Irish Shortbread (Wheat Free Edition)
A butter-heavy shortbread made with rice flour and cornstarch instead of wheat, pressed into a pan and baked slowly to a pale gold. Without gluten the dough is fragile, so it is scored before baking and cut while warm.
- Prep20 min
- Cook45 min
- Total1 h 50 min
- Serves16
AI-generated illustration
Contains:dairyglutennuts
Ingredients
Method
- Beat the softened unsalted butter with the sifted confectioners' sugar for 3 minutes, until pale and light. Confectioners' sugar dissolves completely and gives shortbread its sandy snap; granulated sugar in the dough would leave it gritty.
- Beat in the vanilla extract, then add the white rice flour, cornstarch, almond flour, and salt and mix on low until the dough comes together in damp clumps.
- Press the dough evenly into a parchment-lined 8-inch (20 cm) square pan, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon, then chill 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Prick the chilled dough all over with a fork and score it into 16 fingers with a knife, cutting most of the way through but not to the bottom.
- Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until the surface is dry and the edges are just barely golden. Shortbread should stay pale; browning it turns the butter bitter and the texture hard.
- Sprinkle with the granulated sugar for the top the moment it comes out, then cut through the score lines while still warm. Cool completely in the pan, at least 40 minutes, before lifting the fingers out, since gluten-free shortbread is very fragile hot.
Notes
- Use finely milled rice flour. Coarse or stone-ground rice flour leaves a distinctly sandy grit in the finished cookie.
