Heart Jam Cookies

These Heart Jam Cookies are baked until perfectly tender, brushed with milk, stuffed with sweet apricot jelly, and dusted with powdered sugar.

Yup ⎯ brushed with milk. This is what makes them melt in your mouth. These are the softest cookies you’ll ever try!

Heart Jam Cookies

No, these are not regular linzer cookies (although they might look like they are)!

Yes, they’re made with butter, eggs, flour and sugar and have jelly in them but there’s a special step that turns these into the softest, melt-in-your mouth cookies you’ve ever had.

Once they’re stuffed with jelly, they’re brushed with milk. And once the milk gets absorbed, they’re dusted with lots of powdered sugar.

Sweet. Soft. And aesthetically pleasing. They have it all.

Why this recipe works:

• Tried and true cookie dough. This is a simple cookie dough with flour, butter, eggs, and sugar but it’s easy to work with and holds its shape perfectly which will guarantee beautiful heart cookies every time!
• Special step for extra soft cookies. What makes these cookies unique is the fact that they’re brushed with milk after baking ⎯ they will literally melt in your mouth!
• Jam filling. Get creative and use your favorite jam or jelly as a filling!
• Make ahead. Busy during the Holidays or your special occasion? These are the perfect make-ahead cookie!
• Nut free linzer cookies. If you’re a linzer cookie lover but can’t consume almond flour or don’t have it on hand, these are the perfect alternative with the same adorable look!

Ingredients

Flour. Use regular all-purpose flour.

Cornstarch for that perfectly tender crumb.

Butter. Use room temperature unsalted butter.

Powdered sugar. I like to use powdered sugar because it dissolves faster creating a smoother though. A lot quicker and easier to work with as opposed to granulated sugar. You’ll also need some extra powdered sugar for dusting!

Egg for structure.

Vanilla extract for flavor.

Salt for flavor.

Milk for brushing the cookies after they’re done baking. This is what makes these cookies unique and so deliciously soft!

Jelly or jam of choice. You can use any, I used apricot for mine. You can also use dulce de leche, lemon curd, ganache, Nutella, literally any spreadable filling that won’t leak out!

How to make Jam Heart Cookies

STEP 1: Make the cookie dough. In a medium bowl add the flour, cornstarch, and salt and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, beat the butter with a hand-held mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until just combined. Mix in the dry ingredients using a spatula or your hands, mixing until combined.

STEP 2: Chill the dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out each piece into a 1-inch (2.5 cm) disc and wrap each disc in plastic wrap. If you find that your dough is too sticky to work with, you can roll out the cookie dough in between two layers of plastic wrap or parchment paper (you’ll re-use the parchment paper later). Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.

STEP THREE: Preheat the oven to 325F (160C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

STEP FOUR: Make the cookies. Remove the first disc from the refrigerator and transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the cookie dough to about 1/8-inch (3 mm) in thickness.

Use a round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies, then use a smaller heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the heart in the center of each cookie and place them onto your prepared baking sheet. Repeat the same process for the second disc of cookie dough (minus the small heart-shaped cookie cutter step as these will be the base) then re-roll all the scraps together and cut again for extra cookies.

STEP FIVE: Bake for 6-8 minutes or until lightly golden but still pale. These cookies tend to cook very quickly as they’re pretty thin so keep an eye on the oven. Immediately remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool down completely.

STEP SIX: Brush with milk. Once the cookies have cooled down to room temperature, dip a pastry brush in milk and brush each cookie with it. Allow the cookies to soak in the milk completely (about 5-10 minutes).

STEP SEVEN: Fill with jelly or your preferred filling by adding a dot to the center of each bottom-layer cookie (the ones without the heart cutout) then place the top layer cookies (the heart ones) on top of each cookie to form a sandwich.

STEP EIGHT: Allow to soften up. Store the cookies in an air-tight container and allow them to soften up for 3-4 hours or overnight (best option). These are great make-ahead cookies! Enjoy!

How to make Jam Heart Cookies ahead of time

These are great make-ahead cookies and you can split the work into 2-3 days. There are different ways you can go about it but here’s what I recommend.

DAY ONE: Make the cookie dough and chill overnight. Follow the recipe through step 2 then place the cookie dough in the refrigerator and chill overnight. The next morning, follow step 3. This can be done on day 1.

DAY TWO: Bake the cookies and assemble the day after. Follow the recipe through step 7 then store the assembled cookies in an air-tight container overnight.

TO SPLIT INTO 3 DAYS: Make the cookie dough and chill overnight on day 1, bake the cookies on day 2 and store them in air-tight container, brush with milk and fill on day 3 and enjoy on the same day or on day 4.

How do you store Jam Heart Cookies?

Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 4-5 days.

If you used a different filling that contains fresh ingredients or needs to be refrigerated (such as dulce de leche, any fruit curd, ganache, or custard), store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.

More cookie recipes you’ll enjoy:

• Crispy Oatmeal Lace Cookies
• Homemade Thin Mints