This 5-Ingredient Vegan Shortbread is Magic
Kat Lieu’s vegan matcha shortbread cookies
dear friend,
this is the only vegan shortbread recipe you’ll ever need. It’s only 5 ingredients, and 6, 7 if you include the optional ones. See, I didn't grow up eating shortbread. Shortbread is Scottish. I grew up eating pineapple cakes, wife cakes, and sweeping crumbs off my grandmother's kitchen table in between bites of things I couldn't name in English. But when I started baking seriously, really baking, the kind where you lose track of time and forget to eat lunch, starting around 2017, I I fell hard for shortbread and how simple it is. I just love how three ingredients (butter, sugar, and flour) become something that melts on your tongue.
Then, I began experimenting, adding miso and matcha to the mix, and now I appreciate how versatile shortbread is.
Now, this vegan matcha shortbread is the recipe I make when I want to impress someone without trying too hard, like my social media friends. It is buttery and delicate with that distinctly matcha and miso flavor that balances the sweetness in a way that feels very grown up. It is also, quietly, one of the most versatile recipes in my repertoire. Simply swap the matcha for pandan, black sesame, ube, or nothing at all, and you have a completely different cookie that is equally as good.
Why This Recipe Works
Most shortbread recipes rely on the fat content of real butter for their melt-in-your-mouth texture. What I've found after years of testing is that a good quality vegan butter (I prefer Miyoko's or Earth Balance sticks) performs just as beautifully as dairy butter here. The key is not overmixing once the flour goes in. Stop the moment the dough comes together. Then, refrigerate it. Shortbread always rewards patience.
Make It Your Own
This is genuinely a base recipe you can riff on endlessly. A few of my favorite variations:
Pandan shortbread with toasted coconut. Black sesame shortbread dipped in white chocolate. Ube shortbread rolled in purple sugar. Plain shortbread with lemon zest for the purists at your table.
Want to make them gluten-free? Swap the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend and follow the notes in the recipe, as it works beautifully with just a few small adjustments. Gluten-free flour tends to be hydrophillic and love to absorb liquid, so you may find yourself needing to add a little more vegan butter or some water to the dough.
Now, these are the cookies I bring to every gathering, especially when I want to be inclusive. They are always the first to disappear and someone always asks for the recipe. Now you have it! Happy baking, friend!
xoxoxo,
Kat Lieu
The best vegan shortbread recipe
This versatile vegan shortbread is the only recipe you'll need, whether you're making matcha, pandan, black sesame, chocolate, or classic plain shortbread. Simply swap all-purpose flour for a gluten-free 1:1 flour blend, like Bob's Red Mill's, to make them gluten-free as well.
This recipe has been modified from one found in 108 Asian Cookies by Kat Lieu, on pages 46-47.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
To Make Gluten-Free: Swap the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free 1:1 flour blend.
Gluten-free flour tends to be more drying and absorbent than all-purpose flour, so your dough may feel crumblier or stiffer than expected. If the dough is too dry to come together, add a little water, about 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough comes together nicely and isn't mushy or sticky.
Gluten-free shortbread may bake slightly faster, so keep an eye on the oven.
Add-Ins and Mix-Ins: Once the dough comes together, fold in up to ½ cup of mix-ins of your choice. Finely chopped nuts such as pistachios, almonds, macadamia nuts, or walnuts add a delicate crunch without overpowering the delicate shortbread texture.
White chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, or finely chopped dried fruit like cranberries or mango work beautifully as well. Keep mix-ins small and finely chopped — large chunks make the dough difficult to roll evenly and can cause the cookies to crack when cut.
If using the knife method, slightly larger pieces are fine since you're cutting freeform shapes rather than using a cookie cutter.
A few mix-in combos that would be especially good:
- Matcha + white chocolate chips + chopped pistachios
- Pandan + toasted coconut flakes
- Black sesame + chopped almonds
- Chocolate + crushed hazelnuts
- Plain + lemon zest + poppy seeds
Red vs white miso: I just like to use red miso for everything but you're welcomed to try other miso!
