This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Easy Vegan Coconut Oil Shortbread Cookies with Pumpkin Pie Spice. These Vegan Shortbread Cookies use coconut oil and non dairy yogurt. No palm oil! Add dried fruits of choice or nuts of choice. Use other shapes!. Holiday Cookie Makes 22 to 24 cookies
Holidays are just around the corner and so are the plans to whip up cookies! Though one doesn’t need the holiday season to bake some and enjoy right.
These are simple shortbread cookies with a few ingredients and spiced with fall spices. I used coconut oil and non dairy yogurt in these. I used refined coconut oil to keep them neutral tasting. Use virgin or refined to preference or use vegan butter. You can also use thick cashew cream or thick aquafaba instead of yogurt. I haven’t tried these, let me know how it works out if you do.
I added candied papaya that Mom brought along when she was visiting. Dad loves those candied bits in cakes, cookies and yeasted bread buns. Mom and Dad drink itsy bitsy cups of chai throughout the day (6-7 times!). Breads, cookies, nuts and savory Indian trail mix are their choice of snack with the tea. I am hoping Mom sees this post and whips up a batch. These are just like the bakery biscuits from the neighborhood bakery!
Use any other candied fruit like mango, or dried fruit like apricot or cranberries or nuts like cashews or hazelnuts in these Vegan Shortbread Cookies. For a gluten-free version try my Gluten free Shortbread Cookies from the blog. Its fall so these are Pumpkin Pie Spice Shortbread Cookies. Use other spices and blends like chai spice or cinnamon or no spice for variations.
More Holiday Cookies from the blog
- Pistachio Apricot Thumbprint Cookies
- Almond Butter Snickerdoodles
- Gluten free Shortbread Cookies
- Cherry Almond Thumbprint Cookies – Almond Pulp Cookies
- Giant Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies
Watch this video for a smile today.
Steps:
Make the cookie dough. The dough should be soft enough to stick into a ball which you can roll into a log. Not crumbly and not too sticky. Fold in the dried fruit and nuts if using. Roll the dough into a log and freeze for half an hour. Slice the log into 1/4 inch slices.
Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Cool completely, stack, take a picture and post it on IG! mmmm Pumpkin Pie Spice Shortbread Cookies!
Vegan Coconut Oil Shortbread Cookies with Pumpkin Pie Spice
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, I used refined, semi solid, warm if too solid before using
- 2.5 tbsp non dairy yogurt
- 1/2 to 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 to 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, or 1/2 tsp cinnamon,1/4 tsp ginger, and generous pinch of ground nutmeg and cloves
- 1/8 tsp salt
- a generous pinch of baking soda
- 1/2 cup Spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup white unbleached flour
- 1/4 cup candied papaya, dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, candied ginger or other dried fruit of choice.
Instructions
- In a bowl cream the coconut oil, sugar and non dairy yogurt until smooth and creamy. Add in the vanilla and spices if using. Mix well.
- Mix the baking soda and salt into 1/2 cup spelt flour and add to the bowl. Mix in.
- Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time and combine well into a soft dough. If too dry, add a spray of water and mix in. If too sticky, add a tbsp or so more flour. Add the dried or candied fruit of choice. Mix into the dough.
- Shape the dough into a 1 to 1.5 inch width log. Fold a parchment sheet over the log and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F / 160ºc. Remove the log from the freezer. Slice into 1/4 inch thick slices and place on parchment lined sheet.
- Bake for 19 to 20 minutes or till the edges just start to change color. Cool completely and store.
- If your oven runs hot, bake for less time. The cookies get crunchy when over baked.
- Or bake as one shortbread pastry by pressing into brownie pan. Bake at 315 degrees F / 160ºc 30 minutes or longer.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I tried these and honestly… pretty disappointed. They need more fat to qualify as shortbread.
coconut oil is very fatty. it does however make crunchier result when baked a bit longer than neded
I went a little crazy here and used almond butter and a little non-dairy milk to replace soy yogurt. I have eaten six cookies 😉
I’d love to try the original recipe to see the difference in texture.
Is it possible to make the dough the day before and store it in log shape in the fridge overnight? Then I could bake them right before the event!
yes, you can keep the dough in a log form overnight.
Hello Richa, I am big fan of your recipes. I tried many curries and other entrees. They all turn out very good and tasty. I made these cookies. I baked them for 19 minutes, they came out little hard. I think I should have baked for lesser amount of time.
Can you let me know any substitute for coconut oil. Thank you.
Thanks!
Yes, bake these 2-3 mins less. Ovens can vary in temps by upto 50 deg and these cookies get hard quickly after they are baked.
Use Vegan butter for coconut oil. If you are looking to make them without oil, the texture doesnt work without.
Hi Richa …..I tried these cookies they came out well.
When I tasted it while it was little warm it was nice ,the texture of the cookie was between hard and soft.after it cools down I kept in air tight container ,next day when I ate it ,it became hard don’t know why.Can you tell me the reason.
if they got too hard, then they got overbaked. bake a minute or so less. ovens differ in temps often, and the thickness & size of the cookie also matters. You want to underbake these cookies as they can harden too much when even slightly over baked.
A bit late to this party. ; p How long do you think these might keep? I’m wanting to bake and ship vegan cookies for family and friends this year so need sturdy cookies that can be shipped overseas without getting moldy. Thanks, Carla
Hi Carla. I’ve kept them in a container for 10 days without a problem. They can be kept longer too. I think they might start to smell slightly stale after a while depending on the spices and oil used. So you can make a batch and check to see how your batch does over the week or 10 days you are planning for the shipping time.