Vanilla Bean Shortbread Hearts for The Leftovers Club

Baking something for The Leftovers Club was especially fun (and especially challenging) this month because of Valentine's Day! I'm a sucker for hearts, and red is one of my favorite colors, but I'm not the type of girl that goes crazy with expectation over flowers and candy. I mean think of all the pressure it puts on those poor guys...Luckily my husband is a natural romantic. He's super sweet and thoughtful all year round, not just on Valentine's Day, which is one of the things I love most about him. He's a "just because" kind of guy.

 

For this month's Valentine theme Leftover Club exchange, I decided to make my favorite shortbread recipe and bake them into cute little hearts sprinkled with sparkly red sugar. I mean how cute are these?

 

 

 

Sometimes Valentine's Day treats are cute, but don't actually taste that great. This shortbread recipe is delicious and is a great recipe to have in your baking arsenal. You can make them and cut them into your favorite shapes for any holiday or "just because".

 

I packaged up a few of the shortbread hearts in a cute little jar along with a few of the other cookies we made recently for our Valentines Day Cookie & Craft party (see the post here).

 

I hope Laura over at The Spiced Life enjoyed them! Laura has a great, eclectic variety of recipes on her blog and also hosts The Creative Cookie Exchange. Please stop by and show her some love!

 

If you're interested in joining The Leftovers Club, please sign up over at Food Ramblings. It's a great group and we'd love to have you!!

 

 

 

Vanilla Bean Shortbread Hearts 

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Follow the recipe and directions for my Vanilla Bean Shortbread Sandwich Cookies here:

Vanilla Bean Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

Instead of cutting the dough into squares, I used a 2.5" heart shaped cookie cutter. Place the cookies on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet and sprinkle with red sparkling sugar (or use any sprinkles you want). Refrigerate for 10 minutes then bake at 375f until lightly golden brown around the edges. I rotated the baking sheet halfway during the baking time to promote even browning. 

Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then remove to a wire cooling rack.

These cookies would also be great with your favorite cookie glaze instead of sprinkles. Or if you're a shortbread purist, serve plain! The flavor is delicious all on it's own!

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