Easy Vegan Coconut Oil Shortbread Cookies with Pumpkin Pie Spice. These Vegan Shortbread Cookies use coconut oil and non dairy yogurt. No palm oil! Add dried fruits of choice or nuts of choice. Use other shapes!. Holiday Cookie Makes 22 to 24 cookies
Holidays are just around the corner and so are the plans to whip up cookies! Though one doesn’t need the holiday season to bake some and enjoy right.
These are simple shortbread cookies with a few ingredients and spiced with fall spices. I used coconut oil and non dairy yogurt in these. I used refined coconut oil to keep them neutral tasting. Use virgin or refined to preference or use vegan butter. You can also use thick cashew cream or thick aquafaba instead of yogurt. I haven’t tried these, let me know how it works out if you do.
I added candied papaya that Mom brought along when she was visiting. Dad loves those candied bits in cakes, cookies and yeasted bread buns. Mom and Dad drink itsy bitsy cups of chai throughout the day (6-7 times!). Breads, cookies, nuts and savory Indian trail mix are their choice of snack with the tea. I am hoping Mom sees this post and whips up a batch. These are just like the bakery biscuits from the neighborhood bakery!
Use any other candied fruit like mango, or dried fruit like apricot or cranberries or nuts like cashews or hazelnuts in these Vegan Shortbread Cookies. For a gluten-free version try my Gluten free Shortbread Cookies from the blog. Its fall so these are Pumpkin Pie Spice Shortbread Cookies. Use other spices and blends like chai spice or cinnamon or no spice for variations.
More Holiday Cookies from the blog
- Pistachio Apricot Thumbprint Cookies
- Almond Butter Snickerdoodles
- Gluten free Shortbread Cookies
- Cherry Almond Thumbprint Cookies – Almond Pulp Cookies
- Giant Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies
Watch this video for a smile today.
Steps:
Make the cookie dough. The dough should be soft enough to stick into a ball which you can roll into a log. Not crumbly and not too sticky. Fold in the dried fruit and nuts if using. Roll the dough into a log and freeze for half an hour. Slice the log into 1/4 inch slices.
Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Cool completely, stack, take a picture and post it on IG! mmmm Pumpkin Pie Spice Shortbread Cookies!
Vegan Coconut Oil Shortbread Cookies with Pumpkin Pie Spice
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup (54.5 ml) coconut oil I used refined, semi solid, warm if too solid before using
- 2.5 tbsp non dairy yogurt
- 1/2 to 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 to 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or 1/2 tsp cinnamon,1/4 tsp ginger, and generous pinch of ground nutmeg and cloves
- 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) salt
- a generous pinch of baking soda
- 1/2 cup (60 g) Spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup (125 g) white unbleached flour
- 1/4 cup (36.25 g) candied papaya dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, candied ginger or other dried fruit of choice.
Instructions
- In a bowl cream the coconut oil, sugar and non dairy yogurt until smooth and creamy. Add in the vanilla and spices if using. Mix well.
- Mix the baking soda and salt into 1/2 cup spelt flour and add to the bowl. Mix in.
- Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time and combine well into a soft dough. If too dry, add a spray of water and mix in. If too sticky, add a tbsp or so more flour. Add the dried or candied fruit of choice. Mix into the dough.
- Shape the dough into a 1 to 1.5 inch width log. Fold a parchment sheet over the log and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F / 160ºc. Remove the log from the freezer. Slice into 1/4 inch thick slices and place on parchment lined sheet.
- Bake for 19 to 20 minutes or till the edges just start to change color. Cool completely and store.
- If your oven runs hot, bake for less time. The cookies get crunchy when over baked.
- Or bake as one shortbread pastry by pressing into brownie pan. Bake at 315 degrees F / 160ºc 30 minutes or longer.
Notes
Nutrition
Samantha @ The Planted Vegan says
September 24, 2015 at 8:06 amI’ve never heard of candied papaya, but it sounds delicious! Can’t wait to try this recipe out!
Richa says
September 25, 2015 at 9:01 pmits like any fruit candied in sugar syrup. i love candied papaya and mango. they are like super sweet dried fruit and fun in cookies and cakes if one doesnt want chocolate.
Shilpa says
September 25, 2015 at 8:27 amHi Richa,
Your website is amazing and I cannot believe you have recreated Indian desserts without ghee!! I plan to try them soon. Can I request you add more photos to each recipe, such as it is very important to see the consistency of the cookie batter or even for cakes as it will help novices like me who are just trying their hand in baking. This shortbread looks delicious and I plan to try this over the weekend!
Richa says
September 25, 2015 at 10:51 amgreat! the dough comes together like the log you see in the steps picture. soft enough to form a log. it shouldnt be crumbly and difficult to stick together or too wet and sticky on your hands. then after freezing it sets and hardens so it is easily slice-able.
Eddie says
September 27, 2015 at 2:38 pmThat looks absolutely spectacular! Sounds just as great. Definitely trying these out.
Richa says
September 27, 2015 at 2:52 pmAwesome!
Bonnie says
September 27, 2015 at 5:37 pmCan’t wait to make these. I love shortbread cookies. I was wondering if I could use all whole wheat pastry flour instead of the unbleached white flour? Thank you!!
Richa says
September 27, 2015 at 5:50 pmI havent tried these with all wheat flour. Try half ww flour and half white flour to see if the texture and flavor works out ok. You will need a bit less flour total as whole wheat flour absorbs more moisture than white flour.
Emma says
September 27, 2015 at 11:19 pmyum these look delicious! Is there something you would recommend to substitute the powdered sugar for?
Richa says
September 28, 2015 at 10:37 amI am not sure what you are looking for. You can powder any sugar you have by blending it in a blender so that it is fine texture to use in the recipe. or you can use sugar subs like xylitol.
Mansi says
September 30, 2015 at 9:56 pmHi Richa, I have been following your blog since last few months and I love how you have recreated all of the Indian recipes. Amazing!! I was wondering if we can replace the spelt flour with any other gluten free flour instead of wheat flour?
Richa says
September 30, 2015 at 10:16 pmThanks! try these gluten-free shortbread cookies instead. http://www.veganricha.com/2015/03/vegan-gluten-free-shortbread-cookies.html
Aislinn says
October 2, 2015 at 8:00 amThese look amazing! What type/flavour of yoghurt did you use?
Thanks!
Richa says
October 2, 2015 at 10:41 amplain – sweetened or unsweetened both will work. or you can use vanilla and skip the extract.
Ana @ Ana's Rocket Ship says
October 2, 2015 at 10:41 amThose little pieces of candid papaya are so pretty – it’s like they’re glowing!
Laura says
October 6, 2015 at 12:47 pmThis recipe looks great! I’m glad I came across your blog. I want to make this recipe but can’t find vegan yogurt . How can I substitute it?
Richa says
October 6, 2015 at 12:53 pmThanks! use thick cashew cream.
Carla says
November 29, 2015 at 1:40 amA bit late to this party. ; p How long do you think these might keep? I’m wanting to bake and ship vegan cookies for family and friends this year so need sturdy cookies that can be shipped overseas without getting moldy. Thanks, Carla
Richa says
November 29, 2015 at 11:49 amHi Carla. I’ve kept them in a container for 10 days without a problem. They can be kept longer too. I think they might start to smell slightly stale after a while depending on the spices and oil used. So you can make a batch and check to see how your batch does over the week or 10 days you are planning for the shipping time.
Deepa says
August 29, 2016 at 6:41 pmHi Richa …..I tried these cookies they came out well.
When I tasted it while it was little warm it was nice ,the texture of the cookie was between hard and soft.after it cools down I kept in air tight container ,next day when I ate it ,it became hard don’t know why.Can you tell me the reason.
Richa says
August 29, 2016 at 7:32 pmif they got too hard, then they got overbaked. bake a minute or so less. ovens differ in temps often, and the thickness & size of the cookie also matters. You want to underbake these cookies as they can harden too much when even slightly over baked.
Lalita says
September 29, 2016 at 6:12 pmHello Richa, I am big fan of your recipes. I tried many curries and other entrees. They all turn out very good and tasty. I made these cookies. I baked them for 19 minutes, they came out little hard. I think I should have baked for lesser amount of time.
Can you let me know any substitute for coconut oil. Thank you.
Richa says
September 29, 2016 at 7:05 pmThanks!
Yes, bake these 2-3 mins less. Ovens can vary in temps by upto 50 deg and these cookies get hard quickly after they are baked.
Use Vegan butter for coconut oil. If you are looking to make them without oil, the texture doesnt work without.
Cathy Joyner says
November 9, 2016 at 7:47 pmIs it possible to make the dough the day before and store it in log shape in the fridge overnight? Then I could bake them right before the event!
Richa says
November 10, 2016 at 9:27 amyes, you can keep the dough in a log form overnight.
Mikayla Ojeda says
June 9, 2017 at 10:34 pmI went a little crazy here and used almond butter and a little non-dairy milk to replace soy yogurt. I have eaten six cookies 😉
I’d love to try the original recipe to see the difference in texture.
Kristina says
December 17, 2018 at 10:28 amI tried these and honestly… pretty disappointed. They need more fat to qualify as shortbread.
Richa says
December 29, 2018 at 1:46 amcoconut oil is very fatty. it does however make crunchier result when baked a bit longer than neded
Emily says
December 5, 2019 at 10:12 pmOMG! Thse turned out so well! I used apricots in thte dough!
Richa says
December 6, 2019 at 10:48 amthanks!