Vegan orange shortbread with all the winter spices. These shortbread cutouts are made with spelt flour and coconut sugar for a healthier Christmas cookie.
Course Cookies and Bars, Dessert, Desserts, Winter
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, juice, and zest until the sugar is completely incorporated and no visible grains remain (fully hydrated). Sift in the flour, spices, baking soda, and salt. Stir until combined.
1/2 cup coconut sugar, 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup orange juice*, Zest of an orange, 1 cup + 2 tablespoons light spelt flour, 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg**, 1/2 vanilla powder, 1 cardamom seed, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Shape the dough into a disc (it will be quite wet), and place onto a piece of parchment paper. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. It should be just stiff enough to roll but not so hard that it can't be indented when pressed with a finger.
Generously flour a countertop and rolling pin. Place the chilled dough onto the counter and hit it a couple of times with the rolling pin, then roll, turning occasionally, to a 5 mm (1/4 inch) thickness. Dip your cookie cutters in flour then cut the dough into your desired shapes. Gather the scraps, press them together, and roll again. Repeat until all the dough has been cut.
Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets and freeze for 10 minutes. Remove from the freezer and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until slightly golden but still soft to the touch. Remove and cool on the pan for 10 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a rack.
To ice the cookies, melt a white chocolate bar with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Use a piping bag to pipe designs onto the cooled cookies. Place the cookies in the refrigerator to set the chocolate, then store in a sealed container for up to three days.
Notes
* This was one orange for me. You can use bottled juice but you need orange zest in any case, so it might as well be fresh juice.** If you use ground nutmeg, increase it to 1/2 teaspoon.*** For ground cardamom, use 1/4 teaspoon.