Having specialist dietary requirements has become so much easier to live with in the past couple of years. If you’re vegan or gluten-free, you’re thankfully much more catered for in supermarkets and restaurants.
Since moving to Wales, I joined the local Women’s Institute in the village. The members take it in turns at each meeting to make the tea and provide the cake & biscuits. This week, it’s my turn! In the group, there are a few vegetarians, a vegan and someone with Coeliac disease. I decided I’d make two different things; one biscuit-y and one cake-y. The former would be vegan gluten-free shortbread. The latter, I’ll share on here next week.
Doves Farm produce a huge range of flours, one of which is a gluten-free plain white flour. It’s a blend of rice, potato, tapioca, maize and buckwheat flours. The lack of gluten means that the mixture can be unworkable and the biscuit too crumbly. To combat this, a minuscule amount of xanthan gum is added to the flour to help bind the dough and subsequent biscuit. In addition, I used Trex as the shortening. The brand doesn’t make it apparent on the packaging, however, it is completely vegan.
I used my favourite antique wooden mould, dusting it with rice flour which is gluten-free.
The recipe worked well; the dough came together and moulded with no trouble. The round released from the mould easily and slicing it into triangular ‘petticoat tails’ was a breeze.
If I were to make these again, I’d up the sugar content, perhaps sprinkling some granulated over the top just before they went into the oven.
Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest
- 200g/7oz gluten-free plain Flour
- 75g/2⅔oz caster sugar
- ¼ tsp xanthan gum
- pinch of salt
- 1tbsp water
- 150g/5¼oz vegan block margarine (e.g. Trex)
- Line a 15cmx20cm/6"x8" baking tray with parchment
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas mark6
- Put the flour, sugar, xanthan and salt into a blender and pulse to mix
- Add the water and pulse to mix it with the flour
- Chop the margarine into cubes, add this to the bowl and pulse until the dough holds together
- Tip the mixture into your prepared baking tray/mould, pressing it into the corners and smoothing the top
- Cover the dough and leave it to rest for 20 minutes
- Cut the dough into rectangles. If you're using a mould, turn the dough out on to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cut into portions
- Press the prongs of a fork into each slice
- Bake for 20 minutes
- Remove the tray from the oven and carefully cut the slices again, following the original lines
- Press the fork prongs into the holes again
- Return the shortbread to the oven and bake for a further 25 minutes
- Allow the shortbread to cool on the baking tray for 20 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to finish cooling
- Store cold biscuits in an airtight container
