DIY Valentine’s Day Shortbread Heart-Shaped Cookies

 Preparation: 30 minutes | Cook: 15 minutes  7 ingredients  Bakery

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 February 8, 2020  Jump to Recipe  Print

It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Nowadays it does not matter if you are Asian or non-Asian, Valentine’s Day everywhere has become quite commercialized and it’s almost customary to buy flowers and confectionary for your loved ones. But why not do it yourself and make some heart-shaped shortbread cookies at home to express your affection and love. These buttery shortbread heart-shaped cookies are easy to make and hard to resist with their delicious buttery, crumbly, and melt-in-your-mouth sensation. Even my husband who doesn’t like sweet stuff could not say no to them. They can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: ~2.5 hours

Makes about 20 cookies depending on the size of cookie cutter

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (4 oz / 125g) unsalted Irish butter¹, softened at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 ¼ cups (6.5 oz/200g) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 oz (85g) semisweet chocolate chips/chunks

Preparation:

1. Using an electric mixer, mix the Irish butter until creamy. Then add the sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla extract and continue to mix until fully combined.

2. Add the flour and continue to mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Then take the dough out and use your hands to shape the dough into a ball. Then wrap the ball in plastic wrap and chill in a refrigerator for about 1 hour. (Chilling prevents the cookies from spreading too much during baking and also helps concentrate flavors).

3. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Wrap the roller with plastic wrap (this prevents dough from sticking to the roller) and roll out the dough ¼ inch thick on a surface dusted with plenty of flour.² Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible. Place the cookies 1 inch (2.5cm) apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Gather the scraps, roll out the dough, and cut out more cookies. Repeat one or two more times as needed until the dough is used up.

4. Bake until the edges just begin to brown, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a rack or flat surface to cool completely.

5. Put the 3 ounces of chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30 second increments until the chocolate is melted. Be careful as the glass bowl can get quite hot. Stir vigorously until chocolate is smooth.

6. Use a small shallow spoon to scoop some melted chocolate and carefully apply chocolate on half of the heart-shaped cookie.³ Place the chocolate covered cookies on parchment paper and let the chocolate cool completely.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Notes:

1. I used Kerrygold Unsalted Irish Butter for this recipe. Due to its higher butterfat content, Irish butter has a richer, creamier texture than regular butter, which makes it an ideal choice for shortbread cookies. If you can’t find Irish butter, regular butter works well too.
2. The dough after chilling would be quite hard. It would require some force to roll out the dough. Due to the flakey texture, the dough also has a tendency to break off.
3. This method tends to result a thick layer of chocolate. Alternatively, you can use an icing spatula to apply a thinner layer of chocolate.

Adapted from Savoring France by Williams Sonoma