These Scottish Shortbread Cookies are low carb (just 1.5 net carbs) and gluten free. Full of that classic buttery flavor, they’ll go great with an afternoon cup of tea or coffee!
For this recipe you’ll need:almond flour, coconut flour, hemp seed, Swerve or erythritol, and grass-fed salted butter
If you are in a hurry click here to go straight to the recipe.

I was addicted to Lorna Doones when I was a kid. You know, back when I actually had a metabolism? I’d get a box of Lorna Doones, a brick of cream cheese, a knife, and a Dr Pepper and sit on the floor of my room sketching, eating, and listening to Mott the Hoople. Most of you won’t remember them but trust me, it was a great band.
Obviously that’s no longer and option.
A few days ago I asked on my Facebook page what people’s favorite cookie was. Someone said, Scottish Shortbread — and I wish I could find a good low-carb one?and other people agreed. That sounded like a challenge to me. You may not know this but when food bloggers ask you questions on social media it’s to get an idea of how we can improve on what we’re doing. Most of the time we’re posting things hoping that you are as hungry for the recipe as we were. When you answer those questions or comment and ask for a particular recipe you can bet most of us will be trying to get it for you as quickly as possible. Don’t be afraid to message me on Facebook, leave comments, or even emailing me to let me know what you need. You are the reason this blog is here.
Anyway, it can be hard to get textures right when you are adapting to low-carb. That was my big struggle but I think I found the sweet spot of flour mixtures that makes it happen. Be sure to use a good, grass-fed, real (salted) butter because that’s where a chunk of your flavor is going to come from. I use Kerrygold – and they aren’t asking me to say that. I seriously spend the extra on their butter because it has a great, fresh flavor. I get it at Costco which is a little easier on the wallet.

Let The Scottish Shortbread Cookies Cool Completely !!!!
The only other thing that you need to make sure to do for success is to let the Scottish shortbread cookies cool COMPLETELY… and I do mean completely. If you try to remove them from the pan before they’re cool you’ll have a handful of tasty crumbs. You’ve been warned.
Twice.
If you’re going to make these a lot you might as well make them pretty. Using a ceramic shortbread pan presses a thistle design into the shortbread as it bakes. That makes it even BETTER than Lorna Doones! Swerve sweetener is excellent in this recipe. It’s a combination of erythritol and oligosaccharides and measures cup for cup like sugar. Plus it won’t cause your blood sugar levels to be unstable. Finally, you are going to need a food processor to get the best results with this recipe.

Here’s the Scottish Shortbread Cookies recipe. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Table of Contents
Scottish Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup shelled organic hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup Swerve sweetener or other cup for cup sugar free sweetener
- 3/4 cup well chilled salted grass-fed butter, cut in sqares
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Generously butter a 10-inch glass pie pan
- Blend the almond flour, coconut flour, hemp seed, and sweetener in a food processor.
- With the food processor on low drop the squares of chilled butter in slowly, one at a time.
- Pulse until the mixture comes together and looks like a soft cookie dough.
- Press the mixture evenly into the pie pan.
- Score in 8 equal wedges with a knife.
- Prick each wedge with a fork.
- Sprinkle a little more sweetener over the top and press in gently.
- Let stand for 10 minutes. This helps the coconut flour to absorb moisture.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until top is golden brown.
- Remove from oven. LET COOL COMPLETELY or it will fall apart.
- Cut along score lines and enjoy.
Nutrition
If you liked these Scottish Shortbread Cookies you may also like…



Hi. I’m wondering about the discrepancy between the calories and fiber listed under Notes and what’s listed under Nutrition. Could you please clarify? Thanks!
Hi Diane,
Thank you for letting me know about the comment in the notes. That was outdated and I thought I’d deleted it, oops. Apologies for that. I let the tool recalculate the nutrition information and confirmed all the ingredients were properly accounted for. Thanks again for letting me know, I deleted the incorrect notes and the nutrition information is still correct.
Happy Holidays !
I like your recipes but I noticed many have hemp seeds, what can I substitute for hemp?
I found a recipe I want to try for Raspberry scones. I have been trying different recipes since my diagnosis with type 2 diabetes. I purchased coconut flour to substitute and have Stevia for sweetener. I wanted to let you know that I have followed you for years and tried many of your recipes. I am selfishly delighted that you are on the same crusade as I am. That being finding ways to prepare foods that we would be denied with this disease, in a healthier way. I am curious about the differences in coconut and almond flour and why you use both.
Thank you! I am so glad we’re “long time” friends!
Coconut flour tends to be very dry if it’s used by itself. This is my recipe for raspberry thumbprint scones. 🙂 https://lowcarb-ology.com/low-carb-raspberry-thumbprint-scones/