Dainty pink sparkly cookies are for fairies, princesses and charming people who love pretty, petite treats. These pink shortbread hearts are as cute as a button and so tender and delicious. They’re very simple to make and go perfectly with tea or lemonade. They also make a nice gift for Mother’s Day, baby showers, and especially for Valentine’s Day and Galentine celebrations.
Dainty Pink Shortbread Hearts
by Mari Vasseur
Tender, buttery mini shortbread cookies with sparkling sugar
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour and powdered sugar together until well blended.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the extracts until well combined. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. The dough may seem crumbly at first, but it will come together.
Divide the dough into 2 portions. Roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 1/4-inch thickness. Place the parchment-covered dough onto trays and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Cut out 36 heart shapes with a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter. Place the hearts about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Sprinkle the cookies with sparkling sugar. Bake until the edges start to turn light golden brown, about 8-9 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
My Peach Crumble Pie Cookies were so popular that I decided to make a Pecan Pie version. These buttery little cookie tarts have a sweet, gooey pecan filling that’s the perfect contrast to the tender shortbread crusts. They taste like autumn and Thanksgiving in a cute little pie. They also make a delightful addition to your Christmas cookie platter or cookie box. Make sure to use good quality butter, so your shortbread crusts will be melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pecan Pie Cookies
by Mari Vasseur
Tender, buttery shortbread crusts filled with sweet, gooey pecan pie filling in a cute mini size
7tablespoons (99g)good quality unsalted butter, room temperature
¼cup (28g)powdered sugar, sifted
Pecan Filling
1cup (113g)coarsely chopped pecans
¼cup (57g)unsalted butter, cubed
¼cup (50g)packed brown sugar
¼cup (60ml)pure maple syrup
¼cup (60ml)heavy cream
¼teaspoon cinnamon
1pinchfine sea salt
½teaspoonpure vanilla extract
Instructions
Shortbread Crusts
Lightly spray a 12-serving muffin pan* with nonstick spray. (I had no problems releasing the cookies from the pan, but you can also line the muffin cups with 2-inch parchment circles for a foolproof release. I don't recommend cupcake liners since the cookies will stick to the ridges of the liners.)
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well blended.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Mix in the flour mixture on low speed or by hand, just until combined.
Press generous tablespoon size (about 20g each) portions of dough into the bottoms and 1/4-inch up the insides of the muffin pan cups with a pastry tamper dipped in flour. You can also use the bottom of a flat shot glass. Set aside in the refrigerator while you prepare the pecan filling.
Pecan Filling
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the pecans, butter, brown sugar and maple syrup over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and let the mixture bubble gently for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the heavy cream, cinnamon and salt. Return the pan to the heat and let the mixture bubble gently on low heat for 2 more minutes. Stir in the vanilla and let the mixture cool to lukewarm.
Top the cookie crusts evenly with the pecan filling mixture. Bake until the cookies are set and the topping is golden brown and bubbly, about 14-16 minutes. Cool the cookies completely in the pan. Once cool, remove the cookies from the pan by running a small offset spatula or paring knife around the inside perimeter of the muffin cups to loosen them.
Notes
*To find the 12-serving  muffin pan I used, click here.
These cute kitties were created two years ago as a special request by someone who grew up playing with Webkinz. Do you remember the Strawberry Cloud Leopard? It was a cute pink Webkinz plushie. The cookies are made of tender, buttery shortbread dough. They get their natural color and flavor from freeze dried strawberries. Mini chocolate chips are added to make the adorable leopard spots. To watch the Strawberry Cloud Leopard Shortbread Cookies Instagram video, click here.
I recently brought back the heart-shaped version of these cookies on social media, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Currently, the price of eggs is very high. These cookies don’t contain eggs, which is so helpful right now. They make a perfect shareable Valentine treat.
Strawberry Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
Tender strawberry shortbread cookies dotted with mini chocolate chips
Process the freeze dried strawberries to a powder with a small food processor or a clean spice grinder. Pass the powder through a sieve to strain out the seeds.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk the flour, powdered sugar and salt together.
In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the freeze dried strawberry powder and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
Add the flour mixture and beat just until dough comes together. Fold in 1/3 cup (57g) of mini chocolate chips for the leopards or 1/2 cup (85g) of mini chocolate chips for the hearts.
Divide the dough into two portions and form into disks. (Alternately, you can roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper.) Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut the cookies into your desired shapes. I used a 4-inch tall cat cookie cutter** for the leopards and a 3-inch tall heart cookie cutter for the hearts.
Place the cookies about 2-inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. To prevent excessive spreading, refrigerate the cut cookies for 30 minutes prior to baking, especially if your dough becomes warm as you work with it.
Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Bake until the cookies are slightly puffed and the edges barely start to turn light golden brown, about 11-13 minutes. (Smaller cookies will need a shorter baking time.) Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 3-4 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.
Lavender and honey go so well together. Bees know it, fairies know it, princesses know it. The flavor combination is so delightful in these cookies, that I decided to share them with you. In addition to delicious, compatible flavors, these cookies have a divine texture combination. The shortbread cookies have a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Together with the silky, smooth honey buttercream, they’ll make you feel fancy and regal. You’ll hold your head up higher, ring for your tea and declare that you do indeed deserve fine things!
Some people are nervous about baking with lavender because they don’t want their baked goods to taste like soap or perfume. That can be a concern if the lavender flavor is too pronounced. However, if you don’t use enough you won’t be able to taste it at all. There’s a fine balance. If you use the right amount, it will taste pleasant and have sweet undertones. I used two teaspoons of culinary lavender in these cookies, but you can adjust the amount to your tastes. You can start out with one teaspoon, bake a small sample of dough and taste it, to customize the flavor.
Speaking of tasting, my grandmother always said, “taste as you go.” This is also helpful when making the honey buttercream. Typically, when making other flavors of buttercream, you add more powdered sugar if your buttercream is too thin. In this case, adding more powdered sugar can make the buttercream too sweet. Once you have added the amount of honey that tastes good to you, you can add a little cornstarch if you need to stiffen it up a bit.
Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Honey Buttercream
Tender lavender scented cookies with silky honey buttercream filling
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt.
In a separate large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the lavender. Beat in the flour mixture on low speed, just until combined.
Divide the dough into two discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but not more than 8 hours.
Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch circles. Place two inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Refrigerate cut cookies for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Bake cookies until the bottom edges are light golden brown, about 12-14 minutes.
Transfer cookies to a cooking rack to cool completely.
Pipe or spread about 1/2 tablespoon of buttercream on the bottom of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies.
Honey Buttercream
In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar together until smooth. Add honey, one tablespoon at a time until desired sweetness and consistency is reached.
Mix in a pinch of salt to taste.
Mix in cornstarch, if necessary, to firm up buttercream. *See notes below.
Notes
*The addition of cornstarch helps to firm up buttercream without adding additional sweetness.To find culinary lavender, click here.
