Two-Tone Cocoa and Vanilla Cookies: The Recipe for Perfect Shortbread Hearts
If you’re looking for a sweet and scenic idea to celebrate love in all its forms, the two-tone cocoa and vanilla cookies are the perfect choice. Originally proposed for Valentine’s Day, these heart-shaped cookies are actually the ideal gift for any special occasion: from Mother’s Day to a sweet thought for a friend or for your parents.
Besides being aesthetically beautiful, they are incredibly crumbly and fragrant, the non plus ultra when accompanied by a steaming cup of tea or thick hot chocolate.
One Dough for Two Cookies: The Quick and Easy Recipe
The secret to making these cookies without going crazy in the kitchen is starting with a single base dough. I used the tested recipe of my famous spiral cookies, making small changes to make it even more practical.
Why Choose This Recipe
This dough for cookies is really easy and practical because with one process you get two cookies (one vanilla and one cocoa), speeding up the preparation time. Also, making these cookies with children is a creative and fun activity, perfect for rainy afternoons. I chose the heart shape for its symbolic meaning, but you can use any shape to suit your everyday life.
If you’re a cookies lover, I invite you to take a look at these other ideas and replicate them:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 30Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Valentine's Day
Ingredients
⚠ THIS RECIPE CONTAINS ONE OR MORE AFFILIATE LINKS. The products I recommend are the same ones I use in my recipes; purchasing them through my blog helps support me and my work, at no extra cost to you!
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup type 1 flour
- 2/3 cup butter (cold, cubed)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/5 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp orange liqueur (only if needed)
- 1 pinch salt
- to taste strawberry jam
Tools
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Dough scraper
- 1 Plastic wrap
- 1 Rolling pin
- 1 Cookie cutter
- 4 Baking paper sheets
- 1 Baking mat
- 1 Cooling rack
- 1 Cookie cutter
Steps
In a large mixing bowl, sift and mix the two flours.
Add the cold butter cut into small pieces.
Then work until you get a sandy mixture, but without working it too long, to avoid overheating the butter.
Add the egg, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and the sugar.
Knead everything very quickly by hand.
Once you have a compact and uniform dough, divide it into two equal parts with the help of a dough scraper.
Add to one of these the sifted cocoa with a tablespoon of liqueur* to help it absorb more quickly.
After the necessary time, roll out both doughs between 2 lightly floured sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 1/8 inch if you want to make double-filled cookies, a little thicker (¼ inch) for traditional ones without filling**.
Cut out small hearts from the white dough using heart-shaped cutters.
Cut the same number of small hearts from the cocoa dough.
Now, place the white hearts into the empty spaces in the cocoa dough.
Do the same with the cocoa hearts in the empty spaces in the white dough.
Roll over the doughs to adhere the hearts well to the bases.
Cut the cookies using a large heart cutter.
If you have decided to fill them, half of these will need to be punched with the smaller heart cutter. Lift them one by one using a spatula and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or with a recyclable perforated mat.
If you decide not to punch them, simply cut them slightly thicker than 1/4 inch. It’s up to you. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 12 minutes. The cookies should be colored at the bottom, along the entire edge, but light on the surface.
Proceed to quickly knead the doughs again and create other cookies with a really cute marbled effect until all the doughs are used up. Once cooked, transfer them one by one to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
Once cold, fill the bases of the unpunched cookies with strawberry jam and seal with the punched ones.
Let the heart-on-heart cookies cool completely before storing them in airtight containers.
You can join the cocoa cookies with other cocoa ones or alternate them with neutral ones to create color games. It will be really fun!
And voilà… your hearts on hearts two-tone cookies are ready to be gifted and enjoyed!
Enjoy from La Cucina di FeFè!
Preservation
👉 You can store the hearts on hearts two-tone cookies, both simple and double layer with jam, at room temperature, inside airtight containers for 2-3 weeks.
Tips, Notes, Variations and Suggestions
🟣*The choice of adding a tablespoon of liqueur directly into the dough makes it special. The first pairing I chose is Orange (both Grand Marnier and Cointreau work well): orange and chocolate are a fail-safe combination. The citrus note makes the cookie less cloying. Or, also excellent is the Coffee Liqueur for a touch of coffee in the cocoa dough enhances its intensity without overpowering the vanilla. Finally, rum, the classic pairing par excellence. Its caramel notes enhance the cocoa and add depth to the vanilla.
🟣**For perfect balance between crunchiness and crumbliness, roll out the dough to a thickness of 4mm. If you make them too thin, the two-tone contrast will be less visible; if too thick, they might remain moist inside.
🟣For a sharp and precise two-tone effect as if they were from a bakery, resting the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes is essential. Cold dough is easier to work with and holds its shape during baking. The thicknesses must be uniform: roll out the two doughs (vanilla and cocoa) to the same height to ensure even baking.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
1. Can I substitute the butter for a lactose-free version?
Yes, you can use clarified butter or a good plant-based butter. If you prefer oil, remember to add an extra egg or a little flour to balance the consistency, but bear in mind that oil-based dough is less suitable for two-tone insets compared to butter-based dough.
2. Can I prepare the dough in advance?
Absolutely yes. You can prepare the dough up to 2 days in advance and keep it in the fridge, or freeze it for 3 months.
