There's nothing better than baking from the heart and these Valentine's Shortbread Cookies are the perfect way to show your loved one how much they mean to you.
These raspberry chia jam cookies are made with a delectable shortbread dough, sandwiching together a layer of sweet jam. YUM!
RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus extra to roll out the dough
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam chia jam
METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 160°C, In stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together butter, icing sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. This may take a bit – at least 3 minutes. Continuing with the stand mixer, add flour to the mixture until just combined. At this point, a ball of dough will begin to form.
2. Remove dough from stand mixer, and knead with your hands until a full ball forms, about 1 minute. Wrap in plastic wrap, and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to harden so it’s easier to roll out.
3. On a floured surface, roll out dough with a rolling pin, adding extra flour to your rolling surface and rolling pin if dough begins to stick. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.
4. Using 3 inch circle cookie cutter, cut out circle shapes, re-rolling and cutting scraps.
5. Using 1 1/2 inch heart cookie cutter, cut out shape in centre of half of the circle cookies.
6. Arrange whole and cutout cookies on parchment-lined baking sheet
7. Bake on top and bottom racks, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until edges are light golden, about 20 minutes.
8. Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool.
9. Dust icing sugar over cutout cookies. Spread jam over bottom of each whole cookie. Place on cookie with jam filling, sugar side up.
TIPS:
1. Ensure the butter is soft to mix well through the dough
2. Valentine's Shortbread Cookies can keep up to 4-5 days in the fridge in an airtight container, holding their firmness and flavour.