These raspberry heart-shaped puzzle cookies are the best sweet treat to impress your loved one on Valentine's Day! A homemade batch of iced heart cookies is better than any store-bought cookie box. I will prove it in a minute!
I am in the spirit of Valentine's Day! It means that it is the right time for Valentine's baking.
I got the idea to make these heart-shaped puzzle cookies during Christmas time last year while making German Cinnamon Star Cookies. I fell in love with those holiday treats shaped and glazed to perfection.
The French chef Pierre Hermé widely uses dried raspberries in his Ispahan family desserts.
His recipes inspired me to add the red flavored powder made from freeze-dried raspberries to the cookie recipe.
Raspberry Almond Cake Ispahan and Raspberry Madeleines are two desserts on my blog where I used dried raspberries. The results are astonishing!
So, why not make raspberry cookies naturally colored and flavored with freeze-dried raspberries?
How to make raspberry powder
The easiest way to make the raspberry powder is to crush freeze-dried raspberries in a food processor. Then pass the powder through a fine-mesh sieve/mini strainer.
How to make dried raspberries
To make dried raspberries out of fresh berries, preheat oven to 195 F/90 C. Place 1.8 oz (50 g) fresh raspberries on parchment paper and bring in the oven.
Let berries dry for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Let them cool down and crush into raspberry powder (you will get about 0.4 oz (10 g).
Puzzle cookies
To make heart-shaped puzzle cookies, you will need a puzzle heart cookie cutter. You will also want to make a few using a whole heart cookie cutter.
Just have a look at pictures: there is a love story, arranging them in different combinations.
Would you like to personalize these royal icing Valentine's cookies? Use an edible marker to write a note to your loved one!
How to decorate cookies with a food pen? Look at a short tutorial from Taste of Home.
Why you should try this recipe
- These heart-shaped puzzle cookies are the best sweet treats for your loved one (or yourself!). Just wrap them up and seal with a kiss.
- Their pink color lovely represents one of the main Valentine's Day colors.
- Adding dried raspberries brings an additional berry flavor.
- These iced heart cookies do not require any decorating skills: royal icing is applied before baking.
- They are fun to make with kids.
How to make heart-shaped puzzle cookies
To make the raspberry powder, place freeze-dried raspberries in the bowl of a food processor and crush dried berries. Pass the dust through a fine-mesh sieve/mini strainer.
To make the cookie dough, place butter, sugar, and raspberry powder in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix (photo 1).
Add the whole egg, hazelnut, and almond flour and continue to mix. Add the sifted flour and mix just to combine (photo 2).
Take the cookie dough out of the bowl and shape a ball. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough between two parchment paper sheets sprinkled with powdered (icing) sugar.
The thickness of the dough has to be about one centimeter. Refrigerate for one hour (photo 3).
To make the pink royal icing, whisk the egg white with powdered (icing) sugar and 3 to 4 drops of red food color (the intensity of the color is up to you) with an electric mixer.
Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and spread a thin layer of royal icing with a bent spatula (photo 4).
Preheat oven to 300 F/150 C. Cut out cookie-hearts with a heart cookie cutter and a puzzle heart cookie cutter (photo 5) and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment (photo 6).
The dough is quite hard, cutting the cookies is a little tricky. Remove them from the cookie-cutter by pushing them from underneath (photo 7).
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool (photo 8).
Expert tips
- Leave the royal icing white or make half of the icing white and the other half pink. Mix colors, spreading the icing over the cookie dough with a bent spatula, if desired.
- The remaining cookie scraps are not pretty as heart-shaped cookies, but you could bake them as well. They are delicious!
- Place cookies in a dry, airtight container and store in a cool place for up to 2 weeks.
Love pink desserts? Try these next!
- Strawberry Eton Mess
- Pink Praline (French Pink Pralines)
- Raspberry Almond Cake Ispahan
- Browse all Valentine's Day Recipes
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Heart-Shaped Puzzle Cookies
These raspberry heart-shaped puzzle cookies are the best sweet treat to impress your loved one on Valentine's day! A homemade batch of iced heart cookies is better than any store-bought cookie box.
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (plus chilling time)
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 6.2 oz (175 g) butter, softened
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon (125 g) granulated sugar
- 0.4 oz (10 g) freeze-dried raspberries
- 1 egg
- 7 tablespoons (50 g) hazelnut flour
- ½ cup (50 g) almond flour
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
For the pink royal icing:
- 1 cup + 3 ½ tablespoons (150 g) powdered (icing) sugar
- 1 large egg white (30 g)
- several drops of red food color
* If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.
Instructions
- To make the raspberry powder, place freeze-dried raspberries in the bowl of a food processor and crush dry berries. Pass the powder through a fine-mesh sieve/mini strainer.
- To make the cookie dough, place butter, sugar, and raspberry powder in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix. Add the whole egg, hazelnut, and almond flour and continue to mix. Add the sifted flour and mix just to combine. Take the cookie dough out of the bowl and shape a ball. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough between two parchment paper sheets sprinkled with powdered (icing) sugar. The thickness of the dough has to be about one centimeter. Refrigerate for one hour.
- To make the pink royal icing, whisk the egg white with powdered (icing) sugar and 3 to 4 drops of red food color (the intensity of the color is up to you) with an electric mixer. Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and spread a thin layer of royal icing with a bent spatula.
- Preheat oven to 300 F/150 C. Cut out cookie-hearts with a heart cookie cutter and a puzzle heart cookie cutter and place them on a baking sheet covered with the parchment. The dough is quite hard, cutting the cookies is a little tricky. Remove them from the cookie-cutter by pushing them from underneath. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool.
Notes
- Make dried raspberries out of fresh berries. Preheat oven to 195 F/90 C. Place 1.8 oz (50 g) fresh raspberries on the parchment paper and bring in the oven. Let berries dry for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Let them cool down and crush into raspberry powder (you will get about 0.4 oz (10 g).
- Leave the royal icing white or make half of the icing white and another half pink. Mix colors, spreading the icing over the cookie dough with a bent spatula, if desired.
- The remaining cookie scraps (falls) are not pretty as heart-shaped cookies, but you could bake them as well. They are delicious!
- Store cookies in a dry, airtight container in a cool place for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 328
- Sugar: 23.4 g
- Sodium: 92 mg
- Fat: 17 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.2 g
- Fiber: 1.7 g
- Protein: 4.5 g
- Cholesterol: 45 mg
The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.
The recipe was originally published on January 28, 2019. It has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.
Anita says
These cookies are just so lovely and super cute. I love the bright pink color, now I must visit Trader Joe’s for that freeze dried raspberries. And those puzzle heart shaped cookies are just perfect for Valentines.
Irina says
Thank you Anita! I really enjoyed making these puzzled cookies. There are so many combinations... the same as in life:)
Veena Azmanov says
Delicious and a joyful idea to planning them with kids. Best gifting option too.
Irina says
It is a joy to make these cookies, especially the puzzle ones, with kids. Thank you Veena.
Jeannette says
These are the CUTEST cookies ever! I would love to try these out for Valentine's Day!
Irina says
Thank you Jeannette! Happy baking and enjoy!:)
Bry says
These cookies are too cute! They'll be perfect for Valentines Day, and the raspberry in them I can imagine would be incredibly yummy!
Irina says
Bry, yes, the cookies are cute, especially the puzzle ones. And raspberry brings a wonderful flavor. Thanks for your comment.
Dannii says
These are super cute. They would be perfect for Valentine's Day.
Irina says
Thank you Dannii!
kim says
Love these for Valentine's Day! So cute and delicious!
Irina says
Thank you Kim! Wrapped as a gift, these cookies are the cutest homemade gift for Valentine's Day!
Justine Howell says
OMG! These are perfect for Valentine's Day, thanks for step by step directions. That's so helpful.
Irina says
You are welcome, Justine! Just enjoy!:)
Chris Collins says
Okay, these are officially the cutest cookies I've ever seen!! ?
Irina says
Thank you so much, Chris! I really appreciate your comment.
Victoria Kabakian says
These cookies are so precious! What a fun idea for Valentine's Day!
Irina says
Thank you, Victoria! Yes, these cookies are fun to make. They are really cute:)
Katie says
I absolutely LOVE raspberry in cookies!! These never disappoint.
Irina says
Katie, thank you for letting me know! By the way, if you replace freeze dried raspberries with freeze dried strawberries or blueberries, you will get another taste to enjoy!