With the holidays upon us, I thought it would be a good time to start sharing some of my favorite recipes, by transforming them into delicious and easy gluten-free recipes, taking all of the guess work out of it for you!

Shortbread has a long and storied history in my household.  My great grandmother was an award-winning baker and with her Scottish and German heritage, it was part of our culinary heritage.  So every holiday season, my mother would recruit me to make shortbread as gifts for friends, family and neighbors.  It’s a tradition that fell by the way side when I was first diagnosed with Celiac Disease, as I had no idea how I was going to transform this favorite recipe into a gluten-free gem even with being a skilled baker myself – It terrified me!  How could I get it to taste just as good if not better?

Luckily I’ve learned a lot since first being diagnosed and to not give up with recipe testing!  So here are the steps I took to create this recipe into a gluten-free delight:

Gluten-Free Shortbread:

• Two (2) Sticks of Salted Butter
• Two (2) Sticks of Sweet Butter
• One (1) Cup of Palm Sugar
• Five (5) Cups of Gluten-Free Flour
• Pinch of Salt

Let your butter sit out so it becomes soft to touch (takes about 15-30 minutes depending upon the ambient temperature in your house).  Set your oven at 350 degrees.  Once butter is soft, place in a mixing bowl or large bowl (depending upon if you have an electric mixer, as this can be mixed by hand).  Add in one (1) cup of palm sugar.  *Note: Original recipe calls for regular while refined sugar, but in an effort to make all my recipes healthier, I’ve switched to palm sugar for the following reasons:

• Palm sugar is low-glycemic
• Natural – Nectar from the palm flour is taken and dried which turns into sugar like crystallines (had a similar taste to brown sugar if your not familiar with taste)
• Nutrient rich as it contains a number of key vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including potassium, zinc, iron, and vitamins B1, B2, B2 and B6

With your butter in the mixing bowl, add in the 1 cup of palm sugar, creaming the butter and sugar together until the sugar is fully incorporated.  Next measure out 5 cups of flour.  For this recipe I used a combination of two (2) flours.  I used 3 cups of almond flour and 2 cups of Cup 4 Cup flour.  Add in one (1) cup of flour at a time to the sugar/butter mixture on medium speed if your using a mixer.  As you add in the flour you will notice the mixture increasing in volume and becoming fluffy.

Once you’ve incorporated all of the flour into the mixture, prepare your pan.  I have two recommendations here:

• If using metal pan (similar to the picture) make sure to spray with non-cook coking spray, ensuring you’ve covered the entire pan including the corners
• If using a glass pan (recommended) lay down a sheet of wax paper a bit larger than the pan so you have the ability to lift out the shortbread once done

Once you’ve prepared your pan place 1/2 the mixture into the pan spreading out so it is about a 1/2 inch to 3/4″ thick on the bottom of the pan.  For decoration you can take a fork and “stamp” the shortbread with the tips of the fork creating a “dot like” pattern. The shortbread will raise slightly as it bakes.  Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Set your timer to 15 minutes to check the color of the shortbread, as you want it a light golden brown.  If at 15 minutes its not golden brown, what it minute by minute, but don’t cook past 20 minutes as it will result in a very dry shortbread.  Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

Remove from the pan and cut into one (1) inch squares.  You can serve with sliced almonds on top, fresh berries, or box up with some pretty tissue paper and give as a gift!  Perfect to share with a girlfriend over a cup of coffee or tea too!  I hope you enjoy this recipe and I look forward to sharing more of my family holiday recipes over the coming week! 

Special Note from Blinded by the Bite!

I try to stay away from products that use and/or contain Xantham Gum for my own personal nutritional/health reasons, however, I’ve been testings the C4C products lately and decided to use C4C in this recipe.  My decision on staying away from Xantham Gum is in no way a reflection on C4C’s products.  It is a personal decision and everyone must be responsible for their own health and what we put into our bodies.  Additionally, as someone who writes about gluten-free products and recipes,  I believe it’s my responsibility to try products out in order to speak about them from educated place personally and professionally.

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