This vegan chocolate shortbread is a delicious, easy-to-make dessert perfect for any occasion. It is made with only 4 ingredients and is ready in just 20 minutes!
This shortbread is also very versatile. You can use it to make cookies, bars, or even a pie crust. It is a great base for other desserts, such as a vegan chocolate cake or a vegan chocolate pudding.
If you are looking for a delicious and easy-to-make vegan dessert, then you should definitely try this vegan chocolate shortbread!
What’s Vegan Chocolate Shortbread?
A vegan chocolate shortbread is a type of shortbread like my classic Vegan Shortbread Cookies that is made without dairy products.
While a typical shortbread is made with vegan butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and flour, this recipe uses healthier alternatives.
Vegan chocolate shortbread is a delicious and easy-to-make dessert that can be enjoyed by people of all dietary restrictions. You might also want to try my Coconut Flour Shortbread Cookies or Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies.
Here, I share with you how to make delicious gluten-free, vegan chocolate shortbread, meaning they are egg-free and dairy-free.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need to make delicious chocolate cut-out cookies are 4 wholesome ingredients:
- Almond Flour – use fine unblanched almond flour for best results. Almond meal is coarser and gives a gritty texture to cookies.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – This doesn’t bring any sugar, unlike most chocolate chips.
- Maple Syrup or brown rice syrup to decrease fructose and glycemic index. Other liquid sweeteners that can be used are agave syrup or coconut nectar.
- Melted Coconut Oil – if you don’t like the coconut flavor of coconut oil, use refined coconut oil. It has no coconut taste.
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Shortbread
Who doesn’t love a chocolate shortbread cookie? Shortbread cookies are crumbly cookies usually made of butter and eggs. This is an easy vegan chocolate shortbread recipe. There is no special tool needed to make this recipe. It’s a simple 1-bowl cookie recipe. However, there are a few tricks to make these cookies beautiful every time!
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together almond flour and unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the melted coconut oil and maple syrup.
- Combine the ingredients with a spatula until a consistent chocolate cookie batter forms. The batter should hold together well, shape into a cookie dough ball, and have a shiny, slightly oily appearance.
- Place the cookie dough ball back into the mixing bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and place it between two pieces of parchment paper.
- Press the top parchment paper layer with your palm to adhere to the dough and flatten it into a thick disc.
- Roll out the dough to your preferred shortbread thickness, aiming for approximately 5 mm (0.2 inches) for the best texture. Thinner dough will result in crispier cookies.
- Peel off the top parchment paper sheet, cut out the dough with a cookie cutter, and use a flat tool to lift each cookie off the paper, transferring them to the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake the cookies at 350 °F (180 °C) for 10 minutes. The cookies should be soft when taken out of the oven. Allow them to cool for 4 minutes on the cookie sheet before gently transferring each cookie to a cooling rack, using the same flat tool technique.
- Cool for an additional 10 minutes or until the cookies reach room temperature before decorating.
- In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips with coconut oil, stirring constantly. Use a teaspoon to drizzle chocolate on top of each cookie. Optionally, add a pinch of sea salt or rainbow sprinkles on top.
- Freeze the decorated cookies for 3 minutes to quickly set the chocolate shell.
Expert Tips for Perfect Cookies
Here are some additional tips for making a great vegan chocolate shortbread every time:
- Use high-quality chocolate. The quality of the chocolate you use will make a big difference in the taste of your shortbread.
- Make sure the oil is not hot. This will help it to cream together with the maple syrup more easily.
- Don’t overmix the dough. Overmixing will make the shortbread tough and not pleasant to eat.
- Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes – this will firm up the dough, making it easier to roll.
- Roll between pieces of parchment paper – this is a gluten-free shortbread cookie recipe. Therefore the cookie dough is much stickier than regular shortbread recipes made of wheat flour. That’s why you need to roll out the dough between pieces of parchment paper or 2 silicone mats.
- Grease the borders of the cookie cutter – this prevents the dough from sticking to the cookie cutter. This tip is actually great for any cut-out cookie recipe!
- Use a flat tool to transfer cookies to a baking sheet. Slide a flat spatula or a knife under the cut-out cookies to gently transfer them to the baking sheet. This is the best way to avoid breaking them.
Decorating Shortbread Chocolate Cookies
These gluten-free chocolate cookies are delicious on their own but even better decorated. The best cookie decorations are:
- Melted vegan dark chocolate – combine 1 cup of vegan chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil, melt and spread on top!
- Sprinkles – most sprinkles are vegan and gluten-free.
- Freeze-dried raspberries
- Royal icing – combine 1 cup of icing sugar with 2 – 3 tablespoons of almond milk.
Storage Instructions
You can store your chocolate shortbread cookies for up to one week at room temperature in a sealed cookie jar. If you live in a hot climate, store them in the fridge to prevent the chocolate decoration from melting.
You can freeze the cookies in silicone bags and defrost them the day before on a plate.
More Vegan Shortbread Cookie Recipes
If you love easy vegan shortbread cookie recipes, I recommend you try our 3-ingredient shortbread recipes below:
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Vegan Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Almond Flour - fine, blanched, packed
- 3 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 3 tablespoons Coconut Oil - melted
- 3 tablespoons Maple Syrup
Optional decoration
- 1 cup Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil
- ¼ cup Vegan Sprinkles
- 1 pinch Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk together almond flour and unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Make a well in the center and pour in melted coconut oil and maple syrup.
- Combine with a spatula until it forms a consistent chocolate cookie batter. The batter should hold together well, form a cookie dough ball, and be shiny and slightly oily.
- Place the cookie dough ball into the mixing bowl and refrigerate 20 minutes.
- Remove from the fridge and place the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper.
- Press the top layer of parchment paper with your palm to stick to the dough and flatten the dough like a thick disc.
- Start rolling dough until it reaches your favorite shortbread thickness. I recommend a 5 mm (0.2 inches) thickness for the best texture. The thinner you get, the crispier they will be.
- Peel off the top parchment paper sheet, cut out the dough with a cookie cutter, then slide a flat tool under each cookie to lift them off the paper and transfer them to the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 °F (180 °C) for 10 minutes. The cookies should be soft when out of the oven. Cool 4 minutes on the cookie sheet then gently transfer each cookie to a cooling rack. Use the same technique as before, sliding a flat tool (spatula/knife) under each cookie to gently transfer from cookie sheet to cooling rack.
- Cool for 10 more minutes or until it reaches room temperature before decorating.
Melted chocolate
- In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips with coconut oil, stirring constantly.
- Use a teaspoon to drizzle chocolate on top of each cookie.
- Add a pinch of sea salt or rainbow sprinkles on top if desired.
- Freeze the decorated cookies 3 minutes to quickly set the chocolate shell.
Storage
- Store the cookies for up to 1 week at room temperature in a cookie jar. If it is hot where you live, store them in the fridge to prevent the chocolate decoration from melting.
- You can freeze the cookies in silicone bags and defrost them the day before on a plate.
hello! Thanks for the recipe but what are the quantities? how much flour? how much chocolate? I didn’t see the quantities anywhere 🙁
Have a look in the recipe card! You can get there by clicking the “jump to recipe” button, by using the Table of Content, or in the substitution section, by using the other button to jump to the recipe.
Hi what would be a substitute for coconut oil?
I haven’t found a good substitute yet, you can try other vegetable oils, but if the issue you have is the taste, try a low-flavor refine coconut oil!
What would be a good substitute for the almond flour?
Other great gluten-free flour swaps are sesame flour or sunflower see flour.
This looks like a wonderful recipe, just wondering if it has been tried putting it in a 9×13 pan and patting it thin and baking instead of rolling and cutting out. Thanks,
These are AMAZING. I can’t stop eating them. I’ve made my fair share of gluten free/dairy free and these take the cake, or the cookie! Really love how simple and delicious these are! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you ! I am so glad you love it
Does it matter if the almond flour is fine vs superfine? I can only find superfine at my local grocers. Thank you! Can’t wait to try this!
The thinner the better! so your flour should be perfect, enjoy!
Any thoughts on using date paste or syrup instead of maple syrup?
You really need the moisture from the syrup in this recipe or they will be very dry I am sorry. Any liquid sweetener can work like agave syrup, rice syrup or date syrup too. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
Hi,can we try using for this recipe coconut flour instead of almond??
Unfortunalety not because coconut flour has 4 times more fiber than almond flour, it is highly water absorbent and you will need way less to achieve a similar texture. It may also come out very crumbly without adjusting liquid. It is a new recipe to create. Otherwise, try my 3 ingredients coconut flour shortbread cookie recipe! Enjoy and take care, XOXO Carine.
Hi, would it be possible to switch maple syrup for Lakanto monkfruit-sweetened maple syrup to make these cookies keto? Thanks!
I didn’t try that option, the recipe might be crumbly and dry using sugar free sweetener tho. Enjoy, XOXO Carine.
Hi would you reccomend blanched or unblanched almond flour?
Just checking as your recipe has blanched, but you talk about it being better to use unblanched.
Thanks
Both work the same, unblanched is more nourishing as the almond skin stay in the mix. Enjoy, XOXO Carine