Cookie dough roses are baked right into these raspberry flavored hearts, creating a treat your valentine won’t be able to resist. A thin icing is all they really need, but decorating them was so much fun, I just had to play.
(Humor me . . . just one more picture? It’s excessive, but they were so photogenic, I couldn’t choose!)
Go classy and understated, or let your artistic side run wild. Your choice!
These cookies may look delicate, but they are sturdy enough to be decorated by little hands. Flavored gelatin not only provides the raspberry “zing” and color, it gives the shortbread cookie base a denser, chewier texture.
I tried using half shortening and half butter to ensure a pretty pink color, but they just didn’t have the flavor I wanted. Back to all butter, which gives them a hint of salmon color. You could add a touch of pink coloring if you’d like.
They’ll hold their shape, so any designs you add to the hearts before baking will still be there when they come out of the oven. Cake decorating tips, gum paste tools, cookie stamps or silicone molds all work very well for this.
I used a small heart cutter and gum paste tool to create designs. You could use a straw to cut out holes all the way around to look like lace. A small rose in the center would have been pretty too.
Press hearts with a silicone texture mat for texture, or press dough into a floured silicone mold and carefully ease the shape out onto the heart. Clockwise from upper left: Hand shaped rose on plain heart, rose design made by silicone mold on plain heart, textured heart, textured heart with small rose.
| Raspberry Rose Cookies | Print |
- COOKIES:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons raspberry flavored gelatin
- 1 egg white
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ICING:
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons water to make thin glaze
- Red or pink food coloring (green if you are adding leaves)
- Royal icing, colored sugar, sparkling sugar if desired
- Heat oven to 350 F. Prepare two baking sheets by covering each with a sheet of parchment.
- COOKIES:In a large bowl, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, and gelatin for 3 minutes.
- Add egg white. Beat for 1 minute.
- Mix in the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Dough will be thick.
- Work with half of the dough at a time, keeping the remainder wrapped at room temperature. Roll out dough ¼-inch thick. No thicker, or roses will brown before cookie bakes.
- Cut out heart shapes using 3-inch cutter. (Mine was slightly smaller.)
- Using the base of a large decorating tip or 1-inch round cutter, cut a hole in the middle of each heart. Save the circles. Before gathering scraps, use the round cutter to make more circles; you will use these for rose petals. Place hearts on prepared baking pans, 1 inch apart.
- To create roses, Press one small circle into a roughly oval shape. Slowly roll from one end to the other, to create the center of the rose. If dough cracks, just press it gently to smooth. Flatten another circle, and, holding it a little higher than the center, wrap it around. It doesn't need to go all the way around - the idea is to overlap petals. Don't worry about how long the "stem" you're holding is. That will be cut off when you're through. Repeat until you have a rose you like. I prefer 5 petals: the center, 1 around the center, and then 3 around the outside. As you work, gently pat the top edge of the petals to smooth if they crack, and roll the top edge back slightly on a few petals. When finished, use a knife or scissors to cut off the excess at the bottom (or pinch it off with your fingers) and place the rose in the hole in the heart, carefully pressing at the base to secure. Shape some leaves, if you wish.
- Bake 9-11 minutes, depending on the thickness of your cookies. The bottoms should be just starting to brown a little, but don't overbake or the roses will brown. (If this happens, a little icing and colored sugar on the edges will cover it nicely.) Cool completely on a rack.
- GLAZE: Whisk together the powdered sugar and water. In a small cup, combine 2 tablespoons of glaze and a drop of red or pink coloring. Do the same for green, if you added leaves to your roses. Brush a smooth, thin coating of the white glaze on each cookie, avoiding the rose. With a paintbrush, lightly paint the roses red or pink and the leaves green. Let cookies dry for at least 1 hour before storing or decorating.
Cut out hearts Use a large decorating tip to make a hole in each. Keep the circle of dough for rose petals!
Flatten the 1-inch circle into a rough oval shape. Start and one side and roll up, smoothing top edges if it cracks.
Add second and third petal, overlapping.
I like to stop at 5 petals. But each rose is a little different; follow your instincts!
Pinch or cut off excess dough on bottom of roses. Settle each rose into a heart, pressing gently into the hole.
Bake on parchment 350 F. for 9-11 minutes.
You can use a small decorator tip to put design on outer edge.
You can also make tiny roses and leaves. Use a straw or large tube tip to make the hole to set the rose in.
Brush the cookie with white glaze, then paint the roses and leaves.
Once the cookies are dry, decorate to your heart’s content. I used royal icing and some colored sugar.
XOXOXO
Lorinda