Raspberry Jam Valentine Cookies
Treat your loved ones to these scrumptious raspberry jam-filled Valentine Cookies this year! Sweet raspberry jam sandwiched between two buttery sugar cookies then dusted with powdered sugar. A gift to yourself or loved ones – these cookies are pretty much love in cookie form!
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I don’t know about you but after the holidays I am pretty much done with cookies for a bit… then Valentine’s call and Boom.. back so sugar land!
Cookies were always a huge part of my childhood and are pretty synonymous with my grandmother. There was never a visit with my grandma that didn’t include tea and cookies. While she never as fancy as jam sandwich cookies she did make a mean shortbread and gingersnap.
I want my kids to have the same upbringing where making cookies for the holidays is a tradition and a shared experience that brings generations together in the kitchen. My kids have been baking with me since they could stand on a chair at the counter. These cookies I am certain will become a new family tradition.
What makes these valentine’s Day cookies great?
- Super simple to make requiring only a few everyday ingredients you likely have in your kitchen
- They look pretty
- Perfect for letting your creative juices flow. You can cut the dough into any shape you like, sandwich them with jam or not, ice them, sprinkle them with sugar… the sky is the limit!
- Fun for the kids to get involved. Even the little ones can have fun using the cookie cutters and decorating.
- They can be filled with any jam you like or even a chocolate spread like Nutella
- These make an excellent give and look fabulous on a cookie tray
Ingredients & Substituions
- Butter – Room temperature unsalted butter.
- Granulated sugar
- Egg – This is the glue that holds the cookies together.
- Vanilla extract
- Confectioners sugar – Yup… this cookie recipe uses sugar in all forms! In Canada, we call confectioner’s sugar icing sugar. And then we’ll dust with more sugar in the end!
- All-purpose flour – Normally for cookies I like to use pastry flour but for these cookies, since we need to have a more stable firmer dough all-purpose flour works best because of its higher protein content.
- Baking powder – The leavening agent that helps the cookies rise…not much just enough to give them a flaky softer texture.
- Raspberry jam – or any jam you prefer but let’s face it raspberry is the best!
Making raspberry valentine cookies
Add the room temperature unsalted butter to a large bowl and beat with a hand-mixer until it is light and fluffy. It should turn lighter in colour. Add in the white sugar and continue to mix until blended. Then add the egg and vanilla and mix a little more.
Add in the confectioner’s sugar and baking powder and mix with the hand-mixer until blended.
Slowly add in the flour a 1/4 cup at a time and continue to mix. The mixture gets tougher to mix near the end so depending on how powerful your hand-mixer is I like to transfer my mixing to a fork or my hands to finish much like you would a shortbread.
The goal is to mix as little as possible at this point so sometimes the pressure of the fork and the warmth of your hands works best to bring the dough together into a ball.
Lightly dust a flat surface with some flour and roll the dough out to a 1/8 inch thickness.
You will need two cookie cutters. One that is larger and one that will fit in the centre of the larger heart but will also leave a 1/2 inch buffer between the two to create a frame of sorts.
Cut the larger heart shapes out first and lay them on a baking sheet. You should be aiming for 20-24 hearts depending on the size of your cookie cutters. Start with 20 and if you have extra dough after you are done cutting the tops then you can always go back and make more.
Place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350F for about 10 minutes or until they are firm and just starting to brown on the edges. Remove from the baking sheet and transfer to a cooling rack.
Repeat the same step by rolling and cutting the dough with the larger heart first and then again with the smaller heart in the centre.
Place the heart shape “frame” on the baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown.
Remove them from the oven and carefully transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once completely cooled evenly spread the raspberry ham over the entire top of the solid heart-shaped cookie bottom. Place the cut-out heart on top and super duper gently press so that the top sticks to the jam. Be careful not to press too hard or you risk breaking the cookie though.
Now it is time to get crafty! Yup baking isn’t always just measuring cups and sugar!
Get out a piece of paper… any white paper will do. Trace an outline of the smaller heart cookie cutter. And using scissors cut the heart out.
Then roll a little piece of tape like you would when adding a bow to a gift and then tape it to the centre of the paper heart. I find the tape sticks better than regular paper vs wax or parchment.
Now take that little paper heart and place it lightly on top of the jam centre. This prevents the jam from being covered with powdered sugar when you go to dust the cookies and keeps the red centres red.
Add a little icing sugar to a small sieve and lightly shake it above the cookie to lightly dust the cookie. Remove the paper heart using the tape as a handle and Voila… the red centre has stayed powder-free.
It isn’t a must-do step but it does look nicer when the cookies have that nice jewelled red centre.
Now don’t get freaked out. I know what you are likely thinking… holy moly that sounds like a lot of work. And really it isn’t.
Just a lot of tiny steps but easy steps. And it is a great way to spend time in the kitchen with loved ones making not just cookies but making memories. Some of my best memories were made cooking and baking with friends and family.
Storing raspberry valentine sugar cookies
These cookies are best eaten fresh and not frozen. The jam I find gets a little weird and dried out when frozen so just eat and enjoy! To keep them fresh, store them in a tightly sealed container on the counter.
Avoid putting them in the fridge because it will cause the cookie to soften and lose their flaky crunch.
Other valentine’s Day treats
- Pretty In Pink Overnight Chia Pudding
- Cocoa Spritz Cookies
- Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Tart
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Raspberry Jam Valentine Cookies
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Sheet
- Large Bowl
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Hand-mixer or stand mixer
- Spoon
- Heart-shaped cookie cutters – large and smaller
- Marker or pen
- Paper
- Scissors
- Tape
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup confectioners sugar divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup raspberry jam or preferred jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- To a large bowl add the butter and beat with a hand-mixer until light and fluffy. Add in the granulated sugar egg and vanilla and continue mixing.
- Add in 1 cup of the confectioner's sugar and the baking powder and mix until combined.
- Slowly add in the flour a 1/4 cup at a time and blend with the hand-mixer. When the dough becomes denser you can stop with the hand-mixer and move on to a fork or your hands to combine and form into a ball.
- On a lightly floured surface roll 1/2 of the dough out to an 1/8 inch thickness and cut with the large heart-shaped cookie cutter. Transfer the cookie hearts to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until the edges just start to brown.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Roll the other half of the dough out as you did before and cut again with the large heart-shaped cookie cutter and then again with the smaller heart cookie cutter in the centre being sure to leave a 1/2 inch border.
- Place the heart cutouts on the baking sheet and carefully remove the smallest heart in the centre. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookie just start to brown. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer to a wire rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely.
- Once the cookies have cooled spread the raspberry jam over the bottom solid heart-shaped cookie splitting the jam between the cookies. Gently place the "framed" heart cut-out on top of the jam pressing down very very lightly so that the top cookie sticks to the jam.
- Using a marker trace the outline of the smallest heart cookie cutter on a piece of paper. Cut the heart out using scissors. Roll a piece of tape and stick it to the paper heart.
- Place the paper heart lightly on top of the jam centre using the tape as a little handle.
- Add a 1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar to a small sieve and gently shake over the cookie to dust. Remove the paper heart from the centre of the cookie. Repeat with the rest of the cookies.
Nutrition
Notes
- strawberry jam
- apricot jam
- blueberry jam
- peach jam
- nutella
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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I really wanted these to work! The dough was way too sticky. I put in fridge for 20 minutes and tried again to cut out the hearts. That was better, but the cut out heart did not work out!. I think I’ll stick with my sugar recipe and try next time. Love the look of your s!
Hi Pamela, I am sorry these did not work out for you. I wonder if the butter was too soft when you made these. It should be only soft enough to make an indent with your thumb when pressed. Alternatively, I would try adding a little extra flour to the dough. A 1/2 a cup will likely do the trick.
Love it, super simple! Used half vanilla and half almond extract the second time around and they were amazing! Filled them with homemade raspberry jam 😋😋
Just tried making these. I followed the directions. The dough was super sticky and soft. I tried putting it in the fridge for a few minutes, but maybe it wasn’t long enough. I put the dough in the fridge to firm overnight and I’ll try cutting them again tomorrow after work. Should I try adding more flour to make it less sticky?
Hi Katie, I am not sure why these would be sticky. The dough should be a playdough like texture. I would recommend letting the dough come to room temperature completely and then adding a tablespoon of flour more at a time so you don’t over do it.
Well , that was a disaster. The dough was so soft it was impossible to transfer the cut out cookies to the tray. They rose way to much .. they lost any resemblance to a heart shape… And the frame ones .. there was more like a hole than a small heart in the middle. Idk what the problem was since I measured everything to the gram and changed nothing but didn’t work out for me at all. Actually that is the first baking recipe that I’ve failed.
Hi Annie, Something sounds off because the dough should not be super soft. I suspect the butter was too warm and beyond room temp. Room temp is a term commonly used but it doesn’t necessarily mean the temperature of the room because some people live in cooler climates and others hotter. Room temperature is considered 70°F or 21°C. The butter is soft enough to make an indent with your thumb but is not squishy or glossy. If the dough is super soft it is best to place it in the fridge for half an hour to help it firm up. This will make the dough easier to cut and transfer to the cookie sheet.
10/10!!
This recipe is so good! The cookies taste so much better the next day. They are very crunchy when you first make them but in a few hours they are beautifully soft.
I also dusted the cookies with powdered sugar before putting them together so i didn’t have to tangle with the parchment paper.
This is a great recipe – cookies taste amazing. It doesnt say when to add the baking powder so you can just add it with the flour. 🙂
Thanks, Emma for catching that error. I will make sure the baking soda is included in the instructions!