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
Ingredients
- 1 Cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 Cup Raspberry Juice*
- 2 Cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 Tsp kosher salt
- * Defrost 2/3 cup frozen raspberries and press them through a sieve into a bowl reserving only the raspberry juice for the recipe.
I made these yesterday with white whole wheat flour. So yummy! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
[…] From weelicious […]
honestly i have the pickey daughter anyone can ever have she dosen`t eat any thing but when she tried these oh she wouldn`t stop she just kept on eating so i tried 10 more loved them all! i finaly found some food my daughter can eat i can always count on u weelicious1 thank u u saved my daughters life!
Oranges would definitely lend tons of flavor (especially if you use a little juice and a little zest), but they won’t impart color to the cookies. You could try some pumpkin puree to get them turning orange!
I made these the other day and loved them! I was thinking of making some for fall party in the shape of pumpkins. Do you think oranges would work?
These were so good and easy to make, but we made raspberry shortbread trains instead! 🙂 Classic shortbread cookie, and the raspberry adds just a hint of flavor and a pretty color.
I haven’t tried it, but I do think it would work because you want the butter to be soft, and Earth Balance is that softened butter texture! Let me know how they turn out!
We are vegan- do you think the recipe would work with earth balance?
Did anyone try with olive oil or vegetable oil instead of 1 cup of butter? Thanks =)
So excited to try these! I wonder if freshly squeezed blood orange juice would also be a fun substitution?
[…] The recipe is slightly adjusted from one of my favorite sites. Weelicious. […]
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.
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!!
Making them today!
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!
Replace the juice with half vanilla extract and half milk!
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.
They are not too soft to ice. That would be fun!
Could kids put icing on the tops of these or are they to soft?
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!
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.
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?
They were delicious…saying were, as they are now gone. Oops. My family loved them.
Exactly what I need for the preschool Valentine’s day party next week….that or your Raspberry cream cheese tarts! Yum Yum!
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!
Yum, going to make these as a surprise lunchbox treat for v day!
They have just a touch of raspberry flavor. I have not tried mixing in the mashed raspberries, but I think it would work!
These look awesome! Do they have a raspberry flavor? Could you incorporate the mashed berries into the dough for more flavor?
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!
Can I use 1/2 whole wheat flour to make them a little more healthy? 🙂
Nope! It just affects the flavor and salt content of the finished product.
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?
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.
can i use regular sugar or does it have to be powdered?
Yes you can! The strawberry juice isn’t quite as deep red, though.
Can i substitute raspberry with strawberry (using the same technique to make juice)?
Yummy! Sounds like a fun treat to make for my Valentine’s Day potluck dinner this weekend!
Yes! Been waiting for this one! Going to buy the raspberries today and get started!
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.