How cute are these Candied Cherry Shortbread Heart Cookies? We partnered with Paradise Fruit Co. for this recipe post. They sent us LOTS of their delicious candied fruit to create recipes with. This is the first of many that I will share with you!
These cookies are super simple to make and just melt in your mouth. We think they are a perfect treat to make any time of year, but they are especially perfect for Valentine’s Day.
For this recipe you will need:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. salt, or 1/2 tsp. if using salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 10 candied red cherries, Paradise brand is great!
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Let’s whip some up:
Start by creaming the softened butter and confectioner’s sugar together. Beat on high for about 2 minutes.
Next we will add the vanilla and salt. How cute is this little measuring spoon? It is my Mom’s as I made these cookies at her house.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and cornstarch and sift them together. What I really do is just fluff it together with a fork!
Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated.
Add the rest of the flour and mix again. The dough will look a little crumbly like this but will stick together just fine.
Heart-shaped:
These shortbread heart cookies are so cute! We tried 2 different ways to create the heart shape. If you prefer, you can just make them round. We used a one-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the balls, then tried shaping the hearts with our hands. It was pretty easy and they turned out fine. Next, we tried with a small heart-shaped cookie cutter and pressed the dough into the cutter, then used a finger to hold the dough in place while removing the cutter. This left the perfect indentation to add our halved candied cherry.
Beautiful Candied Cherries:
These candied cherries are such a beautiful, rich red color and they taste delicious too! We took a dozen of them and simply sliced them in half. You can buy these right on the Paradise Fruit Co. website.
Top and Bake:
Shape each of the cookies and press a cherry slice into the center. Stick them in a 350-degree oven for 14 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.
Chocolate:
These would be great with dark chocolate, but we chose to use milk chocolate this time. To melt the chocolate place 1/2 cup of chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until barely melted. Be careful not to get the temperature of the chocolate above 120 degrees Fahrenheit for bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, and no more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit for milk chocolate or white chocolate. When the chocolate gets too hot it will seize up and will have a hard time setting up again when it cools.
Fresh-baked cookies:
Let’s get those cookies out of the oven now, shall we? They should be set up and beautifully browned on the bottom. These cookies are crunchy shortbread and will melt in your mouth. Be careful not to over-bake these or you’ll have a very dry cookie. Let the cookies cool before drizzling with chocolate.
Chocolate Drizzle:
Now for the fun part, the chocolate drizzle! Place the melted chocolate in a plastic bag and snip the very end. Have fun with it and drizzle however your heart desires. We drizzled some side to side and some in a criss-cross pattern.
Time for a treat:
Grab yourself a glass of milk and one of these delicious little cookies and enjoy a sweet, melt-in-your-mouth treat. My kids all loved these cookies, but my husband only likes chewy cookies so these weren’t his style. No problem, more for me!
Looking for more fun Valentine’s treats? Check out these right here on the blog!
Let us know if you give these cute and yummy cookies a try! Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to be notified of new posts. Thanks for stopping by!
Simple Candied Cherry Shortbread Heart Cookies with chocolate drizzle
A simple, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie with a candied cherry center and a chocolate drizzle.
Ingredients
- One cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. salt, or 1/2 tsp. if using un-salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 10 candied cherries, cut in half
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar together, Beat on high for 2 minutes.
- Add vanilla and salt and beat together until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and cornstarch.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
- Add the remaining flour and mix it together.
- Use a one-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough.
- Shape the dough balls into hearts either using your hands or a small cookie cutter.
- Press the centers down slightly and add half a candied cherry to each.
- Bake in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for 12-14 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.
- While the cookies bake, melt the chocolate. Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30-second increments, stirring each time until just melted. Do not let the temperature get above 120 degrees for semi-sweet chocolate and no higher than 110 degrees for milk chocolate.
- Cool cookies completely before drizzling them with chocolate. Drizzle the chocolate using a plastic sandwich bag with the corner snipped off.
- These cookies are best served fresh but will last several days in an air-tight container.
Notes
We used Paradise Fruit Co. Red Cherries
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