A quick, simple yet delicious festive treat everyone will enjoy, vegan pistachio shortbread trees. Melt in the mouth shortbread loaded with pistachio nuts is topped with a dairy-free chocolate and more chopped nuts. They are simple yet effective and are perfect for sharing at Christmas. Vegan, easy and only 6 ingredients!
Vegan Pistachio Shortbread Trees
These delightful pistachio shortbread sticks are a festive and effortless vegan treat, perfect for the holiday season. Made with just six simple ingredients, they’re quick to prepare yet impressively elegant. Shaped into sticks, the shortbread is baked until buttery and golden, then decorated to resemble Christmas trees. A drizzle of vegan white chocolate with a drop of green food gel acts as “tree,” while additional crushed pistachios mimic ornaments / tree texture. These buttery, nutty creations are not only visually charming but also irresistibly delicious, embodying holiday cheer in every bite!
Looking for more festive recipe? Check out my:
Vegan Gingerbread Cream Cookies
No-Bake Polar Bear Cheesecakes
The Best Vegan Christmas Pudding
Why you’ll love my pistachio shortbread trees
- Simple: Made with only 6 ingredients, these pistachio shortbread trees are easy to prepare, saving time during the busy holiday season.
- Vegan-friendly: Made using only vegan ingredients like dairy-free butter and dairy-free chocolate, they’re perfect for everyone to enjoy!
- Festive and fun: Decorated as little Christmas trees with pistachios, chocolate drizzle for a holiday-themed treat.
- Rich and buttery flavour: Despite being dairy-free, these shortbread sticks deliver a melt-in-your-mouth texture with a nutty, buttery taste. They’re truly scrumptious!
- Customisable: Use your favourite toppings to make each tree unique, adding a personal touch to your holiday table or gift boxes including sprinkles, marshmallows, biscuits or even a drizzle of vegan ‘Nutella’ / Biscoff spread.
- Perfect for gifting: These charming and delicious treats make thoughtful homemade gifts that look as good as they taste. Place in food grade bags, share and enjoy!
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Dairy-free butter – My personal favourites are Flora Plant Block, Naturli Vegan Block.
- Plain / all purpose flour – Make sure to sieve before using. Alternatively you can use a good quality gluten-free flour blend to make this recipe gluten / wheat-free, although the shortbread may be a-little delicate.
- Icing / powdered sugar – Sieve before using to remove any lumps.
- Pistachio nuts – Use real pistachio kernels and blitz in a small food processor / blender until fine then use.
- Green food gel – Be sure the food gel you use is vegan friendly, my go-to is Pro Gel.
- Dairy-free white chocolate – Use your favourite vegan friendly white chocolate. I love iChoc Vanilla, Sainsbury’s deliciously Free From White Chocolate and Moo Free White.
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram , TikTok and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
Vegan Pistachio Shortbread Trees
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
How to make festive pistachio shortbread christmas trees, great for sharing! Vegan, No-Egg, No-Dairy and only 6 ingredients.
Ingredients
- 160g of plain / all purpose flour
- 40g of icing / powdered sugar
- 60g of pistachio nuts (blended up)
- 140g of dairy-free butter
- 120g of dairy-free white chocolate
- Green food gel
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ Fan and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir the flour, icing sugar and 50g of ground up pistachio nuts together. Add in the butter and mix with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer with paddle attachment on low-medium speed until blended well. The dough will look crumbly and soft but should stick together when squeezed in your hands.
- Place a sheet of grease proof paper on your worktop and sprinkle with some flour. Form the dough into a ball and place in the middle of the paper.
- Place another piece of paper for the top, sprinkling a little more flour on top of the dough to prevent sticking, and roll the dough to approximately 1/2 of an inch thick.
- Use a pizza roller or shark knife to cut the dough into sticks (refer to video for reference). Continue re-rolling the dough until it is all used.
- Place on the lined tray and bake in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the shortbread sticks are slightly golden.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Method (chocolate decoration)
- Lay the shortbread sticks on some grease proof paper, giving them space for the chocolate tree decoration. Place the white chocolate into a bowl on top of a saucepan with boiling water, creating a bain-marie and allow the chocolate to fully melt. You can alternatively melt in the microwave in 20 second intervals.
- Stir in a little drop of green food gel and stir to combine. Transfer the chocolate into a piping bag and snip off a small tip.
- Use the chocolate to pipe a zig-zag pattern over the shortbread in a ‘tree shape’ (refer to video for example). Repeat for all the shortbread sticks.
- While the chocolate is still wet, you can sprinkle over some more ground pistachio nuts (the remaining 10g). Alternatively, you could add some some festive sprinkles, cookie crumbles or chocolate chips.
- Allow to set in the fridge / freezer for 20 minutes, then serve and enjoy.
Notes
To store: Keep stored in an airtight / sealed container in the fridge, can be enjoyed directly from the fridge.
Shortbread without the chocolate, allow to come to room temperature to allow the butter to soften.
Best enjoyed within 3-4 days of making.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10-12 minutes
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
These make great gifts. And taste delicious. Love them. So much fun to make
Author
Definitely! Thank you so much xxx