Raspberry and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Raspberry and white chocolate shortbread cookies are sweet, buttery, and literally melt in your mouth. They have two layers of buttery and flaky shortbread, a layer of white chocolate with raspberry jam in between, and a generous dusting of confectioners' sugar on top. These heart-shaped cookies are the perfect festive Valentine's Day treat.

I love holidays. I literally use each and every holiday as an excuse to bake up a storm and indulge in delicious desserts and treats. So for Valentine's Day this year, why not give your loved ones something that you took time and poured your heart into and baked with love? I prefer cookies over a stuffed animal any day.

Some other popular Valentine's Day treats to make are Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes, Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffles, and French Macarons. For more Valentine's Day dessert recipes, browse our top 40 Valentine's Day Desserts.

Ingredients

To make these raspberry and white chocolate shortbread cookies, you only need a handful of ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry. Like all other shortbread, you need just 5 basic ingredients:

• butter
• Confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)
• pure vanilla extract
• salt
• all-purpose flour

For the filling:

• white chocolate - if you don't have any white chocolate, you can just omit it from the recipe. The cookies will still be amazing.
• raspberry jam - or any type of jam that you like. Try homemade strawberry jam.
• more confectioners' sugar for dusting on top.

Equipment Used

• measuring cups and spoons
• mixing bowl
• hand mixer (or stand mixer)
• rolling pin
• heart-shaped cookie cutters - I used a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter and a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter in the middle. You could also use the mini heart cutout from this linzer cookie cutter set.
• half sheet baking pan lined with silicone baking mat or parchment paper
• wire cooling rack

How to Make the Best Raspberry and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

This recipe is super easy to make. At first glance, it may look hard but it's really not. Shortbread is easy to make, chocolate is easy to melt, and jam is easy to spread. So let's get started.

1. Make the dough. Cream together the butter and icing sugar until it is light and fluffy. I used a hand mixer to do this, but you can use a stand mixer if you have one. Next, add the vanilla extract and salt and continue to mix until fully combined. Lastly, slowly add in your flour, continuously mixing. Once all the flour has been added, use your hands to form a ball of dough.
2. Chill the dough. Shape the dough into a disc and cover it tightly in plastic cling wrap. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

3. Cut out the cookies. Lightly dust your surface and rolling pin with flour. This will prevent any dough from sticking to either the surface or the rolling pin. Roll out your dough about ¼ inch thick. Use a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out your heart shapes and use a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out a smaller heart shape in the middle of half of the cookies. If you don't have a mini heart cookie cutter, you can use a knife to carve out a heart shape in the center. This will be a little challenging and will take more time.

4. Second chill. Line your baking tray with parchment paper and place your cookies half an inch apart. If your oven is still preheating, place the tray with your cookies in the refrigerator and chill for another 10 minutes.
5. Bake. When the oven is ready and preheated to 350 F, bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until the edges just start to brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.

How to Assemble Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

1. Melt the white chocolate. You can melt the chocolate either on the stove or in the microwave. 
   • On the stove: Bring 2 inches of water to a low simmer in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Then, turn the heat to low and place a medium heatproof bowl on the mouth of the pot. Make sure that there is a gap of a few inches in between the bottom of the bowl and the water (You can also place a bowl on a steamer attachment on top of your pot). Add the chocolate and stir constantly as it melts. Stir until the chocolate is completely smooth and melted. This should take a few minutes.
   • In the microwave: The second way to melt chocolate (and an easier way) is in the microwave. Place the medium heatproof bowl of chocolate into the microwave and microwave in 30 second intervals. Remove the bowl at each interval and stir well. Repeat until the chocolate has completely melted. Stir until completely smooth.
2. Dust tops of cookies. Meanwhile, use a mesh strainer to dust confectioners' sugar on the cookies that have the center cut out.

3. Add layer of white chocolate on cookies. Spread a layer of melted white chocolate on the bottom halves of each cookie cookies (ones that are not cut out), leaving a small ⅛-inch border around each of the cookies. You can use a knife or use a piping bag with a round piping tip to pipe the chocolate onto the cookies. Let the chocolate set slightly for 5-10 minutes.
4. Add layer of raspberry jam. Add a teaspoon of raspberry jam on top of the chocolate once it has set slightly. You can use a spoon or use a piping bag with a round piping tip to pipe the jam onto the cookies.

5. Sandwich the cookies. Carefully place the tops of the cookies on the jammy bottoms. Be careful not to smudge the sugar on top. You can fill the open centers with more jam using a piping bag and round tip, if desired.

More Shortbread Cookies Recipes

• Linzer Cookies
• Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Heart Cookies
• Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
• Carrot Cake Shortbread Cookies
• Slice and Bake Pecan Shortbread Cookies
• Jam-filled Thumbprint Cookies with Almond Glaze
• Pecan Snowball Cookies

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Recipe

This post was original published in 2016. It was completely updated in 2021 with new photographs and tips.