Life’s been busy with work, school holidays, school restarting, relations visiting from overseas, renovations, more renovations, a couple of art and craft projects and everything else that gets in the way of writing my blog! I have however been taking heaps of photos of edible goodies cooked by myself and others. Here’s a quick vegan shortbread recipe with pistachios and cranberries that is great to take to a potluck, or a share a plate party.
This is the first time I’ve used Bio butter which is coconut based but the finished product did not taste coconut flavoured in the least. Usually I use Nuttelex which does have a slightly distinct taste in baked goods. (THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST). Another variation that I think would work well is Almonds with raisins.
For a nut free version substitute the pistachio for roasted sunflower seeds or pepitas.
The dough keeps well in the fridge while tightly wrapped in cling film and I have frozen the dough in the past as it freezes well too as the water content is quite low. If using directly from the freezer remember to store in the shape of logs and increase baking time by 5 – 7 minutes as needed. The shortbread is quite rich and 1 large-ish piece is good to eat with some iced coffee on a hot summer afternoon that February brings quite often.
Vegan Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread
Contains gluten and nuts.
The Cranberry & Pistachio combination does look very festive and makes great packed gifts.
- 2 cups Unbleached Self Raising Flour
- 3/4 cup Icing Sugar
- 1 cup Vegan Spread (I used Bio Butter which is coconut based)
- 2 tablespoons Dried Cranberries, chopped
- 1.5 tablespoons Shelled Pistachio, sliced into slivers
- 1.5 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
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Whisk the Bio butter/ vegan spread, vanilla extract and icing sugar until fluffy in a deep mixing bowl.
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Stir the cranberries & pistachio pieces through the flour.
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Fold the fruit & flour mixture into the mixing bowl gently. Knead until a soft dough forms.
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Roll into logs and refrigerate the dough if not using immediately (I didn’t, I only baked them the next morning).
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Preheat oven to 180° Celsius and cover a flat tray with baking paper.
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Either cut off 2″ thick rounds for round shortbread or, flatten and cut into diamond shapes as I did on the baking tray. (Use any cookie cutter as desired really!)
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Bake at 180° Celsius for 18 to 20 minutes on the fan forced setting.
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Cool the shortbread properly and store in an airtight jar until ready to serve or, gift 😊
These look and sound yummy, I will give them a try with gluten-free flour this weekend. Thanks for sharing, good to see you back, you send extremely busy 😊
I’d love to know how gluten free flour works in the recipe Chris. X
Will let you know how I get on 😊
Made some today, see Instagram, I used sifted cornflour (which is yellow), coconut palm sugar that I ground to make it fine (half the original amount, I don’t have a sweet tooth and they were still sweet enough for my husband who does) and finely chopped almonds instead of pistachios which I didn’t have. I decorated half of them with melted raw chocolate. My husband and neighbour both gave the shortbread the thumbs up 👍🏻 👍🏻😊 Thanks for the inspiration.
Sounds delicious 😋
This sounds wonderful in every way!
Thank you 😊