Sweet Valentine’s shortbread heart cookies with chocolate and jam, on this special day, why not give homemade heart-shaped cookies? Last year I already won over many with my corn heart cookies, but for this year’s Valentine’s Day, I’m sure that with these decorated treats I will amaze everyone! Cute and delicious, strictly made with heart-shaped cutter, these cookies are prepared with a colorful and natural shortcrust base and filling of jam and white chocolate.
An explosion of goodness! They are easy to make, delicious, and full of love. By following this recipe, you’ll have fragrant and sweet cookies to share with your special someone.
See you in the next recipe!!!
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economic
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 20 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Valentine's Day
- Energy 325.99 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 43.31 (g) of which sugars 20.42 (g)
- Proteins 4.57 (g)
- Fat 15.76 (g) of which saturated 9.90 (g)of which unsaturated 5.48 (g)
- Fibers 0.76 (g)
- Sodium 19.16 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 78 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Ingredients for about 20 cookies
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 5.3 oz butter
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 vial food coloring (red 5ml)
- 1/3 cup raspberry jam (or red currant)
- 2.8 oz white chocolate
- to taste sugar pearls (silver)
- to taste powdered sugar
Tools for shortbread hearts
- Stand mixer
- Pastry board
- Decorative rolling pin
- Heart cutters
Recipe: Shortbread Heart Cookies
Note: you can knead by hand or with a stand mixer (I opted for the latter).
In a stand mixer with a hook, add the flour, sugar, whole egg, half a teaspoon of baking powder, and cold butter pieces. Turn on the machine and knead quickly until you have a homogeneous mixture. Take half of the dough and set aside.
Add a vial of red food coloring (5 ml) to the remaining dough and continue to mix until the shortbread is evenly colored.
Form two separate rectangular dough balls, one natural and one colored, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate to harden for at least 30 minutes.
With a heart-shaped decorative rolling pin (I used one that was a gift, you can choose from the many available on the market, both silicone and wood like this one) roll out the two sheets (colored and red) to a thickness of about half an inch.
Now shape the cookies using the larger heart-shaped cutter (you can choose the size of the cookie you prefer) then with a smaller heart-shaped cutter, cut out half of the cookies. You can always bake the cut-out cookies to create simple shortbread cookies.
Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in a static oven at 356°F (180°C) for about 15 minutes (time and temperature may vary according to your oven’s characteristics), the cookies should be slightly golden and not too dark.
Remove from oven and cool on a cookie rack.
Now it’s time to assemble the cookies:
fill the whole hearts with raspberry or red currant jam, dust the cut-out hearts separately with powdered sugar that you will then place on top of the others to create your cookie.
Do the same with the red hearts, but fill them with white chocolate melted in a bain-marie.
Your Valentine’s cookies are ready to be served, optionally decorate them with silver sugar sprinkles or other decorations.
Soft, crumbly, and delicious, here they are, your Valentine’s Day treats.
Want to impress your loved one? Arrange them in a pretty box with a red ribbon and watch the impact!!! Happy holiday.
Storage and Tips
Storage: Shortbread heart cookies can be stored in a tin box or in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Tips: You can also use other types of molds, as long as they have a heart-shaped cutout for Valentine’s Day. You can also have fun making them two-tone, with neutral shortbread underneath and a colored heart on top, or vice versa.
Optionally, you can decorate with colored sprinkles, chocolate chips, or sugared red hearts.
If you love dark chocolate, you can substitute it for white chocolate.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can I make these cookies at another time of the year?
Of course, just use neutral molds (you can find many here) and do not add the red food coloring vial to the dough.
What if I don’t have a heart-shaped decorative rolling pin?
No problem, just use a plain rolling pin; the cookies will be less decorated but just as delicious!
