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Nothing beats homemade Gluten Free Shortbread Biscuits. These rich and buttery gluten free shortbread cookies only need 4 ingredients and are perfect, melt-in-the-mouth cookies that even beginner bakers can master with ease!
Note On This Gluten Free Shortbread Recipe
- A Classic British biscuit: Gluten free shortbread is a British biscuit recipe you’ll LOVE. These are so easy to make without gluten and nobody would even know. The shortbread dough is quick to throw together and bakes in 15 minutes.
- Top Tip: Take these shortbread the extra mile by half-dipping them in melted chocolate. This always reminds me of the shortbread from Christmas tins which I miss eating so much. They’d make a great festive, homemade gift.
- Anything else? If you love these, try my gluten free chocolate chip shortbread or my gluten free millionaire’s shortbread next. And why not use these shortbread biscuits in my easy chocolate tiffin recipe or gluten free rocky road recipe?
- Updated for November 2025: I’ve updated this gluten free shortbread cookies recipe to include some new, step-by-step photos as well as FAQs and recipe troubleshoot sections answering your questions!
Table of Contents
- Note On This Gluten Free Shortbread Recipe
- Don’t just take my word for it…
- Ingredients and Substitutions
- How to Make Gluten Free Shortbread
- Storing and Freezing Instructions
- Recipe Troubleshooting
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Gluten Free Shortbread Biscuits Recipe Recipe
- More Gluten Free Biscuit Recipes
- More Gluten Free Cookie Recipes
Don’t just take my word for it…
Jane left ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and said: “These were very easy and very yummy.”
Linda wrote: “I love the shortbread recipe and so does all family and friends. I have to make quite a few when I bake them.“
And Dawn left ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and commented: “This is the recipe I now use for my cheesecake base. It’s delicious and so simple.”
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a printable recipe card below for this gluten free shortbread recipe with the full quantities. But here are the main ingredients and ideas for any swaps:
- Caster Sugar: In the US you’ll want to look for Baker’s Sugar for this recipe.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter. I haven’t tried this with a dairy free version but imagine it would work with a vegan margarine or hard, dairy free baking block.
- Plain Gluten Free Flour: I always use the FREEE Gluten Free Plain Flour as it’s available in most UK supermarkets. Any plain gluten free flour blend should work – in the US you’ll want an All Purpose gluten free flour.
Xanthan Gum: This helps to replicate the texture of the gluten. Omit it if you cannot tolerate it (or if your flour mix already contains it) but you may find the shortbread is a little more crumbly in texture if there is none in your flour mix.
How to Make Gluten Free Shortbread
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free biscuits are to make.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: These gluten free shortbread biscuits should be cooled completely and then kept in an airtight container for up to a week.
TO FREEZE: You can either freeze the uncooked dough (I recommend cutting the cookies out first) or freeze once baked.
Recipe Troubleshooting
This gluten free shortbread recipe is pretty failsafe, but if you do run into any problems, this is the section to help! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions to add.
Why did my gluten free shortbread spread in the oven?
I can’t stress enough how important it is to adequately chill the gluten free shortbread dough before baking.
You can even chill the shortbread dough this overnight if you like. If the dough isn’t chilled enough it will just spread in the oven.
Why is my gluten free shortbread really crumbly?
It’s important not to skip the xanthan gum in this recipe as it really helps create a pliable dough which doesn’t crumble to dust.
Crumbly shortbread could be a result of using a different flour blend to that specified in the recipe, omitting the xanthan gum, or over-baking the shortbread.
Why did my gluten free shortbread burn?
It sounds like the oven temperature was running too high, or you baked the shortbread for too long.
These are naturally a pale bake so if you wait for them to brown you will have overcooked them. You could also try an oven thermometer if you think your oven runs hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this easy gluten free shortbread recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
To make a gluten free vegan shortbread, simply use a dairy free butter replacement like Stork baking block or a hard vegan margarine. This shortbread recipe does not contain egg so with one simple switch it becomes a vegan and dairy free gluten free shortbread recipe.
Personally when testing this recipe I find the dough works much better and is easier to handle with xanthan gum. I wouldn’t recommend omitting it.
Gluten Free Shortbread Biscuits Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 50 g caster sugar
- 100 g unsalted butter, softened
- 175 g plain gluten free flour
- 0.25 tsp xanthan gum
Instructions
- Line a large baking tray with baking paper and set to one side. Add the sugar and softened butter to a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon (or electric mixer) until combined.
- Stir the gluten free flour and xanthan gum together then add to the butter and sugar mix. Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture until it starts to clump together. Once the mixture starts to form more of a dough, use your hands to bring it together into a ball.
- Roll the mixture to around 1cm thick (you may find it easier to roll between two sheets of cling film or baking paper) and cut out round shapes using a 5cm (2.5-inch) cutter. Lay the shapes on the lined baking tray, allowing around a couple of cm between them. They shouldn't spread much.
- Keep re-rolling the dough until you have cut out all of your shapes – this usually makes around 16 cookies this size.
- Once you have cut out all your shapes, place the baking sheet in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes. This step is VERY important to stop the shortbread biscuits spreading in the oven.
- When the dough has been chilling for 30 minutes, heat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas Mark 4. Pop the trays in the oven, straight from the fridge, and bake for 15 minutes until the shortbread starts to go lightly golden – you don't want them to go too dark as they are quite a pale bake.
- Remove the trays from the oven and place on a cooling rack for at least 15-20 minutes BEFORE removing the shortbread from the trays. They need to firm up before you try to move them, otherwise they will break.
Notes
- Chocolate Dipped: To make chocolate-dipped shortbread, allow the biscuits to cool then dip them in melted chocolate. Leave to set on a cooling rack.
- Storing and Freezing: Leave the shortbread to cool, then they will store in an airtight container at room temp for up to a week. You can also freeze them.
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos to show how to make this shortbread recipe if you prefer a visual guide.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* review and a little comment telling people how much you enjoyed this Gluten Free Shortbread recipe! It is a huge support to my website, so thank you xx
Nutrition
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More Gluten Free Biscuit Recipes
If you like this gluten free shortbread recipe then make sure you check out these other gluten free biscuit recipes too…
- Gluten Free Viennese Whirls
- Gluten Free Rock Cakes
- Almond Flour Chocolate Cookies
- Gingerbread and White Chocolate Cookies
- Gluten Free Biscotti
More Gluten Free Cookie Recipes
Get my cookbook!
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This is the recipe I now use for my cheesecake base. It’s delicious and so simple. I put it straight into the base of my tin, press it down firmly and cook it as a whole. I allow it to completely cool before adding my cheesecake on the top and then it goes in the fridge overnight. I can’t eat gf oats and so many shop biscuits have them in which is why I tried this recipe. I like a decent thickness to my base and when using my large tin I double the recipe. Thank you for a fantastic recipe that tastes amazing and is so versatile!
I feel this, my OH can only tolerate a very tiny amount of oats even when GF, and the only biscuits I’ve found suitable for making a into cheesecake base are both made by Schar: Spekulatius and digestives, the Spekulatius are only sold around Xmas!
I’ll have to try your method – thanks Dawn!
I love the shortbread recipe and so does all family and friends i have to make quite a few when I bake them.i am retired now so I’m sure I will be making plenty more
This was an easy and delicious recipe. I added grated lemon zest in half of them and a mix of winter spices in the other half. Also dipped all in dark chocolate and my family really enjoyed them.
I rolled the dough into a log form and put in the fridge for about an hour before cutting and baking.
I’ve also used this as a base for various sweet tarts.