These gluten free lemon and coconut short breads tasted great and held together really well. So well that when I took a bite and looked down at the short bread in my hand it was still there. It didn't crumble away into nothing. It didn't break my teeth or scratch my throat. I didn't even start choking because I breathed in the dust that sometimes is gluten free baking. Nope, these little short breads are total bliss.
Another thing I learnt is that letting the dough rest in the fridge overnight allows it to draw in moisture from the butter, making it less inclined to crumble in your hands before you can even get it close to your mouth. It also makes the dough a lot easier to work with and you can roll it out quite thin. So no cheating please! If you don't have any coconut flour you can use all rice flour and try adding a little desiccated coconut. Or, try emitting the lemon and coconut flavour all together and use some orange blossom or rose water (~1 tsp).
Ingredients
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup coconut flour*
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
3/4 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
Zest of half a lemon
1 free range egg
* You can find coconut flour at whole foods stores, if not you can easily use all rice flour and add a little desiccated coconut, or omit it entirely and just use the lemon to flavour the short breads.
Method
Mix together the flours and cardamom in a bowl and set aside. Then, cream the sugar and butter until light and smooth using an electric mixer. Add the egg and lemon zest and continue to beat until it is mixed through. Slowly mix in all the dry ingredients. Cover and chill overnight (or for at least 6 hours).
Preheat the oven to 150° Celsius. You can either roll the dough into balls and squish them down with a fork country style, or roll it out flat and use a cookie cutter. If you are rolling out the dough, place it between two sheets of cling wrap. This way you can get a nice even size without it sticking to the bench or your rolling pin.
Place on a lined baking tray and cook for around 20-30 minutes, depending on size. You want to cook them until they are firm, but haven't started to brown on top. When they are ready let them cool and, if you like, ice them with lemon icing sugar.
