I decided to make easy Valentine’s Day shortbread cookies this year because, well, shortbread cookies are my favorite cookies. And what’s wrong with a little self-love and caring this time of year?
There’s just something I love about the simplicity of shortbread – buttery, crumbly, and utterly delicious. Shortbread cookies are perfectly imperfect. Not because of the recipe or the way they taste, but because of how I roll the dough and cut them. But honestly, it’s kind of what I love about them. I’ve been using Alison Roman’s Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies recipe. What I like about this shortbread recipe, above all others, is the cookies are consistently perfect every time. They’re not too dry or too moist. Everybody loves them, and they work every time!
You can find the recipe in this post I did at Christmas time or in Alison Roman’s book, Dining In. But for Valentine’s Day, I thought it might be fun to follow her recipe but skip the chocolate chunks and use a combination of pink and red dough. I think they turned out great, and I hope you make them, too!
The Ingredients:
- Cold salted butter
- Sugar
- Light brown sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Vanilla
- Large egg (for egg wash)
- Demerara sugar (to coat the dough with)
What do I use to color the dough?
I used two shades of food coloring from this set. – cherry red and pink. Once the dough was mixed and prepared, I divided it into two equal parts. I then mixed a few drops of cherry red in one part of the dough and pink in the second part of the dough. Start slowly when adding the food coloring. You can always add more until you achieve the color of dough you prefer.
You might consider wearing rubber gloves when mixing the food coloring. While not permanent, food coloring will stain your hands and take a few days to wear off. I made that mistake once.
What special equipment will I need?
- A stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer (I prefer an electric mixer because you must blend the butter for 3 to 5 minutes until it is fluffy).
- Baking sheet (several)
- A large piece of plastic wrap
- Large bowl
- Parchment paper
- A sharp knife to slice refrigerated cookies into 1/2″ thick slices
- Silicone spatula
- Wire rack/cooling rack
Making the two-tone cookies
Cutting the dough into squares
Demerara Sugar for the Finishing Touch
Valentine’s Day Shortbread Cookies
We used the recipe from Alsion Roman, skipped the chocolate chunks, divided the dough into two, and used pink and red food coloring to make them the perfect Valentine’s Day cookie!
Ingredients
- 1 cup, plus two tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) cold SALTED butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
- Demerara sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter, sugars, and vanilla on medium-high for about four minutes or until fluffy. You will need to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides a few times.
- Then, with the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and beat until well blended, but do not over-mix because you will be blending in the food coloring next.
- Divide the dough in half and mix in the food coloring. It’s easier to add the dough and the food coloring in two steps (one for pink, one for red) using the electric mixer to get the food coloring to incorporate fully into the dough.
- Wrap in wax paper and shape into a long rectangle. Do this separately with pink and red.
- Chill for at least one hour.
- Remove from wax paper (or plastic wrap) and cut in half, then in half again. Repeat with the other color.
- Stack the red and pink in a checkerboard pattern, and as the butter softens a little, the pink and red rectangles will blend.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the dough rectangle with the egg wash and cover in the demerara sugar.
- Place on a cookie sheet about 1″ apart and bake for about 14-16 minutes. Do not overbake! The top of the cookie will not brown that much.
- Transfer to cooling racks.
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