polka dot shortbread hearts!
These polka dot shortbread hearts are perfect for your modern Valentines!
so I had an idea…
Longtime readers know that recipe testing and creation are NOT my strengths. I’m a great “executor” and can often tweak and improve an existing recipe, but coming up with one from scratch? Hmm, not so much.
THAT said, once in a blue moon I’ll get an idea in my head, which is how these cookies came to be!
I LOVE shortbread!
Longtime readers ALSO know my love of shortbread. This simple, no-fuss cookie is a charmer. And while I’ve shaped it into logs, pressed it into pans (both round and square), dropped it in scoops and even made it into little nuggets, I’ve never rolled and cut it!
shortbread makes perfect cut-out cookies!
One of my pet peeves with sugar cookies is that they tend to puff up as they bake. I like crisp edges with my rolled-and-cut cookies and struggle to get them with traditional recipes.
But shortbread contains no leavening agents so they don’t rise when they bake.
I had this idea for a modern polka dot cookie and this was my chance to try out that shortbread!
who doesn’t love polka dots?
My minimal aesthetic in both my wardrobe and my home decor extends to my baking as well. I had this picture in my head of a modern cookie with multi-colored polka dots and was determined to figure it out!
I will NEVER be a recipe tester!
And figure it out I did. I also confirmed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I could never, EVER, work in a test kitchen. I simply don’t have the patience or inclination to make multiple rounds of any recipe.
Which is to say that the recipe you see here didn’t happen with the cookies pictured here. And while I’d love to say that I rolled up my sleeves and made them again the RIGHT way – the way that YOU’LL be able to make them – well, I cannot.
Good thing I’m a fastidious note taker, and documented all the things I’d do differently next time. Lucky for you!
what ingredients do you need?
These shortbread cookies have a nice “short” ingredient list:
- butter
- sugar
- flour
- cornstarch
- vanilla
- salt
- freeze-dried strawberry powder
- unsweetened cocoa powder
how do you make them?
You’ll start by making a quick, one-bowl vanilla shortbread dough that takes all of 5 minutes to pull together.
Remove most of the dough and set it aside, while dividing the smaller portion in half. Beat the freeze dried strawberry powder into one half, and beat the cocoa powder into the other half.
Roll out the strawberry and chocolate doughs and cut out as many circles as you can (I used slightly different sized circles for each).
Roll out the vanilla dough and place the circles on top in a scattered pattern. Cut out your heart shapes and bake!
here’s what to do with the scraps!
My biggest misstep was in how I portioned the dough. Turned out I needed much more vanilla dough and much less colored dough than I thought. So I had quite a bit of the chocolate and strawberry doughs left over from the trimmings. Waste not! I re-rolled them, cut out more hearts and then cut out smaller hearts in the middles. I swapped the strawberry and chocolate middles and baked them up as well!
As for the trimmings from the polka dot cookies, I re-rolled and cut them, envisioning a cool marbelized effect but…………well, let’s just say they were NOT photo worthy and leave it at that.
Despite my struggles I’m thrilled with the way they came out and hope you try them – the right way, of course!
Polka Dot Shortbread Hearts!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons freeze dried strawberry powder
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Instructions
- Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat again. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and beat once more.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a piece of parchment paper. Take one-quarter of the dough and divide it into two equal portions. Put one of those portions back into the bowl and beat with the strawberry powder till completely combined. Remove from the bowl. Place the other small portion in the bowl and beat with the cocoa powder till completely combined.
- Roll the plain dough to 1/8" - 1/4" inch thickness between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Do the same with the strawberry and chocolate doughs. Chill till firm, about 30 minutes.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using your circle cutters, cut as many circles from the strawberry and chocolate doughs as you can. Place in a scattered pattern atop the plain dough. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and lightly roll over the dough to press in the circles. Use your heart cookie cutter to cut out as many hearts as you can. Carefully transfer to your prepared baking sheets.
- Re-roll the trimmings from the strawberry and chocolate doughs. Cut out hearts and use a small heart cutter to cut out hearts in the middles. Carefully transfer the larger hearts to your baking sheets, then place the smaller hearts in an alternating pattern in the middles of the larger ones.
- Freeze the unbaked cookies till firm, at least one hour or overnight.
- Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Bake the cookies for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool slightly on the pans, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You can make your own strawberry powder by pulverizing freeze-dried strawberries in the food processor.
- If you don't like strawberries you can simply dye that portion of the dough using food coloring (or eliminate entirely).
Nutrition
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Hi! I'm Sheri!
Welcome to my little corner of the web where you’ll find easy, delicious recipes, the best kitchen hacks and simple tips for turning your home into a clean haven that is free of toxins. So glad you’re here!
These are gorgeous!!
Aw thank you! I seriously want to do so many things differently next time but am really pleased with how they came out! 🙂