Vegan Lemon and Lime Shortbread
These simple, zesty shortbreads are a must for your biscuit tin – and they make great gifts, too!
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This recipe only needs five simple ingredients to make a stunning lemon and lime shortbread.
The zesty citrus fruit gives these biscuits a light, fresh flavour which tastes great with coconut cream and fresh fruits.
You can make this shortbread in (almost) any shape you like, and its wonderful to give as a gift or serve as part of an afternoon tea.
Are lemons and limes always vegan?
It seems fairly straightforward that all fruits should be vegan, but unfortunately that’s not always the case. Some fruits, particularly citrus fruits, are coated with a wax to protect them, and this coating can be made from beeswax or shellac.
Since you’ll be using the zest of the lemons and limes for this recipe, you’ll need to use unwaxed fruits so the lemons and limes you buy should be vegan by default.
However, if you do buy waxed fruits, even vegan ones, you will need to give them a scrub before zesting to remove the wax.
Which dairy-free butter is best for shortbread?
When replacing dairy butter in baking, there are lots of vegan butter alternatives you could choose from. Most vegan margarines will works with this lemon and lime shortbread recipe, but one made with soya or sunflower oil is ideal.
The most important thing in making shortbread is to keep your butter cool to prevent the biscuits from spreading in the oven. So keep your butter in the fridge until you’re ready to use it, and try to avoid working in a very warm room. It’s important to pre-heat your oven, too!
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 20
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 20
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
(Servings: 20)
- 6.25 6.25 g dairy-free butter
- 2.75 2.75 g caster sugar
- 0.05 0.05 lemon, zest only
- 0.05 0.05 lime, zest only
- 9 9 g plain flour
- To sprinkle on top
- 1 1 g caster sugar
- 0.025 0.025 lemon, zest only
- 0.025 0.025 lime, zest only
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Beat the butter, sugar, lemon zest and lime zest together until smooth. Then stir in the flour, until a smooth dough is formed.
- Turn the dough out onto a work surface and roll it out to 1cm-thick.
- Cut 20 circles or fingers out of the dough and place them onto a non-stick baking tray. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Once chilled, bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar and lemon and lime zest, and leave to cool.
Nutritional information per biscuit (27g): Calories 88, Fat 4.5g, Saturates 0.9g, Carbohydrate 12g, Sugars 4g, Fibre 0.5g, Protein 0.9g, Salt 0.11g
Add more biscuits to your tin with these Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies!
