Raspberry Shortbread Hearts
There are many times that I have been driving in my car for an hour or more before realizing I’ve been listening to my kids’ CDs.
It’s usually not until I’m at a red light and catch the person in the next car staring at me all head bopping and full on lip syncing along to something like “Shortnin’ Bread” by the awesome Laurie Berkner. I probably would look less crazy were the two car seats behind me not empty, but the truth is, I really dig the music!
Which brings me to that shortnin’ bread. Considering that I must hear that song over a dozen times a week, I seem to always have shortbread on the brain. While I have been making a traditional version for years, Valentine’s Day is almost here and I was curious to see if adding some deep red raspberry juice to the dough would produce a pink cookie. It took me a bunch of tries to arrive at a true pink hue, but once I did the kids fell in love. Chloe was so tickled she just walked around the house with a cookie in her hand and squealing, “they’re pink!” (I guess the song’s lyrics are true — “Mama’s little baby loves shortnin’ shortnin’….” — cause Chloe really does!)
Not only are these cookies pink and easy to make, they make a great gift for the ones you love the most!
Raspberry Shortbread Hearts (Makes 36 1 ½ inch cookies)
1 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 Cup Raspberry Juice*
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 Tsp Salt
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer (or use a hand mixer) and cream together for 3 minutes.
3. Add in the raspberry juice.
4. In a separate bowl whisk together flour and salt.
5. Add the flour into the butter mixture until just incorporated.
6. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll until ½ inch thick.
7. Using a 1 1/2 inch heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies.
8. Transfer hearts to cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.
9. Bake 20-22 minutes.
10. Cookies should be firm but still soft.
11. Cool and serve.
* Defrost 2/3 cup frozen raspberries and press them through a sieve into a bowl reserving only the raspberry juice for the recipe.
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Sounds great and oh so easy! — thanks for the tip on making raspberry juice because I’ve needed it for another recipe and they don’t sell it anywhere I know.
Yes! Been waiting for this one! Going to buy the raspberries today and get started!
Yummy! Sounds like a fun treat to make for my Valentine’s Day potluck dinner this weekend!
Can i substitute raspberry with strawberry (using the same technique to make juice)?
Yes you can! The strawberry juice isn’t quite as deep red, though.
can i use regular sugar or does it have to be powdered?
The powdered sugar dissolves into the butter better creating a more creamy and smooth dough. I have found the regular sugar to be a tiny bit gritty. You can use regular sugar, but it will be a slightly different consistency.
Other than the obvious with unsalted butter not having salt, does using unsalted butter change anything in the cookie dough? Like the way it rolls out, or bakes or anything along those lines?
Nope! It just affects the flavor and salt content of the finished product.
Can I use 1/2 whole wheat flour to make them a little more healthy?
I tried that I didn’t like the consistency. They just weren’t shortbread that way.
But you can try and let me know what you think!
These look awesome! Do they have a raspberry flavor? Could you incorporate the mashed berries into the dough for more flavor?
They have just a touch of raspberry flavor. I have not tried mixing in the mashed raspberries, but I think it would work!
Yum, going to make these as a surprise lunchbox treat for v day!
Can’t wait to try these, we love shortbread cookies! And I have to say your entry made me laugh, I always catch myself singing along to kid music when I’m alone in the van!
Exactly what I need for the preschool Valentine’s day party next week….that or your Raspberry cream cheese tarts! Yum Yum!
They were delicious…saying were, as they are now gone. Oops. My family loved them.
Oooh! I was planning to make and decorate sugar cookies for my son’s kindergarten class, but these are very tempting!
Would commercial raspberry juice (ie, the stuff meant for drinking) be ok?
If it is just pure raspberry juice that would be perfect! If it has a bunch of additives it might be too thin and sweet.
Tried these these weekend as a pre-Valentine’s day treat as we were having some toddler friends over. They were a big hit and I was surprised at how nicely raspberry they tasted. Yum!
Could kids put icing on the tops of these or are they to soft?
They are not too soft to ice. That would be fun!
I have a friend who has an allergy to berries. What if I want to do just plain cookies. What do I replace the juice with? Water? Milk? Thought I would add some vanilla to it and use nutella for a sandwich cookie.
Replace the juice with half vanilla extract and half milk!
Just made these and they are delicious! And sooo easy! I added a little bit of melted chocolate drizzle just for a bit of fun!
Making them today!
I just made these and they are fantastic! Not too sweet and with just enough raspberry flavor. I had some extra raspberry juice, so I combined it with a drop of lemon juice and some confectioner sugar to make a glaze. We drizzled them over top and they are so cute and festive. Love the color! Happy Valentine’s Day!!
After my son ate these, he told me I should be a baker when I grow up! These cookies are delicious, and the house smells incredible.
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So excited to try these! I wonder if freshly squeezed blood orange juice would also be a fun substitution?