Everyone likes Shortbread in some form or another
But getting not to taste totally like dust is the battle when Gluten free and Vegan
The classic way for making shortbread is the 1,2,3, method , one part sugar , 2 parts butter and 3 parts flour
It just doesn’t quite cut it for GF V depending on the fat it can end up a greasy mess !!
So a few tweaks are needed
As Im writing this Im thinking about the xanthan gum !!! The necesary binder for better crumb. I tailor make my blend and xanthan to different bakes and in the UK we are lucky that if you dont make your own base blend we have one with no binder in, i must admit I just tell you to omit it if your blend contains it but this may not be the case
If your bake is to crumbly or your cake is falling apart but you have a blend you love, just add a little more xanthan as each bake needs different amounts !!
Cookies, biscuits and pastries defiantly need a little more so that maybe your answer !!!
There goes this weeks lesson ππ
Back to this weeks bake !! Once again its a challenge bake from my baking group that turned out to good not to share !!
From The Great British Bake off Big Book of Baking
So it gave me the opportunity to get shortbread under my belt and have a lovely base recipe to develop in the future
Its a nice simple bake but these shortbread will see you wanting more once you have made them and i will not be responsible for your waistlines !!!πππ
So lets get baking π
Pecan Shorties GF, DF V
Sandy and crumbly packed with Roasted Pecans , just as they should be
Ingredients
- 75 g Pecan Halves
- 250 g Gluten Free Plain Flour ( If not using your blend I recommend dove Farms Freee Uk or Pilsbury US )
- 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum ( Omit if your blend contains it )
- 160 g Vegan Block Butter ( I used Stork Block UK or Earth Balance US )…..from fridge
- 85 g Vegan Icing Sugar / Confectioners Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 100 g Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate ( I used Plamil Uk )
Directions
- Pre heat your oven to 160 C Fan / 180 C Standard / 350 F
- Place the pecans onto a baking tray and place in oven for 5 minutes until lightly coloured Leave to Cool
- Add the xanthan gum to the flour and whisk together til combined and sieve
- When cold chop the pecans into small pieces, I prefer these quite small
- Add the pecans to the flour
- Measure the vegan butter and with a stand mixer with paddle attachement or hand mixer beat the butter until its smooth and creamy about two minutes on medium
- Add the icing sugar a tablespoon at a time and beat in until it is all combined and smooth
- Add the vanilla extract and beat in until the mixture in light and fluffy in texture
- Add the flour and nut mixture and stir it in with spatula and until fully combined
- Divide the dough into 18 pieces , mine weighed 30 g each ( Yes I weighed them for you !!! )
- Roll into balls and flatten to a size of 5 cm wide by 1 cm thick
- I use this trick with a cutter to get uniform size and a smoother edge
- Place onto two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or slipmat 3 cm apart they don’t spread much
- Bake for 14 minutes until very lightly coloured
- Remove for the oven and leave on baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to coll
- Once they are cool, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted or in a microwave on 10 second blasts, stirring until melted
- Dip and splatter the shortbread as desired and add sprinkles if you desire !!!
- Once chocolate is set and hard store in an airtight container for up to 5 days ….but they wont last that long !!!
- Enjoy
Now how easy is that !!! And I can tell you even my Other Half who has no dietary issues said these are good, they are shortbread ???
Texture is right and so is the ‘ softness ‘ !!
Result will take that as a win ππππππππ
Right now for some pretty pictures and some crumb porn, but not to much crumb as that would mean they where too crumbly ( but you need some crumble its shortbread πππ Hope that’s confused you, just follow the recipe !!!!! )
Hope you enjoyed the post.
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Until Next week ( hopefully )
Stay Safe and Be Kind !!
πππππππππππBYEππππππππππππ
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Clares Cauldron 
Lovely post…I love this recipe and am always delighted to hold your GF adaptations in my back pocket for friends in need…
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Thank you. It will be a lovely addition to your GF arsenal ππ
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So would this dough work as a shortbread crust for something like lemon bars?
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Evelyn ive to test that yet but in my opinion its going to work treat and its going to be my go to shortbread base for the future ππ
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