Toasted nutty flavor and rich butter pair with granulated sugar and vanilla for walnut shortbread cookies that will be a great, comforting addition to your dessert rotation.
vegan • dairy free • low waste
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Jump to:
- 📝 quick recipe overview
- ❤️ what you'll love about these walnut shortbread cookies
- 🥣 ingredient notes
- 🔪 equipment notes
- 🧑🏽🍳 instruction notes
- Recipe
- 🍽️ how to serve
- 🧊 storage
- 🍪 what to do if your cookies turn stale
- ✅ acceptable substitutions and variations
- ♻️ sustainability profile
- waste
- ❓ frequently asked questions
- 🍪 more cookie recipes
- 🕰️ the latest
Shortbread cookies are a classic, and creating new variations is so much fun. Of course, adding toasted nuts to shortbread dough is a favorite for many, and this walnut version is sure to please your taste buds.
These cookies are a delightful combination of toasted, nutty flavor, rich butter, and sweet granulated sugar. Wrap those flavors into a slightly delicate, tender texture and this quickly becomes a recipe worth keeping on repeat.
📝 quick recipe overview
- Skill level: Beginner
- Taste: Sweet with hints of toasted, nutty flavor
- Waste: Low
- Sustainability: Low waste, vegan ingredients
- Cleanup: Easy
- Ingredients: Easy to source
- Equipment: Common
- Time: Under an hour, including time to chill before baking
- Consistency: Slightly crisp exterior gives way to melt-in-your-mouth interior
- Kid-friendly: Yes
❤️ what you'll love about these walnut shortbread cookies
Easy to make with simple, vegan ingredients. There are no special ingredients here, so you likely already have these stocked. This recipe uses vegan ingredients (vegan butter and organic sugar), which makes this a more ‘welcoming’ recipe. Those avoiding dairy and animal products can eat these…and they are delicious for non-vegans, too! (But with recipes like this, why not just be vegan?)
Delicious and comforting. Shortbread is a rich cookie thanks to the prominence of butter, and there is just something comforting about biting into a rich cookie. Toasted walnuts give these a slightly nutty flavor and the sugar coating creates the perfect level of sweetness. It just checks all the flavor boxes!
Low waste. You can use the same piece of parchment paper from start to finish, including toasting the walnuts in the oven, letting the dough rest in the freezer, rolling, and baking. When done, just wipe down to remove crumbs and any odors and discard in your home compost (if you have the correct brand).
🥣 ingredient notes
Organic raw walnuts. Start with a raw nut…using something already seasoned is NOT what you want for this recipe. If you have access (and can afford) organic, I would suggest choosing organic over conventional. However, either version will work for this recipe and selecting organic is a personal decision.
Vegan butter. My ‘go-to’ vegan butter brand recently discontinued their butter sticks, so I’m using Melt Organic Butter in this recipe. Choose unsalted, if available in your area, but I do have a note in the recipe to adjust the salt amount if you’re starting with a salted version. Use a brand you like because the butter flavor is prominent.
Unbleached all-purpose flour (organic preferred). I always use unbleached flour in my baking because I want something less processed. In our area, we have some organic brands that are affordable, so if you can choose organic, I would recommend it.
Organic granulated sugar. To keep this recipe vegan, please use organic granulated sugar if you’re reading this in the U.S. Non-organic sugar can be filtered with bone char, making it not vegan friendly.
Pure vanilla extract. A good quality vanilla extract will help give the cookies depth of flavor. You can even choose brands that support sustainable farming and supply chain practices. Here are two of my favorites: Vanilla Bean Project and Fronteir Co-Op (affiliate links). Both are organic as well.
Kosher salt. We want an even-textured, more fine salt than sea salt to evenly distribute throughout the dough. Use half of what the recipe calls for if using salted butter.
🔪 equipment notes
- Baking sheet.
- Knife.
- Cutting board.
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment. You can use a hand mixer as well. If you don’t have a mixer, make sure you work with softened butter and be prepared to put a little more time and muscle into mixing the ingredients together.
- 2 small bowls. One bowl is for mixing the dry ingredients and the other is to coat the cookies in sugar prior to baking.
- Spatula or spoon. I prefer a wood spatula from Earlywood (affiliate link).
- Whisk. Use this for whisking dry ingredients.
- Measuring cups and spoons.
- Rolling pin.
- Parchment paper. I prefer the If You Care brand (affiliate link), which is compatible with home composting.
- Cookie cutter.
🧑🏽🍳 instruction notes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place raw walnuts on your parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread the nuts so they are resting in a single layer.
Toast walnuts in the oven for about 8 minutes. Halfway through the 8 minutes, turn or move them around to help prevent uneven cooking. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes. You will likely hear the walnuts ‘popping’ as they cool…this is normal.
When the walnuts can be safely handled, coarsely chop. You want pieces to be large enough to add crunch to the cookies, but small enough that they incorporate into the dough without causing it to break apart.
Whisk together flour and salt (our dry ingredients). To save time, you can do this while the walnuts are toasting.
In your mixer, cream vegan butter, sugar, and vanilla extract just until combined. Do this on low speed to prevent overbeating and scrape down the edges of the bowl with your spatula, if needed.
Slowly add your dry ingredients until you have a crumbly dough just starting to come together. A little crumble is fine, but the ‘crumbles’ should be large and the wet and dry ingredients evenly incorporated into one another.
Add the walnut pieces. Do this on low speed until the walnut pieces are distributed.
Transfer dough to parchment paper and use hands to press together and shape into a ball.
Wrap the dough in parchment paper and place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. When removed from the freezer, you should have a harder dough that’s still pliable. Allow it to warm for a few minutes if it’s too brittle.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit again, if you turned it off after toasting walnuts.
Unfold the parchment paper and use it as the surface to roll your dough. Add a little flour the parchment paper and/or your rolling pin and roll into pieces about ¼ to ½ inch thick.
Use the cookie cutter of your choosing to cut out the cookies. You will need to roll the dough out again in between batches of cutting out the cookies.
Coat the cookies in the granulated sugar. I like to give them an even coating on top and bottom.
Move the parchment paper to your baking sheet, add the cookies, and bake for 11-12 minutes. The bottoms of the cookies should start to turn brown and the exterior will look like it’s ‘setting.’ Different butters will brown at different rates, so don’t rely on browning edges to tell you if it’s done. They will continue to bake as they cool.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Recipe
Walnut Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer a hand mixer will work as well
- 1 spatula or spoon
- 1 baking sheet
- measuring cups and spoons
- 1 small or medium bowl for whisking together dry ingredients
- 1 small bowl for rolling cookies in granulated sugar
- 1 rolling pin (with or without handles) optional, for cookie cut-out method
- 1 wire cooling rack
- 1 cutting board for chopping walnuts
- 1 knife for chopping walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 148g, I prefer unbleached
- ½ cup vegan unsalted butter 113g, room temperature
- ½ cup walnuts 50g, raw
- ¼ cup granulated sugar 54g, use organic to keep this vegan
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 3g
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt 4g
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 14g, optional, for coating cookies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare Walnuts
- Spread walnuts into single layer on cookie sheet (parchment paper optional) and toast in oven for 7-8 minutes, stirring once halfway through.½ cup walnuts
- When cool enough to handle, chop the walnuts into coarse pieces. Keeping them uniform is not necessary, but avoid very large pieces.
Cookie Dough
- In your small bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour and salt until the salt is evenly distributed. Set aside.1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- In the bowl of your stand mixer with paddle attachment, or hand mixer, add vegan butter, sugar, and pure vanilla extract. Cream on low speed until ingredients are just combined.½ cup vegan unsalted butter, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- While on low speed, slowly incorporate the dry ingredients until evenly combined in the butter-sugar mixture. The dough should be slightly crumbly, and you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the toasted walnuts and stir in the stand mixer just until the walnuts are mostly evenly incorporated.
- Transfer the dough to your parchment paper, and briefly knead until the crumbles are mostly incorporated in a dough ball. Wrap in the parchment paper and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven again to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove from the refrigerator and place the dough ball on a lightly floured surface. Place the parchment paper on your baking sheet since we will reuse the same piece for baking. Using a rolling pin, gently roll the dough into a sheet about ½-inch thick. Alternatively, you can roll into a log and slice for more of a 'rustic' cut.
- Using the cookie cutter of your choice, stamp out the cookie shapes of your choosing.1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- In a small bowl, place granulated sugar and shake to create an even layer. Rotate and flip the cookies in the bowl of granulated sugar to create an even layer and place on your parchment paper. Repeat until all cookies are coated.
- Bake on the center rack of your oven for 11-13 minutes. Check after 11 minutes and remove when the edges start to set and turn a very light brown. See notes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Choosing vegan butter instead of dairy butter is more environmentally-friendly.
- Opt for organic granulated sugar from producers that use regenerative farming practices for lower environmental impact.
- Use compostable parchment paper instead of plastic wrap when allowing the dough to rest in the refrigerator. Use the same piece for the entire recipe, wipe clean when done, and add to your home compost.
Nutrition
🍽️ how to serve
Eat all of them at once. Just kidding. 😂 These cookies are perfect for a lunch or dinner dessert as-is. Below are a few additional serving ideas:
- Dip in melted chocolate and sprinkle with some chopped walnuts
- Make or buy some vegan frosting and turn these into sandwich cookies OR
- Simply frost these with vanilla
- Add to a dessert charcuterie board
- Use as the sweet treat on a vegan fruit and cheese board
Leave a comment with other fun shortbread serving ideas!
🧊 storage
If you are making these in advance, store them in an airtight container. Their lifespan will be determined by storage method:
Room Temperature. In an airtight container, walnut shortbread cookies will last up to a week. Expect them to get more dry over time. The sugar coating will eventually 'melt' into the cookie, but the sweetness will remain.
Refrigerator. When refrigerated, these can last up to 2 weeks.
Freezer. Using a freezer-safe container, these can freeze for up to 3 months..
🍪 what to do if your cookies turn stale
If you find yourself with stale cookies, check for mold or off-odors before taking next steps. Throw away if you find anything that looks unsafe to eat. If your cookies are just dry, though, you can give them new life. The easiest option is to pulse in a food processor until you have coarsely-ground cookies and use them as a topping for:
- Smoothies
- Ice cream
- Pudding
- Chocolate bark (like how we use unpopped popcorn kernels in our popcorn bark)
- Frosted cake
- Frosted cookies
- Pie
✅ acceptable substitutions and variations
Nuts. Not a fan of walnuts? That’s ok! Choose your favorite nut and incorporate into the cookies. If using pecans, cashews, or other nuts that are relatively uniform in shape, you can toast them in a dry skillet for a few minutes instead of using the oven. Walnuts toast better in the oven because their shape has a tendency to get burn marks when placed in a skillet.
Coating. I think the granulated sugar coating really takes these to the next level. However, pick the coating of your choice. If you’d rather dip them in chocolate or add a bit of vanilla or chocolate frosting after baking, you’ll get a delicious result.
♻️ sustainability profile
This recipe is moderately sustainable with ingredients that carry less environmental impact when purchased organic and fair trade. Our method reduces waste, further lowering the environmental impact. Please see the below information for additional details.
sourcing
Organic and fair trade walnuts are the most sustainable option. Walnuts are an interesting nut to crack…pun intended…because they offer some interesting sustainability possibilities. Many walnuts grown in the U.S. are from California, which presents some issues with water usage; though, not as much as other nuts. And consuming nuts in a vegan diet is much more environmentally-friendly than other alternatives (like meat and dairy).
To mitigate damage to local ecosystems, select an organic brand when possible. You can also enjoy the fact walnuts one of the lowest carbon footprints of other nuts and seeds! When you opt for fair trade nuts, you’re supporting companies with positive social impact. Learn more about walnut sustainability from this Utopia.org article.
Best of all? Walnut shells (a byproduct when shelling walnuts for us to consume at home) have potential to be repurposed into something else like industrial abrasives, fillers in chemical applications, snow tire composition for added grip, composting, cosmetics, and more. We love a good “second helping” when it comes to food waste!
Organic granulated sugar. Granulated sugar is not the most sustainable sweetener, which is why sourcing an organic version that also supports regenerative farming (helping keep the land viable) is a good compromise.
Vegan butter. Using vegan butter is more sustainable than dairy butter, but some brands may contain palm oil. You may want to consider Miyoko’s for a vegan option crafted without palm oil.
Vanilla extract. Farming vanilla bean can be detrimental to the environment and labor. Choose organic and fair trade, or make your own like this version from Going Zero Waste!
waste
By using the same sheet of parchment paper throughout the recipe which replaces the plastic wrap traditionally used to harden shortbread in the refrigerator or freezer, we reduce waste. Our parchment paper is safe for home composting, so stays out of the landfill when its purpose is done.
❓ frequently asked questions
What are common mistakes when making shortbread?
Shortbread is simple, but that simplicity can make mistakes a little more obvious when they happen. Common mistakes include:
- Overmixing the dough, resulting in a tough texture
- Working with butter or dough that’s too warm, causing the cookies to lose their shape when baking
- Using incorrect ratios (too much butter or flour) causing the texture to range from too dry to too dense
To prevent these mistakes, use low speed on your mixture and mix just until ingredients are combined. Chill the dough before baking to help the cookies keep their shape, and measure ingredients using weight instead of volume.
What happens if you don’t chill shortbread before baking?
Skipping the step of chilling the dough increases your chances the shortbread cookies will lose their shape as the oven temperatures melt the butter. You see this more often with individual cookies as opposed to baking a pan of shortbread in which you cut the cookies after baking.
Should I use parchment paper when baking shortbread cookies?
Yes, using parchment paper is recommended to prevent sticking to the pan. If you have a compostable parchment paper (we suggest this to support sustainable kitchen practices), you can wipe clean to remove crumbs and odors and add to your home compost instead of the garbage bin. While you can technically grease a pan to bake shortbread cookies, it may encourage spreading, which is why parchment paper is preferred.
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