Baking & Desserts

Gluten Free Strawberry and White Chocolate Shortbread

20th May 2021

My gluten free shortbread is buttery, just the right amount of crumbly and melts in your mouth. I’ve marbled strawberry jam right through the dough and then dipped each shortbread into super sweet white chocolate and a scattering of freeze dried strawberries for an extra punch of flavour.

Why did I chose to develop a “Gluten Free Strawberry and White Chocolate Shortbread” recipe? Ok time to be honest, I saw that Starbucks are selling some new “Strawberry and White Chocolate Shortbread” and I got jealous. And maybe a tiny bit annoyed that Starbucks could so easily make this gluten free and they haven’t. They can’t even provide a sandwich.

So I decided I’m going to make the “**Ultimate** Gluten Free Strawberry and White Chocolate Shortbread” and put Starbucks to shame ? Did I do it?!!!

How to add the Strawberry flavour

I tried various ways of adding the strawberry flavour to the shortbread itself. Using freeze dried fruit (like the bits stuck on the white chocolate) didn’t add enough flavour and the fruit went dark in the oven, making it look like choc chip. Fresh strawberries looked better but didn’t give the flavour hit either. I finally settled on jam!! It makes the dough quite sticky and messy but as long as you cover your hands, rolling pin and surfaces in plenty of flour, it’s no harder to work with.

5 Ingredients for my Gluten Free Strawberry and White Chocolate Shortbread

1) Gluten Free Flour

Self-raising is my preference but if you’ve only got plain flour in the cupboard, it’ll still work.
Brand: I like Doves Farm FREEE

(2) Stork Block

The block of Stork in the picture below is the best if you can get it (you want the one that comes in 250g foil block, NOT a tub, and it says “biscuits and pastry” on the front)
Stork is naturally dairy free too!!
If you can’t get Stork:
- You can buy alternative brands but it has to be a vegetable oil based block. Make sure the ingredients states “vegetable oil” (usually 75%). The packet will likely say something like “baking block for biscuits”.
- Don’t substitute with a block of real butter e.g. Lurpak (which is made of milk, not oil) because the results will be very different!!

(3) Caster Sugar

White granulated sugar would be fine too. Or golden caster sugar (will just result in a slightly browner shortbread)

(4) Jam – any flavour or type will do but I like seeded strawberry 🙂

(5) White Chocolate – again, any that takes your fancy!

Optional extra: freeze dried strawberries – they come in little tubes in the baking aisle (with the sprinkles etc) but can be quite pricey so up to you if you want to go for it or not!

5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Strawberry and White Chocolate Shortbread

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Servings: 15 triangles – depending how big you’d like them!

Ingredients

250 grams Stork block - see description in the "Ingredients" section of the blog post
380 grams gluten free self-raising flour - can also use plain if that's what you've got in the cupboard
120 grams caster sugar
200 grams white chocolate
3 tbsp Strawberry Jam
Optional – Sprinkle of dried strawberries - 1 x 6g tube will be perfect!

Instructions

Make the Dough

Cut the Stork into rough squares and place into a mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar to the bowl too.
>We cut the Stork into smaller pieces to make it easier to whisk at the next stage
Cream the butter & sugar until smooth and fluffy.
>Ideally, mix with an electric hand whisk for about 30 seconds. Don't cut this time short because (1) it creates a creamy shortbread and (2) it warms up the butter which makes the next stage easier!
>You could also use a wooden spoon but you'll have to really go for it!!
Add the flour and whisk again. It'll start resembling breadcrumbs like the first picture. Keep whisking and it will then form bigger lumps like the second picture. Stop at this point!
>Don't worry about sieving the flour – just tip it in 😉
>There should be no white flour showing by the time you've finished this stage, it should be all mixed in
Use your hands to press the mix together into a big ball
>If its still quite crumbly, you might find it easier to make several balls.
Transfer the shortbread dough to a big piece of cling film
>Don’t worry if its falling apart a little, it'll firm up in the fridge
>I go for a sausage shape as it chills more evenly in the fridge than a big ball
Wrap it up tightly. Put it in the fridge for at least an hour to firm up.

Bake

Pre-heat your oven to 175oC (fan).
Remove from the fridge, remove the cling film & take a lump of the dough.
>It's easiest to do the next bit with about 1/2 of the dough at a time.
Dust your hands in flour. Take half of the dough and roll it into a smooth ball in your hands
>You can be quite heavy handed with it here, play with it like its playdough for 20 secs.
Place the ball on a floured surface and use the palm of your hand to flatten slightly. Cut it in half. Add a few tsp of jam to the top of one half of the dough, place the other half of the dough ontop and then press the whole thing back into a ball.
>The idea here is to get the jam into the shortbread without having too much on your hands because its sticky!
>Top tip: keep dusting your hands and the surface in flour to make it easier to deal with the stickiness!!
Flatten again with the palm of your hand to about the height of 1cm or 2 x £1 coins. Add some flour to your rolling pin and gently roll a rolling pin over the top to get a smoother surface.
>I dont usually recommend flattening this dough with your hand (I'd normally say use a rolling pin from start to finish) but I found it easier to use this method here because of the jam.
Repeat for the other half of the dough.
Cut out your shapes into rough triangles with a knife – don't worry about being neat! The Starbucks ones aren't!!
>If you'd rolled too thin, don't worry just gather the dough together and start again! Add more flour to the rolling pin, work surfaces and your hands.
Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, a few cm apart from each other. Place in the oven for 15 mins, until the edges are just browning.
Remove and leave ON THE TRAY until cool.
WARNING: if you try to move them before they have cooled, they’ll probably crumble. Don't be tempted to push them around on the tray either!! Just leaaaave them!!!

Decoration

Place a piece of baking paper on the baking tray/plate, big enough for all of your shortbread triangles.
Melt your white chocolate
>I find that white chocolate is easier to burn that milk chocolate. To prevent this from happening, melt your chocolate in a mixing bowl over a pan of VERY gently simmering water. Stir frequently and once it’s almost melted but there’s still a few chunks of white chocolate in there, remove it from the heat and stir stir stir until it’s smooth.
Dip the end of each shortbread in the chocolate (or spoon on a generous amount of that’s easier)
>Hold it very carefully and be gentle!! the melted chocolate can be heavy and cause the shortbread to break.
Place the shortbread back onto the baking paper. Scatter with freeze dried raspberries if you’re using them.
Leave the chocolate to set for an hour at room temperate/15 mins in the fridge.

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