Description
These Heart Jam Cookies are a delightful and festive treat, perfect for sharing with loved ones. Featuring a tender buttery cookie base infused with almond extract, each cookie is elegantly cut into heart shapes with a raspberry jam center and finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. They are simple to prepare and bake to a beautiful light golden perfection.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tsp pure almond extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
Filling and Topping
- ¾ cup raspberry preserves
- 1 cup powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper to prevent cookies from sticking.
- Cream Butter, Sugar, and Almond Extract: Using a standing mixer or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the softened butter, sugar, and almond extract together until the mixture becomes creamy and fluffy, ensuring good incorporation of the flavors.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the flour and kosher salt to the wet mixture, mixing continuously until a smooth, dough-like consistency forms without any streaks of flour.
- Prepare Dough for Rolling: Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured cutting board. Dust the top of the dough with a bit of flour to prevent sticking during rolling.
- Roll the Dough: Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out evenly to about ¼ inch thickness to ensure even baking.
- Cut Large Heart Shapes: Use a large heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out 12 big hearts and place them on the prepared cookie sheets, spaced evenly.
- Cut Mini Hearts in Center: Using a smaller heart-shaped cutter, carefully cut 6 mini hearts out of the center of 6 of the large heart cookies, creating the iconic jam window effect.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 8–10 minutes, or until they are lightly golden around the edges. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Dust Mini Heart Cookies with Powdered Sugar: Place the cookies with the heart cutouts onto a wire rack and dust generously with powdered sugar to create a pretty contrast against the raspberry jam.
- Spread Raspberry Jam: Take the whole heart cookies without cutouts and spread about 1 tablespoon of raspberry preserves evenly over the topside.
- Assemble Cookies: Carefully align and place the powdered sugar-dusted mini heart cookies on top of the jam-spread whole heart cookies, pressing gently to sandwich them together.
- Enjoy: Your charming Heart Jam Cookies are ready to be enjoyed with a cup of tea or shared as a sweet gift!
Notes
- You can substitute raspberry preserves with strawberry or apricot jam for a different flavor.
- Ensure that the butter is softened but not melted for best dough texture.
- Chilling the dough for 30 minutes before rolling can help with cutting precise shapes.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days to keep them fresh.
- For a gluten-free version, replace all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour blend, adjusting as needed.
