These delicious Cranberry Almond Vegan Shortbread Cookies are the perfect balance of buttery, crumbly and sweet. Can be Top 8 Allergen Free.
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Vegan shortbread cookies are like a little sister (or big sister depending on which you like more) to sugar cookies.
It’s the same concept really with just a few slight differences in the ingredients.
For these cranberry almond vegan shortbread cookies, we’ve decided to add in some mix-ins for a delicious spin on a traditional shortbread.
However, they are optional and can even be swapped out for other flavors like dried blueberries or pecans for instance.
You can make these in a variety of different shapes just like sugar cookies also.
These make a great vegan dessert cookie after a meal with tea or coffee so if you have a more intimate holiday dinner planned, these would be great on the table after the meal is served.
What ingredients do you need for cranberry almond vegan shortbread cookies?
One of the great things about this vegan shortbread cookie recipe is that you don’t need many ingredients. In fact you only need 8! The ingredients that you need are:
- Sugar
- Vegan butter (soften or at room temp)
- Salt
- Flour
- Dried cranberries, chopped
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract (optional)
- Almonds, chopped (optional)
In the photos, we’ve also drizzle our homemade vegan royal icing across the top.
How do you make a cranberry almond vegan shortbread cookie recipe?
In a large bowl, add your vegan butter, sugar and salt. Beat to combine. Add in both extracts and beat again.
Then, add flour and mix in with a spatula until incorporated. Add in the chopped almonds and cranberries and combine with a spatula or work in with your hands.
Form a large ball. Lay a piece of parchment paper down and sprinkle a bit of flour and place dough on top. Sprinkle a little more flour on top and then place another piece of parchment paper on top.
Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to ¼ inch thick and then place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Five minutes before time is up, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove from fridge and cut out cookies.
Combine all the scraps and repeat the process.
Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan. Bake for 8 more. Remove and carefully place on a cooling rack.
Let cool before decorating.
Can you prep this dairy free shortbread cookie recipe ahead of time?
Yes! These dairy free shortbread cookies will last in an air tight container for at least a week if stored properly.
Can these vegan shortbread cookies be Top 8 Allergen Friendly?
Obviously, they have almond in the name, so initially you may think no, but that’s not the case. They can be Top 8 Allergen Friendly.
Omit the almonds and almond extract completely. Double the amount of vanilla extract.
Use a soy free vegan butter. We love Earth Balance soy free for this. It comes in a red tub.
For the flour, you can use Measure for Measure Gluten Free flour in this cookie recipe.
What are other vegan cookie recipes I could try?
Chances are you may be looking for a few different cookie recipes to try! We have you covered.
- Vegan Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter
- Classic Cutouts – Vegan Gingerbread Cookies or Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan M&M Cookies
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Cranberry Almond Vegan Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup vegan sugar
- 1 cup vegan butter, softened or room temp
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (see notes if allergic)
- 1 ¾ cup flour (see notes if GF)
- ½ cup dried cranberries, chopped
- ½ cup almonds, chopped (see notes if allergic)
- Royal icing recipe, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add vegan butter, sugar and salt. Beat to combine.
- Add in both extracts and beat again.
- Add flour and mix in with a spatula until incorporated.
- Add in chopped almonds and cranberries and combine with a spatula or work in with hands.
- Form a large ball.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper down and sprinkle a bit of flour and place dough on top. Sprinkle a little more flour on top and then place another piece of parchment paper on top.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to ¼ inch thick
- Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, 5 mins before timer up.
- Remove from fridge and cut out cookies.
- Combine all the scraps and repeat the process until no dough left.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan. Bake for 8 more.
- Remove and carefully place on a cooling rack.
- Let cool before decorating.
Notes
Nutrition
The almond and vanilla extract is always a winner!
I’m doing a comparison of this shortbread cookie and your sugar cookie recipe for a topping I want to try. My shortbread batch came out darker than expected. At first I thought it was because I made them thinner than recommended but I wonder if the 8+8, a total of 16 minutes bake time, is too long.
Thinning them more is definitely going to make them cook faster and thus require less time. Thanks for your feedback on the timing. I also agree that I love the combo of almond and vanilla together.
These turned to goop in the oven, as there’s too much butter and too little flour to hold it together. A total waste of ingredients.
Hey, I’m really sorry these didn’t work out for you. Shortbread dough relies heavily on butter temperature and chilling. If the vegan butter is too warm or the dough isn’t chilled long enough, the cookies can spread excessively. Measuring flour by weight (or spooning and leveling) also makes a big difference. I appreciate you giving them a try and sharing your experience.
This was hands-down the best Christmas cookie I made for Christmas 2021! Christmas cookie baking is an important family tradition for us, and every year since going vegan, I’ve been adding vegan cookies to our repertoire. Last year, I convinced my mom to give up dairy, and Christmas cookies were one of the things she was afraid she would miss. Of all the vegan cookies I made, this one knocked her socks off. I cut them into snowmen and used the Make it Dairy Free royal icing recipe with a little almond extract (also a household favorite) to decorate. I love your recipes, keep ‘em coming!
That makes us so happy Abby! Thank you for sharing! We’re so glad to hear that everyone is enjoying