Learn how to make delicious, true, and tested heart-shaped whipped shortbread cookies for special occasions, romantic dinners, and Valentine’s day.
Only a few simple ingredients are needed! Buttery and soft cookies are sure to please anyone.
Cookie recipes are my favorite recipes to create, including my popular Oatmeal Banana Cookies and Red Velvet Cookies. I absolutely love how these buttery cookies turned out.
This shortbread recipe is excellent for any occasion and is a great addition for your holiday cookie tray. Customize these cookies with different cookie shapes for any Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving.
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Ingredients
You need 4 main ingredients: flour, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract, salt, sprinkles are actually optional!
- Flour - like with any other classic shortbread cookie, you need all-purpose flour here. A good quality Gluten free flour brand could work too (just make sure they contain xanthan gum just like Bobs Red Mill and King Arthur). Make sure to measure your flour correctly as it is often a common mistake in making shortbread cookies. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a kitchen scale.
- Butter - the main flavor and texture for these come from butter. It doesn't matter if you are using salted or unsalted butter. However various brands add different amounts of salt to their butter and for this reason, I like to use unsalted for my baking recipes. If you opt for salted then reduce the added salt in the recipe.
- Vanilla Extract - I highly recommend using the highest quality you can find (and all-natural, not the artificial kind) because it does make a difference in the flavor.
- Salt - use kosher or sea salt for the most natural flavor. Salt enhances and intensifies the overall sweetness, but feel free to leave it out.
- Sprinkles - optional! I made these for Valentine's Day so these colorful sprinkles were perfect for romantic occasion.
For the full list of ingredients, please scroll down to where you'll find the recipe card.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepared a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
In a food processor or in a bowl combine butter, flour, icing sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.
With an electric mixer beat the mixture on medium speed until small crumbs form. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add in the sprinkles. Knead the dough until the ball forms and place it on an even surface.
For easier rolling, place the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll the dough into an even layer with a large rolling pin. Roll until the dough is about ½ inches thick.
I like to add more sprinkles over the rolled layer and roll again a couple of times to press in the sprinkles even more.
It’s just personal preference and makes a beautiful presentation.
Cut the cookies out with heart-shaped cookie cutters.
Transfer these onto the prepared cookie sheet and bake cookies for 17-18 minutes until the edges become lightly golden brown.
Let cool completely on multiple wire racks if possible.
The cookies will not spread as much but you’ll still need to leave some space between them and cook these in batches.
How do they taste?
These melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies are just like from my childhood, they are made with real butter, soft, and a little crumbly.
I also have similar buttery cookies and these Spritz Cookies are made with cream cheese.
Tips
- The cookie dough can be made in advance. It will keep for about a week in the fridge or a month in the freezer. Wrap the cookie dough ball into plastic and thaw bringing it to room temperature before using.
- Make it more fun by adding your favorite toasted nuts, warming spices, dried fruit, or mini chocolate chips.
- Make sure to measure your flour correctly as it is often a common mistake in making shortbread cookies. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a kitchen scale.
- Use the highest quality vanilla extract or bean paste. It does make a whole lot of difference in flavor. For something different, try almond extract instead.
- Try my Sugar Cookie recipe next time as it is something in between a shortbread and a sugar cookie. Delicious and great for decorating during the Easter holidays.
Freezing and Storing Instructions
Store heart-shaped Shortbread cookies in an airtight container for 5-7 days. Or refrigerate for 8-10 days, and let come to room temperature before consuming.
Baked cookies can be stored in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 2-3 months. Let that well, these actually freeze pretty well.
You can also freeze the shortbread cookie dough for 1-2 months. Make sure to wrap these in plastic wrap tightly before freezing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Shortbread cookies can be tricky to bake as they will not get golden brown like any other cookie recipe. These will start to change color on the bottom first and this is an indicator that your cookies are ready.
This will ensure that they are buttery and soft crumbly inside. If you want them to be more crumbly and crunchy, go ahead and bake for extra minutes until the edge on the top will start to a golden brown.
Shortbread cookies have a distinct buttery flavor and tend to be moister than sugar cookies.
Both are similar yes but sugar cookies usually have more ingredients such as eggs and leaving agents. The cookies tend to taste sweeter and less dense than shortbread cookies.
For baking recipes, it is important to follow the recipe instructions if you want the perfect results. The unsalted butter is your best bet because you can control the amount of salt you add to sweet cookies.
More or less salt will make your shortbread cookies too sweet or too salty. All the butter brands add different amounts of salt to their recipes. That's why it is best to use unsalted and then add more or less salt as you are used to doing or the recipe instructed.
Thank you so much for learning how to make a whipped shortbread cookie recipe. Please feel free to comment with any questions you may have! I love reading your feedback.
Rita
Easy Baking Recipes
If you're looking for more scrumptious baking recipes you have to try our cream cheese Christmas Spritz Cookies, classic Carrot Cookies, moist Pumpkin Muffins, and Cranberry Bread next!
Did you make this recipe? Please be sure to leave a rating and a comment below. Thank you!
📖Recipe
Valentine Whipped Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter cubed
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup confectioners' sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tablespoon sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepared a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- In a food processor or a bowl combine butter, flour, icing sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. With an electric mixer beat the mixture on medium speed until small crumbs form. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add in the sprinkles. Knead the dough until ball forms and place it on an even surface. For easier rolling, place the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll the dough into an even layer with a large rolling pin. Roll until the dough is about ½ inches thick. I like to add more sprinkles over the rolled layer and roll again a couple of times to press in the sprinkles even more. It’s just personal preference and makes a beautiful presentation.
- Cut the cookies out with heart-shaped cookie cutters.
- Transfer these onto the prepared cookie sheet and bake cookies for 17-18 minutes until the edges become lightly golden brown. Let cool completely on multiple wire racks if possible.
- The cookies will not spread as much but you’ll still need to leave some space between them and cook these in batches. These melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies are just like from my childhood, they are made with real butter, soft, and a little crumbly.
Notes
- The cookie dough can be made in advance. It will keep for about a week in the fridge or a month in the freezer. Wrap the cookie dough ball into plastic and thaw bringing it to room temperature before using.
- Make it more fun by adding your favorite toasted nuts, warming spices, dried fruit, or mini chocolate chips.
- Make sure to measure your flour correctly as it is often a common mistake in making shortbread cookies. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a kitchen scale.
Nutrition
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Recipe Adapted from Your Home Based Mom.
The ingredients listed in the photo are wrong. You've listed 'all-purpose flour' and then in a smaller bowl, 'flour'. The smaller bowl should say 'confectioner's sugar' I believe.
thank you Gary!