2 vanilla shortbread biscuits with a filling of caramel sauce dusted with some icing sugar. Easy to make, fun to eat, these biscuits are a light, buttery, ‘melt in the mouth’ delicious treat.
Watch me make these biscuits here.
Autumn is here which means snuggling up under a blanket with a warm drink and tasty snacks. I love summer, but compared to a cosy autumnal day, dunking a crumbly biscuit into a warm cup of coffee, I know which one i’ll choose!
I have made a lot of sandwich cookies in my day, but nothing beats shortbread in biscuit form, especially when it contains a scrumptious filling. They are as pretty as they are tasty, and don’t worry, they are extremely easy to make!
Let’s start with the shortbread.
Vegan shortbread is one of the most simplest bakes to make. You only need 4 ingredients: flour, butter, maple syrup and coconut oil.
This shortbread is a-little different to a ‘classic’ shortbread just consisting of flour, butter and sugar.
The reason I add in the coconut oil is to help the shortbread keep it’s shape when using a decorative cookie cutter. I used the ‘classic’ method when recipe testing and the biscuits spread out WAY too much. They loose all of their beautiful shapes and don’t look necessarily attractive as ‘pretty’ biscuits.
When it comes to shortbread, you want your butter cold. The colder the butter, the lighter the shortbread (that’s what I’ve found when i’ve been recipe testing these biscuits).
A cold butter means for a ‘less greasy’ and easier to form cookie dough.
Shortbread isn’t like a cake, so it doesn’t need any raising agent. Plain flour is all thats needed, along with some maple syrup for sweetness. The finer the flour, the smoother the dough, and lighter the overall shortbread. I’d recommend sifting the flour a few times prior to adding it into the butter and coconut oil.
Looking for more caramel recipes? Look no further:
Vegan Baked Salted Caramel Cheesecake
Vegan Salted Caramel Chocolate Loaf
Vegan Salted Caramel Brownie Cups
Ahh caramel, one of my favourite flavours to add into any dessert. This caramel sauce is chewy, gooey and super yummy. It is slightly salted which helps cut through the sweet biscuit.
This recipe might give you more caramel than needed (which is never a bad thing). Store any left over caramel in a sealed container in the fridge, perfect for drizzling over cupcakes or cookies.
If you like the combination of sweet and salty, these biscuits are for you!
Notes*
Coconut cream: Chill a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, turn it upside down and open. Pour out the liquid and use the thick, white cream. The thicker the cream, the thicker the caramel.
What vegan block butter to use?
My favourite vegan block butters are Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Based Block Butter Alternative.
Preparation: 5 minutes
Baking time: 10 minutes
Makes: Approximately 8-10 sandwich biscuits
Level: Easy
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Ingredients for the shortbread crust
- 200g of plain flour
- 80g of coconut oil
- 30g of dairy-free block butter
- 50ml of maple syrup
Ingredients for the caramel
- 200g of of caster sugar
- 100g of dairy-free block butter (see notes*)
- 180g of coconut cream (see notes*)
+
- Icing sugar (for dusting)
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Method (caramel)
1. Place the sugar into a medium / large saucepan. Place the pan on the hob over a low heat. Allow the sugar to melt, this will take around 5-8 minutes.
Make sure to stir the sugar constantly to prevent burning.
2. When all of the sugar has melted and is a golden / amber colour, add in the butter. Stir to combine. Allow the butter to melt into the sugar.
Once it’s combined, it might go a thick consistency, now add in the coconut cream. It will steam and bubble so be-careful!
3. Pour the thick caramel quickly into each case. Use an off-set spatula to quickly spread out the caramel, making sure it’s even.
Set aside to cool for 30 minutes, then transfer into the fridge for 3 hours, or until fully set.
Tip: You can leave it in the fridge overnight. The caramel will will turn into a toffee consistency.
Method (biscuits)
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c fan and line 2 baking trays with grease proof paper.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift in the flour. Add in the cold butter, thick coconut oil and maple syrup. Using your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until a crumbly dough forms. You want to keep the dough cold, so pop it into the fridge for 10 minutes while you prepare the cookie cutters and your work-surface.
3. Roll the firm dough in-between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper. You want the dough to be 1/4 inch thick.
4. Using a 2 inch round or frilled cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and place onto the lined baking tray. Repeat for all of the cookies.
You can re-roll the dough multiple times. As this dough is butter-based, it might become sticky. If so, place back into the fridge to set then re-roll. Use a smaller / mini cookie cutter to cut out a shape in the middle of half of the biscuits (these will be the top half of the sandwich). Only do this to half of the biscuits!
5. Place the baking trays into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cookies are crisp on the edges and are lightly golden in colour.
6. Remove the trays from the oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly on the trays, then once cool transfer them to a cooking rack to cool fully before filling.
7. Transfer the caramel into a piping bag, snip off the tip and pipe a swirl of caramel on half of the biscuits, placing a biscuit with the small cut out on top, creating a sandwich. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
To store:
As the caramel is butter and cream based, it will go even more gooey at room temperature, so store these biscuits in a sealed container in the fridge. Best enjoyed 3 days of making.
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