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Home » Baking » Cookies & Biscuits

Vegan Scottish Shortbread

Published: Jul 14, 2021 · Modified: Jun 3, 2025 by Jacq · This post may contain affiliate links ·12 Comments

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These Vegan Scottish Shortbread Biscuits are irresistibly sweet, crisp, buttery and melt-in-the-mouth. A nice wee pile of these crunchy, crumbly biscuits are a quick bake and are perfect with a nice cuppa tea.

A plate of shortbread biscuits, tea pot in background with cup of tea and sugar cubes.
Jump to:
  • 🧡 Why You’ll Love This Vegan Scottish Shortbread
  • Origin of Scottish Shortbread
  • How to prepare
  • 📖 Recipe
  • More vegan biscuit & cookie recipes
  • Comments

🧡 Why You’ll Love This Vegan Scottish Shortbread

  • ✅ Traditional recipe made vegan
  • ✅ Quick and easy can be ready in under an hour
  • ✅ Lovely for gifting or special occasions
  • ✅ Perfect for dunking in tea or pairing with desserts
  • ✅ Just like the ones in the biscuit tin from childhood!

Origin of Scottish Shortbread

Click the toggle '📜' below if you are interested in finding out about the origins of Scottish shortbread!

📜 Origin of Scottish Shortbread

Early forms of Shortbread originated in medieval times sometime around the 12 century, when bakers would repurpose leftover, dry bread by baking it again until it became incredibly crispy. This served as a frugal means to prevent waste. The earliest form of shortbread may have started as "biscuit bread," a twice-baked, hardened and dried bread that was made from leftover dough. At one point in history, a baker decided to replace yeast with butter, which led to the invention of early shortbread.

Yeast in medieval times

Although medieval Britain used yeast for baking bread the yeast was often sourced from brewing beer, a process that was also common during the middle ages. This type of yeast, known as brewer's yeast or barm, was a byproduct of the fermentation process and could be used to leaven bread. The process was less precise than it is today, as medieval bakers didn't have the understanding of yeast that we now possess however, they understood the basic principle that adding the frothy barm from beer making to their dough would result in a lighter, risen bread.

Bread, including the leavened bread, was a staple of the medieval diet in Britain and the type of bread one ate was often a sign of your social status with the wealthier folk eating manchet, a high-quality white bread, while the poor would often eat coarser, darker breads made with rye, barley, and oats.

16th Century Shortbread

Shortbread became popular during the 16th century and is often associated with Mary, Queen of Scots, who is said to have enjoyed Petticoat Tails, a thin, crisp, buttery shortbread originally flavoured with caraway seeds.

In the past,shortbread was quite expensive and considered a bit of a luxury so was not an everyday food and was only brought out on extra special occasions such as Christmas, New Years Day or Hogmanay as its called in Scotland, and celebrations including weddings.

At one time, a tradition from the Scottish Shetland Isles, considered it lucky to break an entire piece of shortbread over a newly married woman's head just as she crossed the threshold of the couples home! This shortbread would not have been a small biscuit or cookie rather a slab of shortbread!

Shortbread in old cookery books

''Mrs McLintock's Recipes for Cookery and Pastry-Work'', was published in 1736 in Scotland, and is believed to be the first cookery book that included a recipe for shortbread. It used brewers yeast or barm, but later versions replaced the barm with butter.

Mrs McLintock's original recipe:

''Take a Peck of Flour, put three lib. of Butter in among a little Water, and let it melt, pour it in amongft your Flour, put in a Mutchkin of good Barm; when it is wrough divide it in 3 Parts, roll out your Cakes longer than broad, and gathert on the Sides with your Finger, the Middle, and job it on the Top, then fend it to the Oven.''

Online Source: University of Glasgow Library.wordpress.com [Retrieved on 10th June, 2023].

Interestingly, this old recipe from the 1700s does not appear to contain sugar but old recipes were often written with the expectation that cooks would have the experience to know how to do stuff like oven temperatures, expected weights, types of flour, additional ingredients, etc.

And perhaps the inclusion of barm, the fermented yeasty by-product of beer making, was also sweet enough to add sweetness to the shortbread, as the recipe above McLintock's shortbread is for French bread which calls for a ''Mutchken of sweet barm''.

Shortbread on TV

Shortbread has made a frequent appearance in TV shows and films especially when Scotland is the setting. One example is the popular TV series "Downton Abbey", where Mrs. Patmore, the head cook, prepares various traditional British dishes. Shortbread also makes a frequent appearance in the Scottish Outlander TV series with Walkers, one of the leading brands of Scottish shortbread, even manufacturing a box of Outlander themed shortbread!

Modern shortbread

In recent years, shortbread has been enjoyed by cultures worldwide, and it can be found in almost any bakery or supermarket from classic versions to those including different ingredients such as chocolate, lavender, or rosemary.

Today in Scotland, shortbread continues to be popular especially during the festive periods of Christmas and Hogmanay, as well as Robert Burns night suppers and celebrations. Most Scottish bakeries, cafes and tearooms offer shortbread on their menu throughout the year, and shortbread is still connected to weddings as it is commonly given as a wedding favour or gift for wedding guests.

At Christmas time a nice packet of shortbread is a popular gift, and on the Scottish island where we live shortbread in every form possible from triangular petticoat tails to chunky shortbread fingers to animal shaped shortbread is available in the many gift shops with most tourists leaving with a least one package of shortbread.

Growing up in Scotland, shortbread was a staple at our family's traditional Hogmanay buffet and I would eat my fill whilst waiting until the stroke of midnight so that we could sing Auld Lang Syne as the bells rung, and the neighbours fireworks rattled around the neighbourhood! I've continued our Scottish tradition with my own children, but I've adapted the recipe to prepare vegan shortbread which is equally delicious.

A side view of a plate of shortbread biscuits on an old-fashioned linen table cloth, cup of tea to side and small tea plate with image of Highland cow and sugar cubes.

Pour a nice cuppa tea, put your feet up, and enjoy a few tasty shortbread biscuits while watching your favourite TV show, reading a good book, or having a nice gossip with friends. Its just the little things in life!

How to prepare

Vegan butter and icing sugar in mixing bowl.
Creamed sugar in mixing bowl with flour added.

Step 1: First, add the vegan margarine or vegan butter to the mixing bowl along with the icing [powdered sugar]. Cream the butter and sugar together using either an electric hand mixer or by hand with a mixing spoon.

Step 2: Next, mix through the vanilla essence and sift in the self-raising flour and cornflour [cornstarch]. Keep mixing the flours into the creamed butter and it will begin to look a bit straggly and crumbly.

Biscuit dough brought together into a biscuit dough ball, biscuit cutter to side with a rolling pin, flour dusted on white board.
Biscuit dough rolled out and biscuit cutter on top, with stamped out biscuit shape, rolling pin to side.

Step 3: Using your hands press the mixture together and bring it into a dough.

Step 4: Roll the dough out to about ¼ -½ cm thickness.

Shortbread dough in rounds on a baking tray.
Shortbread baked and on the baking tray with sugar sprinkled over.

Step 5: Stamp out shortbread rounds using a biscuit or cookie cutter. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden and firm.

Step 6: While the biscuits are still warm scatter granulated or caster sugar over the tops and leave to cool on the baking tray and the biscuits will continue to crisp up.

A brown rimmed plate with a pile of shortbread biscuits , brown and white table mats.

Serving suggestions: Enjoy the wee shortbread biscuits with a nice cuppa tea or coffee. So delicious and very difficult to stick to just one shortbread.

close up of chocolate pudding in grey expresso mug with shortbread biscuit on top and strawberry, black background and grey plate.

Dinner party dessert suggestion: It takes 5 minutes to blend up our 4 ingredient chocolate pudding which we love to top with one of our wee shortbread biscuits to scoop up the pudding. Little espresso mugs are a cute way to serve up this easy pudding which would be a fun dessert for a vegan dinner party.

***please note: for US measurements click the 'US customary button' within the recipe and the measurements will switch to tablespoons, cups, and ounces.***

📖 Recipe

Plate of shortbread biscuits on grey plate with strawberries and a mint leaf at the side.

Vegan Scottish Shortbread

Course: Dessert, pudding
Cuisine: Scottish
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes minutes
Servings: 25 -28 wee biscuits
Calories: 63kcal
Author: Jacq
These Vegan Scottish Shortbread Biscuits are irresistibly sweet, crisp, buttery and melt-in-the-mouth. A nice wee pile of these crunchy, crumbly biscuits are a quick bake and are perfect with a nice cuppa tea.
Print Recipe
US Customary - Metric

Equipment

  • electric hand whisk or a mixing spoon
  • sieve
  • Rolling pin
  • Biscuit/cookie cutter About 4 ½-5 cm diameter.
  • Baking trays lined with parchment paper

Ingredients

  • 115 grams vegan butter (room temperature, or replace with a vegan-friendly margarine suitable for baking, such as Stork baking spread)
  • 60 grams icing sugar (also known as powdered or confectioners sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or essence)
  • 160 grams self-raising flour
  • 50 grams cornflour (corn starch)

To sprinkle over the baked biscuits:

  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (or caster sugar, use more as required)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 160°C / 140°C Fan / 325°F / Gas Mark 3.
    Line the baking trays with parchment paper.
  • Add the butter to a mixing bowl and sift in the icing sugar. Either whisk the butter and sugar together by hand with a mixing spoon or use an electric hand whisk until the mixture is thick and creamy.
    115 grams vegan butter, 60 grams icing sugar
  • Next whip through the vanilla until well combined.
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Sift in the flour and cornflour.
    Mix the flours with a mixing spoon into the creamed mixture until it starts to come together. This may take a few minutes and it may look like the mixture will not come together into a dough but keep mixing.
    160 grams self-raising flour, 50 grams cornflour
  • Using your hands press the bits of straggly looking dough into a ball of dough, pressing the dough between your hands so that it melds together.
  • Sprinkle flour over the work surface.
  • Knead very gently as the dough will be rather dry and crumbly.
  • Dust the rolling pin with flour and dip the biscuit cutter into some flour. Make sure the work surface is well floured before adding the dough on to it.
  • Gently but firmly pat the dough down into a flat disc and then use a rolling pin to carefully roll out the dough to about ¼-½ cm thick.
    If cracks appear on the dough just smooth these out with your fingers.
    The dough needs to be rather dry as this is what will give the biscuits their nice crispness.
  • Using the biscuit cutter stamp out 25-28 biscuits, the exact amount will depend on how thin they are rolled out.
  • Using a thin spatula or a cutlery knife carefully lift up each shortbread and place onto the baking tray. The cookies will not spread so they only need to be a few cm's apart.
  • Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 20 minutes, or until lightly golden and firm.
  • The shortbread biscuits will continue to crisp up as they cool.
  • Sprinkle granulated or caster sugar over the biscuits as soon as they are out of the oven. A little cinnamon can be mixed through the sugar if a cinnamon sugar topping is liked.
    2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • Leave the shortbread on the tray to cool completely. These biscuits are rather nice warm as well.

Notes

  • Store shortbread biscuits in a biscuit or cookie tin or jar. Or within a covered container. If the container is plastic I recommend lining it with kitchen foil and wrapping the biscuits with the foil to prevent them going soft too soon. Shortbread will be fine in a suitable container for up to a week. 
  • Unbaked biscuit dough can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Defrost before baking. 
  • Scottish shortbread biscuits are the perfect accompaniment to our delicious smooth whipped Tofu Chocolate Pudding or our old-fashioned Chocolate Custard Pudding.
  • Instead of a sugar topping try a water icing and decorate with vegan cake sprinkles, etc.
  • Stir a little cinnamon through the sugar topping to create a nice cinnamon shortbread biscuit.
  • Or dip the shortbread biscuits into melted chocolate so that half the shortbread is chocolate or dip the surface or even the whole shortbread.

Nutrition

Calories: 63kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 27mg | Potassium: 7mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 157IU | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 1mg

More vegan biscuit & cookie recipes

Our family loves traditional biscuits and cookies so rather than buying expensive shop-bought biscuits we love discovering new family favourites and adapting those with all vegan but everyday ingredients.

We only use staple ingredients as we want our recipes to be accessible for everyone and yes also to share with those carnivores in your family. Once they taste that vegan cookies and biscuits taste the same as non-vegan they will be convinced than vegan food is ordinary and quite nice after all.

A few of our family favourite biscuit & cookie recipes are these Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Biscuits and this Chocolate Concrete Cake recipe. We also love these Old-Fashioned Walnut Cookies and these Chocolate Chip Cookies are usually being baked in our kitchen every few weeks.

For more biscuit and cookie recipes do check out our Vegan Biscuit and Cookie Recipe collection.

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  • A pile of vegan chocolate chip cookies on a vintage flower patterned plate with matching teapot in back ground.
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Comments

We would love to know how you got on with our family shortbread recipe so do drop us a comment below. All feedback is very much appreciated and it helps us to know which recipes you are currently enjoying. Thanks so much. Jacq x

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Comments

    5 from 6 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Megan Stevens says

    July 16, 2021 at 1:14 pm

    5 stars
    Oh my goodness, these with chocolate custard pudding, so special! Or, we love them for nibbles with tea. Thank you for this traditional recipe made vegan!

    Reply
    • Jacq says

      July 16, 2021 at 8:18 pm

      Thanks so much! Glad you like the shortbread biscuits 🙂

      Reply
  2. Gina says

    July 16, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    5 stars
    These are JUST like the ones I remember as a child in the cookie tins. Love that they can be made vegan without any difference in taste and texture!

    Reply
    • Jacq says

      July 16, 2021 at 8:17 pm

      Thanks! Love that these little shortbreads remind you of your childhood cookie tin 🙂

      Reply
  3. Alison says

    July 16, 2021 at 12:33 pm

    5 stars
    These look so crisp and buttery! Love that it is vegan! Can't wait to give these a try!

    Reply
    • Jacq says

      July 19, 2021 at 3:58 pm

      Awesome! Hope you enjoy 🙂

      Reply
  4. Rosemary says

    July 16, 2021 at 12:01 pm

    These cookies look divine, even for a non-vegan like me. I especially like the chocolate pudding with fresh strawberries. I'm looking forward to making these.

    Reply
    • Jacq says

      July 18, 2021 at 9:59 am

      Thanks! So glad you like the recipe. I do recommend having these shortbread biscuits with the chocolate pudding and strawberries as they all taste so good together. Hope you enjoy 🙂

      Reply
  5. Cathleen says

    July 16, 2021 at 11:27 am

    5 stars
    Shortbread cookies are my favourite, and this vegan version is perfect to serve to my vegan friends! Bookmarked for when I have them over again, thanks so much for the recipe 🙂

    Reply
    • Jacq says

      July 16, 2021 at 8:15 pm

      Your very welcome!

      Reply
    • Ally Strom says

      November 27, 2022 at 2:51 pm

      Question. I'm puzzled by your use of the ingredient you call "cornflour corn starch". Is it corn flour - or cornstarch? They're 2 different things: "Corn flour is a yellow powder made from finely ground, dried corn, while cornstarch is a fine, white powder made from the starchy part of a corn kernel."
      I have both in my kitchen but am unsure which to use.
      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Jacq says

        November 28, 2022 at 12:14 pm

        Hi! Thanks for asking as I do see where there could be confusion. In the UK we have cornflour which is the same as your cornstarch, just a different name. We also have corn meal which is ground corn, so what you would call corn flour. Hope that helps and I do appreciate you asking the question as am sure others have had the same thoughts!

        Reply
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