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A cover photo of a cake stand displaying sandwiched lemon curd gluten-free shortbreads next to a Ukrainian sunflower engraved rolling pin
Make Gluten-Free Lemon Curd Shortbread to Support Ukraine!!

Prepare yourself for a sweet lemony taste blast with these buttery citrus shortbreads, sandwiched together with lemon curd.

Making gluten-free shortbread is such a joy. For the occasional treat, it is so surreal to bite into a crisp, butter-rich biscuit infused with citrus notes to accompany a perfectly brewed tea. Taking it another level higher, adding some lemon curd between two lemon shortbread biscuits is seriously lemony-exciting and delicious!!

How do these shortbreads help Ukraine?

I was inspired to make these lemon curd shortbreads when I came across a company in Poland online called Pastrymade®. This small business makes at least 100 different types of engraved rolling pins specifically to give an embossed design on cookie/biscuit dough.

Click here to view a short video of one of their rolling pins in action

The lemon curd shortbread dough being embossed with the Ukrainian sunflower engraved rolling pin

Pastrymade® employs and trains Ukrainians within their community, plus gives a proceed of the profits to help Ukrainian families settle in Poland. I chose the “Stand with Ukraine” rolling pin, which has a sunflower design, Ukraine’s national flower.

Their website has images of their entire range of rolling pins and is easy to navigate should you wish to order a rolling pin or two online. They deliver worldwide and I was pleased with the quality and price. Do be patient with the delivery time, as it can take several weeks to receive it, due to the unique situation.

An adobe photo of gluten-free lemon curd shortbreads
Some tips for the perfect shortbread

Use a normal, plain rolling pin to roll out the pastry first.

Make sure the dough has rested and is chilled. If the dough starts to come to room temperature, it may stick to the engraved rolling pin.

Sprinkle flour (tapioca is my favourite as it is light and has a neutral flavour) on the rolling pin and shake off any excess before rolling.

Press down quite firmly as you roll the rolling pin away from you.

Select a 5-cm round or square cookie cutter to cut out each shortbread and use a small spatula to transfer it to a lined baking tray.

A cookie cutter cutting around the sunflower embossed design on the gluten-free shortbread dough sheet

Chilling or even freezing the shortbread before baking for 10 to 15 mins helps keep the embossed design on the dough.

Do not add too much baking powder to your recipe or they will over-rise while baking and lose their design.

Either buy or make your own lemon curd to sandwich the shortbreads together. Make sure it is well-chilled beforehand.

Lemon curd in a jar

Storing these lemon curd shortbread in an airtight tin or container will keep them fresh for at least one week if refrigerated. They taste at their best and are refreshing when eaten chilled.

 

Three gluten-free lemon curd shortbreads stacked on top of eachother
A cover photo of a cake stand displaying sandwiched lemon curd gluten-free shortbreads next to a Ukrainian sunflower engraved rolling pin

Gluten-Free Lemon Curd Shortbreads

by Sandra - Fun Without Gluten
Prepare yourself for a sweet lemony taste blast with these buttery citrus shortbreads, sandwiched together with lemon curd.
Using a flower-engraved rolling pin will create the sunflower design, but if you rather use a flower-shaped cookie cutter, this will still look pretty. Remember to cut a small hole in the centre of some of the shortbread biscuits to let the lemon curd peek out.
Once baked and assembled, they stay fresh for one week in the fridge.
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Dough Resting Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 2 minutes
Course baking
Cuisine General
Servings 14 sandwiched shortbreads

Equipment

  • Stand mixer, or
  • Handheld electric beater
  • Flower-engraved rolling pin (See blog for rolling pin information)

Ingredients
  

Gluten-Free Shortbread

Extras

Instructions
 

Gluten-Free Shortbread

    Dough preparation

    • Using a bench stand mixer or electric handheld beater, beat the butter with the icing sugar and lemon zest until pale and fluffy.
      The butter mixture pale and fluffy after beating it
    • Add the egg yolk and briefly mix it in.
    • Fold the flour, xanthan gum and baking powder into the butter mixture using a spatula.
    • Bring the dough together by pressing it into a ball. If it feels too dry, add the iced cold water until it feels soft and keeps together well. If your hands feel warm (or it is a warm day), rub some ice cubes on your hands to keep them chilled. The dough will appreciate the coolness and result in a good shortbread dough.
      a ball of gluten-free lemon curd shortbread dough
    • Cover and chill for 20 mins.

    Rolling out the dough

    • Between two sheets of baking paper, place the chilled dough on the bottom sheet and start rolling it out to about 1/2 cm thick.
    • Carefully peel away the top sheet of baking paper from the rolled out dough. If it sticks slightly, sprinkle some tapioca flour over the dough and roll gently one or two times with a floured rolling pin to smooth the top.
    • Sprinkle the sunflower rolling pin with some tapioca flour and tap the excess off it.
    • Starting at the bottom of the dough, press down and slowly roll away from you, pressing as you roll until you have reached the top of the dough.
      The lemon curd shortbread dough being embossed with the Ukrainian sunflower engraved rolling pin
    • Using a 5-cm round cookie cutter, press evenly over each sunflower design on the dough.
      A cookie cutter cutting around the sunflower embossed design on the gluten-free shortbread dough sheet
    • Transfer the cut-out shortbread to a lined baking tray, keeping them 3 cm apart. (They don’t spread while baking).
    • To create a hole in the centre of the sunflower embossed shortbread, use the base of an icing nozzle or an apple corer to cut out a small hole in some of the shortbread cut-outs.
      Showing how to cut the centre of each gluten-free lemon curd shortbread sunflower

    Baking

    • Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
    • Bake for 10-12 mins on the middle shelf.
    • Allow the baked shortbread to cool on the tray for 5 mins before transferring them to a wire rack to cool down completely.
      A wire rack displaying baked gluten-free lemon curd shortbreads

    Assembling

    • Place 1 tbsp of cold lemon curd on the plain side of a shortbread biscuit.
      Adding the lemon curd to the gluten-free shortbread biscuits
    • Cover the bottom shortbread biscuit and lemon curd with another shortbread with the design facing upwards. Press gently and place on a tray.
    • Chill for a minimum of 30 mins so that the lemon curd stiffens and holds the shortbread together without sliding off.
    • Serve lemon shortbread straight from the fridge.

    Notes

    • Keeps one week chilled in an airtight biscuit tin or container
    • Suitable to freeze
    Keyword gluten-free baking, gluten-free biscuits, gluten-free lemon curd, gluten-free shortbread
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    Please mention @fun_without_gluten or tag #funwithoutgluten!
    A close up of several gluten-free lemon curd shortbreads on a platter with the Ukrainian sunflower engraved rolling pin next to it

     

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