Gluten Free Melt-In-Your-Mouth Shortbread

Nana Lee's Note:

Adapted from The Food Allergy Cookbook Found this for my friends who need gluten free dessert! I'm guessing at the servings because none was stated. This is an updated review by DreamoBway. She has an excellent other use for this dough --- UPDATE from DreamoBway: "I tried making these in mini muffin tins, hollowed out a little well, and filled them with pecan tassy filling. I also upped the cooking temp to 350 and they browned beautifully. It was a successful experiment! UPDATE(12/15/09) new use for cookies from ukichix -" I think this would work well as a GF crumb crust... bake 1 large cookie in a 8x8 pan, then "crumb" it up, add some cornflake crumbs and prepare a crumb base. I will try and repost the results! revision: pressed the entire recipe into a 9x13 pan and baked for 30 mins (until golden on the edges), let cool - and "crumbed". Used 1/2 of these crumbs and 1/2 cornflake crumbs, with some sugar and melted butter to prepare a GF like Graham Cracker Crust with was sweet and soft. Perfect for Crumb Crust desserts."

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 24 cookies

• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioner's)
• 1 cup rice flour
• 3/4 cup butter

Directions:

1. NOTE #1 - See the variation on the dough by Chef #1178009.
2. NOTE #2 - SEE NEW WAY TO BAKE THESE, FROM DreamoBway, LISTED IN MY DESCRIPTION ABOVE.
3. NOTE #3 - SEE NEW USE FOR THIS COOKY LISTED IN MY DESCRIPTION ABOVE AS "UPDATE(12//15/09)".
4. Sift cornstarch, sugar and rice flour together.
5. Add butter.
6. Mix with hands until soft dough forms. Refrigerate one hour.
7. Shape dough into 1" balls.
8. Place about 1-1/4 inches apart on greased cookie sheet; flatten with lightly floured fork.
9. Bake at 300ºF(150ºC) for 20-25 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
10. VARIATIONS: Form balls as above. Roll in finely crushed corn flakes or crushed nuts. Press top of ball with thumb. Add a dab of jelly.
11. Mix in 2 tbls. finely chopped citrus peel and/or 2 tbls. finely chopped nuts. Flatten with lightly floured fork.

Reviews

[Chef #1178009]

Love it! I have made this recipe multiple times. I recently have modified the recipe to 1/2 C Almond Flour, 1/2 C Rice Flour, 1/2 C Corn Starch, 1/2 Cup of butter. Due to the Almond flour you need less butter because of the fat content. I really like the nutty taste the almonds add to the mix. I did try the recipe with 1 C Almond flour for the rice/almond flour mix but it turned out too greasy in my opinion. I kept the original cooking time.

[Colleen M.]

This is the best shortbread I've ever made. I needed a gluten free crust for my cheesecake and this worked amazing. I just pressed the dough into the base of my springform pan and only baked the cookie for about 3/4 of the time (no browning at all), then poured the cheesecake filling on top and cooked that according to the instructions and it turned out amazing. Thanks for posting!!!

[kmn24]

Great recipe!! I pressed the dough once chilled into mini tart pans and baked at 350F for approx 25 min - when it was lightly browned. It tasted awesome!! The texture was great and there was no aftertaste (I get that sometimes with my GF mix). Served it at a party and everyone enjoyed it, even those who were not GF. It was a bit crumbly for a tart so I might add a bit of xanthan gum next time to help it hold together better.