To make heart shaped shortbread cookies, first make your shortbread cookie dough and get ready to roll it out.
Grab your favorite heart shaped cookie cutters.
Wilton’s heart shaped cookie cutter is a decent size, giving you a 3 ” heart shaped biscuit.
Should you chill shortbread dough before baking?
Typically it’s best to place shortbread cookie dough in the fridge for 30 min before rolling it out. The fridge solidifies the ingredients together so it makes it much easier to roll out the dough this way.
How to Make Heart Shaped Shortbread Cookies
- Roll out your shortbread cookie dough until it’s about 1/4″ in thickness.
- Place your favorite heart shaped cookie cutter on your dough so it has good margins around the cookie cutter.
- Gently press the cookie cutter into the dough until it’s full cut through and you feel the resistance of the table.
- Remove the heart shaped cookie cutter from the shortbread dough vertically.
- Continue cutting your cookie dough until all the cookie dough has been cut.
- Transfer the shortbread cookie dough to a baking pan.
- Using a fork, gently poke holes in the shortbread dough.
- Reroll the dough and use your cookie cutters to cut more cookies.
- Bake the cookies for the required time.
- Let the cookies cool on a cooling rack.
- Cookies are best within 2-3 weeks after baking and should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Why do you poke holes in shortbread?
You need to poke holes in shortbread dough prior to baking to let the steam out of the cookies while it bakes. This makes the cookies bake evenly, without letting it brown on the edges.
What happens if you put too much butter in shortbread?
If you put too much butter in your shortbread, the butter will seep out of the cookie and spread the cookie dough out all over the baking pan in the oven. They will be very difficult to get off of the pan.
Why do my shortbread cookies fall apart?
Shortbread cookies will fall apart if their isn’t enough fat to keep them together, or if the dough is too warm. If your dough is a bit crumbly only, you may just need to chill the dough for 30 min before rolling it out. Be patient when working with shortbread dough, as it does take a little bit to roll it out evenly. Alternatively, you can add 1 tbsp more butter at a time to your dough to have it come together to roll out.
Wilton’s heart cookie cutter can also be used as a love heart cookie cutter for valentines day.
You can decorate your love heart cookies many ways by adding royal icing to the top of them.