Jam Love Heart Butter Cookies (for your Valentine)
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 100g (1 cup) icing / confectioners' / powdered sugar
- 230g (1 cup) butter (softened)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 280g (2¾ cups) flour (see note 1)
Jam:
- 100g (1 cup) frozen berries
- 1 tbs water
- 2 tbs icing / confectioners' / powdered sugar
Drizzle (see note 2):
- 1 tbsp milk or water
- icing / confectioners' / powdered sugar (as much as is needed to create a thick drizzle)
Instructions
Cookies:
- Pre-heat the oven to 175°C (350°F).
- Prepare a large baking tray (you may need two) with grease-proof paper.
- Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla.
- Add the flour, and mix together until a dough forms.
- Using your hands, quickly work the dough into a ball, then divide it into two pieces (it's easier to work with in two smaller bits rather than one large).
- Flour a surface and then take one piece of dough and roll out until it is fairly thin. You will need an equal amount of tops and bottoms, and for the bottoms you simply cut out the dough with your preferred cookie cutter shape.
- For the tops, use the same cutter, but this time, also cut out a hole in the middle (either using a smaller version of the same shaped cutter, or something to contrast). Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Using a palette knife, gently transfer the cookies on to a baking tray (I use a little flour on the end of the palette to help scoop up the cookies). Keep them well spaced apart as they do spread a little.
- Bake for around 8-10 minutes, just until the edges are only slightly browning. The rest of the cookie will look pale and very soft, but they will harden as they cool (keep an eye on them because one minute can make the difference between perfect and overbaked cookies).
- Leave the cookies on the baking tray for ten minutes or so, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Jam:
- Heat the berries in a pan with the water and icing sugar until they start to bubble.
- Reduce the heat and let them cook for about 20 minutes, leaving you with a lovely thick mixture.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
Assembly:
- Turn the cookies without a hole over so they are face down.
- Put around 1 teaspoon of jam in the middle of each one and smooth it out so it is fairly level but not quite reaching the edges.
- Decorate the top of the cookies with either icing sugar or drizzle frosting BEFORE you place on top of the bottom cookie.
- Press down VERY gently to attach the top cookie (they are still very fragile at this stage and I broke several of my first attempts because the jam was in more of a heap and I used a little too much force). Enjoy!
Notes
I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made this recipe with imperial measurements.
- You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
- Use a drizzle of dark chocolate instead, if you like.
