Scotch shortbread is a cookie I remember from my childhood. My mom used to make the dough and then press it into round pie tins to give away at holiday time. I decided to change up the recipe a bit by forming the dough into rectangular cookies and dipping the cookies in chocolate. And by making them gluten-free of course! Note: these cookies are fragile.
This is a good recipe for anyone with egg allergies, as it does not call for any eggs. If you need it to be dairy-free, try using Earth Balance as a substitute for the butter, but the texture and taste will not be as rich as with butter.
GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE DIPPED SCOTCH SHORTBREAD
INGREDIENTS:
- 1¾ cups Pamela’s All-Purpose Flour Artisan Blend
- ¼ cup sugar
- 12 TBSP butter, softened
- 3 TBSP cornstarch
- Chocolate for melting (I use Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips. For dairy allergies, use Enjoy Life morsels)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325°.
With a mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add in the sugar and beat until smooth. Add in Pamela’s All-Purpose Flour Artisan Blend and cornstarch and beat until it comes together, but it won’t come all the way together, so using hands, gather the dough into a ball. You may want to separate the ball into two balls for two cookie sheets.
Between two pieces of parchment paper placed on a cookie sheet, roll out the dough to the thickness you prefer for your cookies (they will not rise when baking). Cut rectangular shapes, or any other shape you like. A pizza cutter is a great tool for making straight cuts! Re-roll any dough that is left over from cutting your shapes until you have used it all.
Once you have cut your shapes, spread out the cookies on the parchment to bake. Prick the cookies with a fork (this is just for looks). Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until just starting to brown.
Allow cookies to cool.
Melt chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave (little by little, on 50% power, stirring each time so as not to burn). Dip the ends of the cookies, or “paint” the chocolate onto the ends of the cookies, depending on how deep and fluid the chocolate is. Set the cookies on a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper to set. If you want them to set quicker, put them on a sheet pan or plate and put in the refrigerator for a few minutes.
An alternative to dipping in chocolate is to sprinkle with sugar before baking. Sprinkle with red and green sugars for festive-looking Christmas cookies!
Yield: about 28 1 inch x 2 inch cookies
Gluten Out says
Thank you for this great recipe.