Heart Cookies with Jam are not only beautiful looking but amazing tasting! What a great idea these would be for Valentines day or an anniversary! These cookies could be changed up for other holidays too by simply changing their shape. I have egg shaped cookie cutters and a bunny I could use for Easter. Infuse pastel sprinkles into the dough and they’d be a great Easter treat as well. These shortbread cookies are not too sweet but “filled” with flavor.
The jam heart cookies have orange zest infused into the dough while a layer of raspberry (or your favorite) jam is spread over one layer and powdered sugar dusts the top layer.
The dough used to create these cookies is basically a shortbread dough. Using all-purpose flour helps to give them a slight chew to their crumbly texture. The orange zest that is added to the dough is subtle but just enough in my opinion to add that little something extra. With a one simple changes these can be vegan and I will discuss that below.
HOW DO YOU STORE THESE HEART COOKIES WITH JAM? KEEP THE COOKIES IN AN AIRTIGHT CONTAINER ON THE COUNTER OR IN THE REFRIGERATOR. THEY WILL BE GOOD FOR UP TO 5 DAYS. *THE JAM WILL CAUSE THEM TO BECOME SOFTER OVER TIME.
CAN THESE HEART COOKIES WITH JAM BE FROZEN? YES, YOU CAN FREEZE THESE COOKIES FOR UP TO A MONTH. THERE ARE TWO OPTION: 1) FREEZE THEM TOTALLY COMPLETED AND ASSEMBLED. 2) FREEZE THEM SEPERATELY AND ADD THE JAM AND POWDERED SUGAR ONCE YOU REMOVE THEM AND THAW THEM OUT. THAW THEM IN REFRIGERATOR FOR 24 HOURS AFTER PULLING THEM FROM THE FREEZER.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR HEART COOKIES WITH JAM
With a few simple ingredients that many of you will already have in your pantry, you can make these awe inspiring and drool worthy cookies.
UNSALTED BUTTER Using unsalted butter is helpful in controlling the amount of salt used in recipes, so nine times out of ten I use unsalted butter and add in what I need for each recipe.
GRANULATED SUGAR Granulated sugar is used to give our dough a little sweetness without being too sweet.
ORANGE ZEST Orange zest is, of course, added to just add a hint of orange flavor to the cookie dough.
PURE ALMOND EXTRACT Much like Vanilla, Almond extract is used to add flavor to your food. Almond flavor goes amazing with fruit, but you could replace this with vanilla.
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR I use all-purpose flour to give the typically crumbly cookie a little chewiness. If you use bread flour it would be a denser cookie, while cake flour would create a lighter and fluffier consistency.
KOSHER SALT Kosher salt is used because it draws out more moisture and that is what we are looking for in these cookies.
RASPBERRY JAM/PRESERVES I just love raspberry jam on cookies and it gives the romantic red color to these heart cookies. You can, however, make them with whatever kind of jam or jelly you prefer or mix them up a bit and make a few of each.
POWDERED SUGAR Powdered sugar is used to dust the tops of these cookies and gives them the stark white against red display. It, of course, also adds that touch of sweetness to each bite.
**KITCHEN TIPS** *If your dough is too dry, as shortbread cookie dough can be, just lightly sprinkle water with your fingers over the dough until it is workable and allows you to roll it out. *You can use any jam or jelly you prefer. *If you do not have two sizes of heart cookie cutters you could also make thumbprint cookies by pressing your finger into the dough of each cookie creating a heart shape. *If you make thumbprint cookies simply dust them with powdered sugar before you add the jelly. *The cookies need cooled completely so the powdered sugar doesn't melt into the cookies.
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EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR HEART COOKIES WITH JAM
HEART COOKIE CUTTERS
BAKING SHEETS
SILICONE MATS
ROLLING PIN
MIXER
HOW TO MAKE HEART COOKIES WITH JAM
It’s really quick and easy to make these beautiful cookies with a 30 minute chill time after creating the dough. The preparation time is only 20 minutes and they bake for 7-9 minutes. Let them cool and decorate for a mouthwatering gorgeous dessert option.
PREPARATION FOR HEART COOKIES WITH JAM
First thing is creaming the butter, sugar, and almond extract together into a light and creamy texture.
Next add in the orange zest, followed by gradually adding all the flour into the batter to form a nice dough.
Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, form into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for 30 minutes.
MAKING HEART COOKIES WITH JAM
While the dough is chilling gather your baking sheet or sheets and line them with parchment paper or silicone mats. Also, prepare your work surface for rolling out the dough. You can dust flour to a large cutting board or use a large silicone mat and dust which ever option with flour. Don’t forget to rub flour on your rolling pin as well.
Once the 30 minute chill time has past, remove the dough and place it on your prepared surface and roll it out to 1/4″ thickness.
Use your large cookie cutter heart and cut out as many hearts as you can on the piece of dough. Gather up all the extra dough to re-roll out and cut more hearts out until it has all been used.
Use the smaller heart cookie cutter to cut a smaller heart out of the inside of half of the hearts to create the two layers needed to make these cookies.
Place the cookies on the baking sheets and bake them for 7-9 minutes. You really don’t want these to turn brown. Keep an eye on them as they bake and when you see they are just starting to change color in the slightest remove them. This was at the 8 minute mark in my oven. They should look like the picture below. You can barely tell a difference. You can see the cookie in the lower right corner has a couple bubbles on it. I did deflate them by gently pressing them with my finger but that was another sign that they were done.
DO I HAVE TO USE RASPBERRY JAM? NO, YOU CAN USE JELLY OR PRESERVES IN ANY FLAVOR YOU LIKE. YOU COULD EVEN DO MULTIPLE AND HAVE SEVERAL DIFFERENT OPTIONS. IT IS EASIER TO USE A SMOOTH OPTION THOUGH BECAUSE IF IT’S CHUNKY ITS HARD TO SMOOTH OUT.
CAN THESE BE MADE VEGAN? ABSOLUTELY, ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TRADE OUT THE REGULAR BUTTER WITH VEGAN BUTTER AND YOUR SET!
Heart Cookies With Jam
Equipment
- 1 set Heart cookie cutters in two sizes I used 3 inch and 1½ inch sizes
- baking sheet
- Parchment paper or silicone mat
- Mixer-handheld or stand
- mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 c unsalted butter softened
- ½ c sugar
- 1 tsp pure almond extract
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 2⅓ c flour
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¾ c raspberry jam/preserves
- ¾ c powdered sugar
Instructions
- Using either a stand mixer or hand held mixer, beat the butter, sugar and almond extract together until light and creamy.1 c unsalted butter softened, ½ c sugar, 1 tsp pure almond extract
- Gradually add in the orange zest, salt, and flour until it becomes a nice dough texture.2 tsp orange zest, ¼ tsp kosher salt, 2⅓ c flour
- Gather the dough up into a ball shape, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- While it's chilling prepare your work area. You can use a large cutting board or mat that has been lightly floured. Gather your baking sheet or sheets and line them with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- After 30 minutes have passed, and you work area is prepared, preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Place your dough ball onto the lightly floured surface (also rub some flour on your rolling pin) and roll the dough out to approximately ¼" thickness.
- Cut out as many large hearts as you can with this piece of dough. Place 6 of the large hearts on your baking sheet and then use your smaller heart cookie cutter and cut small heart out of the center or 6 of the remaining large hearts. Place 6 of those on the baking sheet as well.
- Continue with this process using all of the remaining dough.
- Place the cookies in the preheated oven for 7-9 minutes until they just start to brown slightly.
- Remove them from the oven and cool completely.
- Separate the solid hearts from the heart rings. The heart rings you will now dust with powdered sugar.¾ c powdered sugar
- Spread the raspberry jam onto the solid hearts and then place the powdered sugar heart rings on the top. Serve and enjoy!!¾ c raspberry jam/preserves
