Heart Shaped Biscuits

This recipe for Heart Shaped Biscuits is one of my favorite recipes to make during the month of love when you want to spoil a special Valentine.

There's nothing like Valentine's Day to bring out your inner baker, whether you're baking for your partner, your parents, or your little one. We all know that love is best shown through food. So carry on showing the love with this Cherry Cupcake recipe or this Raspberry Vanilla Cake.

This heart-shaped biscuit recipe is for easy vanilla dough made in a food processor. Once the dough comes together, it is wrapped in clingfilm, rests until chilled, rolled, cut into the shape of a heart, and then baked.

I kept the decorating simple for this recipe. I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to shape the dough and then dusted the cookies with a tiny bit of icing sugar after baking. If there is a single day of the year that you need to get into the kitchen and bake, it is Valentine's Day.

If you are looking for other recipes that are perfect for Valentine's Day try out these Raspberry and Chocolate Cupcakes or this Red Velvet Mug Cakes recipe.

And if you happen to be after other biscuit recipes then you have to try out these Dulce de Leche Cookies or these Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies. 

Ingredients

To make these cute heart cookies you will need the simple ingredients listed below. Remember to always use fresh quality ingredients when baking. 

• Unsalted butter 
• Castor sugar 
• Extra-large eggs 
• Vanilla extract 
• Cake flour 
• Salt 
• Confectioner's sugar 

Unsalted butter - choose unsalted butter rather than salted butter when baking, so you can adjust the saltiness on your own. Take the butter out of the fridge about an hour before making this recipe. It shouldn't be rock hard or too soft.

Castor sugar - use castor sugar or superfine sugar for this recipe.

Cake flour - use cake flour, plain flour, or all-purpose flour to make these cookies.

Extra-large eggs- out of their shell, the eggs I use weigh 56 grams. If you aren't sure if you have the same eggs, weigh the eggs you have and adjust accordingly.

Powered sugar - these cookies are decorated with a simple dusting of powdered sugar after baking. 

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

To make this butter cookie recipe follow the simple steps below. First, you will make the dough and then rest it in the fridge for about an hour. Once chilled roll out the dough and use your favorite heart-shaped cutters to shape it. After baking, the cookies are dusted with icing sugar. 

STEP 1: Cream butter and sugar. Add the softened butter and sugar to a food processor. Pulse until well combined and there are no lumps of butter.

STEP 2: Add the eggs and vanilla. First, add the whole egg to the creamed mixture with the food processor running, and pulse until combined. Then add the egg yolk and vanilla and pulse again.

STEP 3: Add the dry ingredients. Sift together the flour and salt and add this flour mixture to the egg and butter mixture all at once. Pulse until a dough forms, do not overmix.

STEP 4: Chill dough. Remove the dough from the food processor, cover it in cling film, and refrigerate for an hour.

STEP 5: Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F) and line two large baking trays with parchment paper.

STEP 6: Roll dough. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of ½ cm ( ¼ inch) using a rolling pin.

STEP 7: Shape cookies. Use heart-shaped cookie cutters to shape the dough. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking tray in a single layer.

STEP 8: Bake. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the cookies are light golden brown. Allow the baked cookies to cool on a cooling rack.

STEP 9: Dust with icing sugar. Dust the cookies with icing sugar, serve, and enjoy!

Hint: If your dough is difficult to roll, place it back in the fridge to firm up. Chilled dough is much easier to work with and holds its shape better when baking.

Variations

This is a great recipe to get creative with! You can choose to fill these cookies by sandwiching two together.  Try out different jams like sweet raspberry jam, apricot, or blueberry. You could also fill these cookies with chocolate spread, peanut butter, lemon curd, or even drizzle them with royal icing and sprinkles. 

Adding flavors to this simple sugar cookie dough is also an option! Lemon zest, almond extract, and even spices will work! Have a look at this recipe for Spiced Cherry Jam, or this Homemade Clementine Marmalade Jam to learn how to make your own jam. 

Equipment

To make the cookie dough you will need a food processor or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. This recipe can also be made using an electric hand mixer.

You will also need a large baking sheet, a wire rack for cooling, and different-sized heart cookie cutters. This recipe makes about 30 to 40 cookies depending on the size of the cutter you use.

Storage

After baking and decorating these made-from-scratch biscuits, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for about four days.

For freezing, the cookie dough can be frozen before baking. Cover the dough in plastic wrap store it in the freezer for up to 3 months and bake them at a later date. Thaw the dough in the fridge overnight before using.

These classic heart biscuits are delicious with a cup of morning coffee or as an after-dinner treat with a cup of tea! They won't last long, soon enough you'll be making another batch!

These cookies also make the perfect edible cake decorations, so try out this Vanilla Raspberry Cake or this Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling if you'd like to get extra busy this Valentine's Day.

Show your love language with these Valentine's Day heart cookies! If you give this recipe a try and love it as much as I do, please leave a comment and a star review below. I love hearing from all of you!

Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter and follow along on social media @with_love_kitty, never to miss a recipe. 

Happy Baking 

With Love, 

Kitty