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Maple Pecan Gluten Free Shortbread recipe! Gluten free shortbread cookies with chopped pecans and sweetened with pure maple syrup. Lads and ladies: these are paleo.
Made with almond flour, coconut oil, pure maple syrup, and chopped walnuts, this delicious gluten free shortbread cookie recipe is amazing during the holiday season and beyond!
I always thought of shortbread as the filler cookie that cookie manufacturers put in those holiday cookie tins in order to even out the cookie bliss.
Like, they wouldn’t want to give you too many Linzer, wafers, chocolate chip, or peppermint cookies because that would result in too much ecstasy.
And so they placed the less desirable lumps of shortbread in with the other much more desirable cookies in order to ensure you maintained some semblance of balance in life.
No joke, I totally thought this.
And apparently so did the rest of my family, because whenever we received one of those mixed cookie tins, we picked through all the cookies until there was nothing but shortbread remaining.
And then the tin sat. And sat. Until next Christmas rolled around.
It took me until my mid-twenties to realize not all shortbreads are created equal.
I love shortbread made with almond meal and coconut oil because it has an inherently rich flavor, while being all sorts of magical for your body.
Which brings me to my next point: Xmas cookies made with almond meal and coconut oil are the peanut butter to my jelly.
I can’t tell you how many cups of coconut oil and almond flour I’ve cycled through in the last week, but I can tell you this: it’s been delicious.
And the two ingredients are marvelous for gluten free (and paleo) baking.
This is a pretty dern clean shortbread.
Ingredients for Gluten Free Shortbread:
At a minimum, all you need is almond flour, pecans, pure maple syrup, and coconut oil! BOOM 4-ingredient vegan shortbread cookies!
No sugar, butter, or grains.
How to Make Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies:
- In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients and stir together. Add the remaining (wet ingredients) and mix until a sticky dough forms.
- Make a ball out of the dough, pressing it together, then place it on a sheet of plastic wrap and form a cylinder or a log. The log will be over a foot long, so if you’d like, you can cut it in two so that the logs are easier to manage/less delicate. Wrap the log tightly in the plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap the cookie dough, place it on a cutting board, and slice 1/4-inch thick slices to form cookie shapes. Place dough on a baking sheet and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.
- Remove cookies from the oven, and allow them to sit 15 minutes before removing them from the baking sheet with a spatula.
Recipe Tip:
Do refrigerate the dough.
The first time I made shortbread, I tried to beat the system by omitting the step where you freeze or refrigerate the dough. This step omission did not a success make.
The cookies spread out to the far reaches of the cookie tray, and even though they tasted spectacularly, they were reduced to mere crumbs.
This is me advising you to not omit the refrigeration/freezing step, as doing so will botch your batter (dough…but “batter” just sounded better on account of the b’s).
You’ve got this! We’ve got gluten-free shortbread to consume!
Also try my Chocolate Dipped Cardamom Orange Shortbread Cookies and my Cranberry Pistachio Vegan Shortbread Cookies.
Maple Pecan Gluten Free Shortbread
Ingredients
- 2 cups finely ground almond flour
- ½ cup chopped raw pecans
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch sea salt
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add first four ingredients and stir together. Add the remaining (wet ingredients) and mix until a sticky dough forms.
- Make a ball out of the dough, pressing it together, then place it on a sheet of plastic wrap and form a cylinder or a log (the log will be over a foot long, so if you’d like, you can cut it in two so that the logs are easier to manage/less deicate). Wrap the log tightly in the plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap the cookie dough, place it on a cutting board, and slice 1/4-inch thick slices to form cookie shapes. Place dough on a baking sheet and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.
- Remove cookies from the oven, and allow them to sit 15 minutes before removing them from the baking sheet with a spatula.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
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I am wondering if you have used any other flours instead of almond flour in this recipe?
Hi Melissa,
You can replace the almond flour with hazelnut flour, or follow this recipe https://www.theroastedroot.net/roasted-walnut-shortbread-cookies/ which calls for oat flour (or rice flour). Enjoy! xo
These are my go to for everything, birthday presents, taking as a snack or to a picnic, lunch, afternoon tea or dinner.
There are never any left.
My friends always return the container for me to make more.
That’s awesome, Clare! I’m so happy to hear it! It’s been ages since I’ve made a batch, so now I’m feeling inspired to do so. Thanks so much for stopping in to give your feedback – it means a lot! Cheers!
I made these for a dinner I was having and they are amazing! As per previous comments, you can easily use this a base to make different variations of shortbread.
I’m so happy to hear it, Sam!! Thanks a million for stopping in and letting me know you enjoyed the shortbread!
Amazing! These are so delicious!! I didn’t have pecans so I used 1/4 cup chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup chopped homemade craisins and they are so delish! Thanks for sharing 🙂
what did i do wrong?! a ball could not have been formed out out of this, let a lone a cylinder! SOS
Thanks for allowing me to feature your cookies in my round-up of 60 Ultimate Cookie Exchange Recipes on Taste As You Go! Happy Holidays!
Thanks for the recipe! I used it as a base for pumpkin pie bars. I chopped the dry ingredients in the food processor before adding the wet. It was then pressed into an 8×8 pan, chilled, par baked, and finally baked with a pumpkin pie filling. Fantastic!!!
best tea-dunkin’ cookies eva.
Woop wooooop! Dunkin’ for dayz!
these are AMAZING. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve failed at shortbread! I can’t wait to try these — thank you so much for developing a paleo shortbread recipe!!!!
You got it, Renee!! Let me know what you think! The recipe isn’t super sweet, so if you’re wanting a sweeter treat, I’d add a tad more maple syrup (#protip) Have a great weekend!! 😉
I’ve become a shortbread person as an adult, but I definitely wasn’t one as a child. Must be my insane love of all things butter. I can get behind a coconut oil substitution though! Good move.
Shortbread is always a hit at parties but I would love to make it gluten free for those who don’t eat gluten. This is perfect!
This is so funny because I used to always turn my nose up at shortbread cookies but now I LUUUV them. They are definitely kind of a grown up cookie. I can’t wait to try your paleo version! YUM!
These gluten-free cookies definitely sound like they’d be the first to go in the sample box. I love the almond + coconut combo you used!
Butterless, sugarless, grainless shortbread?! I DIE!! I’ve been avoiding gluten even since I’ve been waking up with stiff hands, so all the more excuse to eat twenty million of these glutenless goodies 🙂
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I cannot wait to make it!
You got it, Gloria! Let me know when you do!
These sound amazing! I love shortbread and the ingredients list here is on point! Thanks for sharing
xoxoxo 🙂