17, 2011 at 11:39 AM

    Delicious recipe! I made the shortbread using Nucoa margarine and creamed this with the sugar. I really liked the texture and flavor. I sprinkled mine with a vanilla sugar, some with a orange flavored sugar and the rest with cinnamon and sugar. Made it for my son's classroom holiday party. Kids really enjoyed and parents were surprised it didn't have butter. So glad I found this recipe. We will make this again!

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  24. @PatienceEatsOctober 28, 2012 at 4:16 PM

    Made these for a Halloween party yesterday and formed the dough into witches fingers and used almond slivers as the nails. I used 2 cups of spelt flour over the all purpose and rice. I added a wee bit of almond mild for moisture. They were very well loved!

    Cheers!

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  25. AnonymousDecember 18, 2012 at 7:57 AM

    Shortbread is pretty thick though and is cooked slowly so it gets crisp all the way through. Yours looks pretty authentic and attractive. Hope it tastes as nice as it looks!

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  26. Cozinhar sem LactoseFebruary 14, 2013 at 12:28 PM

    I've done vegan shortbread as well but with olive oil! Wonderful flavor!

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