Shortbread

Why shortbread is rated low

Shortbread comes in low, but only at one biscuit. The published serving data puts 1 biscuit (12.9g) in the low range, and no individual FODMAP subgroup is recorded as raised at that amount, so what you are managing here is the total FODMAP load of the serving rather than one particular group. That load climbs fast for something so small: by 1⅞ biscuits (24g) shortbread is already moderate. The whole story of this page sits in the gap between one biscuit and two, and nothing beyond 1⅞ biscuits (24g) has been tested.

What changes your risk

• Serving size This is the rating, more or less. 1 biscuit (12.9g) is low and 1⅞ biscuits (24g) is moderate, so the second biscuit is the point where shortbread leaves the low range.
• How big the biscuit is The tested serving is a weight, not a shape. A thick bakery wedge or a petticoat tail broken off a large round can be a good deal more biscuit than 1 biscuit (12.9g), so judge by the size of the piece rather than by the fact that it is a single item.
• Stacking across the meal A low rating is per serving, not per sitting. One biscuit next to other foods that are each at their own low serving still adds to the total FODMAP load of that afternoon, and a tea tray is a quiet place for that to happen.
• Flavoured and filled versions Plain shortbread is what was tested. Shortbread studded with dried fruit, sandwiched with jam or sweetened with honey is a different food, and dried fruit in particular packs far more in because drying removes the water and concentrates everything left behind.
• Spreading servings out One biscuit with morning coffee and another much later in the day is an easier total to carry than two on the same plate, since the tested serving describes what arrives at once.

What else works

If one biscuit is not enough of a treat, move sideways rather than upward. A plain sweet biscuit and a wholemeal savoury biscuit each have their own tested low serving, so alternating beats doubling the shortbread. Plain oats, rice cakes, peanuts, macadamias, a bowl of strawberries or a few grapes all fill the snack slot without leaning on the same tin. The lookalikes worth knowing about are fruit-filled biscuits, which are high FODMAP at a single small biscuit, shortbread with dried fruit or honey worked into it, sugar-free biscuits sweetened with sorbitol, maltitol or xylitol, and anything listing inulin or chicory root fibre, which is added as a fibre and is high FODMAP in its own right.

How to keep it low

Buy plain shortbread rather than the iced, filled or fruit-studded versions, and read the ingredient list for honey, dried fruit and chicory root fibre before the tin goes in the trolley. Packet format does a lot of work here: fingers and small rounds portion themselves, while a large round or a bakery slab leaves the decision to you. Take one biscuit out, close the tin and put it back in the cupboard before you sit down, because an open tin on the table is how 1 biscuit (12.9g) quietly becomes 1⅞ biscuits (24g). Keep it airtight so it stays crisp and the one biscuit still feels worth having.

Common questions

how much shortbread is low fodmap

1 biscuit (12.9g) is the tested low serving. At 1⅞ biscuits (24g) shortbread moves into the moderate range, so one biscuit is the amount to work with.

can i eat shortbread on the elimination phase

Yes, at 1 biscuit (12.9g), which comes in low. Tolerance is individual, and anything larger is worked through with a dietitian rather than guessed at.

is two shortbread biscuits too much

The published data tests 1⅞ biscuits (24g) as moderate, so a helping around that size is no longer low. Larger amounts than that have not been tested here.

are chocolate or fruit shortbread the same as plain

No. The tested serving is plain shortbread, and versions with dried fruit, jam, honey or added chicory root fibre carry their own FODMAP load on top of the biscuit.