This one’s for the besties!

Because, let’s be honest, where would we be without them?

I, for one, owe much of what’s left of my sanity these days to my extremely smart, unbelievably funny, incredibly gracious, gobsmackingly beautiful inside-and-out girlfriends.

If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t see, talk to or text most of them nearly enough — maybe my least favourite part about being an adult and living in a big city — so it’s only fair to gift them a little reminder of your love for them this Valentine’s Day, am I right? I’m all for romanticising friendship and think we should find more occasions to celebrate the special bonds we share with our non-romantic life partners — our favourite gals, mates or non—binary babes. Mark your friendiversaries, send more love notes, bake them a sweet heart-shaped treat…

This recipe makes 40 rich shortbread hearts with two different flavours: fresh and fragrant rosewater shortbread and luxurious, buttery tonka bean shortbread. The base for these is a pretty traditional Scottish-style shortbread recipe, which works even without all the special flavourings if you don’t have them at hand. Simply swap the rosewater and ground tonka bean for vanilla extract — the shortbread will still be super lush and delicious!

Ingredients

Makes about 40 cookies

180g vegan butter (softened)
90g caster sugar
155g plain white flour
115g rice flour
A good sprinkle of salt

Flavourings

1 tsp rosewater
1/2 tonka bean, ground

If you don’t have tonka or rosewater at hand, you can replace the above with 1tsp of vanilla extract and process the remaining ingredients as one batch of dough rather than two.

Decorations

4 tbsp caster sugar
Red food colouring
Dried rose buds or petals

Notes on ingredients

Method

Step 1 Sieve the plain white flour and rice flour into a bowl and add a good pinch of salt. Divide the flour mixture between two bowls and add the ground tonka bean to one of them, leaving the other flour mixture plain. Briefly stir with a wire whisk.

Step 2 Put the softened vegan butter and caster sugar in a bowl and cream the ingredients on medium-high speed in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Alternatively, use an electric hand mixer. Whip the butter and sugar until the mixture turns pale and fluffy.

Step 3 Divide the fluffy buttercream between two medium mixing bowls. Add 1 tsp of rosewater to one half and mix it in swiftly with a wire whisk. Leave the other half of the buttercream plain.

Step 4 For the tonka shortbread, add the flour-and-tonka-bean-mix to the plain buttercream and fold it in with a spatula until the dough starts coming together. Bring the dough ball to a lightly floured surface, briefly mix with your hands (no kneading necessary) and shape into a thick disc. Then, wrap the dough in cling film and leave it in the fridge to rest for at least 1 hour.

Step 5 For the rosewater shortbread, add the plain flour mixture to the rosewater-buttercream and proceed as above.

Step 6 While the dough is resting, combine 2 tbsp of caster sugar and 2 drops of red food colouring in a small bowl. Mix with a fork until the colouring has fully dissolved and the sugar is bright pink.

Step 7 Crush the dried rose buds with your fingers and combine them with 2 tbsp of caster sugar in another bowl.

Step 8 After 1 hour, preheat your oven to 160°C on fan and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Step 9 Bring the rosewater-flavoured dough to a generously floured surface and roll it out to a thickness of about 1cm. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out about 20 cookies and transfer them to a lined baking tray. Because the dough is quite soft, it’s best to transfer each cookie directly to the baking tray rather than cutting them all out and transferring them later. Dip the cookie cutter into flour before each use to keep the dough from sticking, and be gentle when pushing the hearts out of the cutter.

Step 10 Take the tonka-flavoured dough out of the fridge, cut out another 20 cookies and transfer them to the second baking tray. Make sure you know which dough is which!

Step 11 Place one of the baking trays in the preheated oven and bake the first batch of cookies for 15 minutes or until the edges are starting to turn golden but the tops are still pale. If your oven bakes unevenly, make sure to turn the tray halfway through.

Step 12 When the first batch of cookies is done, place the second batch in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.

Step 13 While the cookies are still fresh out of the oven and warm, sprinkle them generously with the prepared sugar mix. I used pink sugar for my tonka shortbread hearts and crushed rose petal sugar for my rosewater shortbread.

Step 14 Let the shortbread cool completely on a wire rack, then transfer them to an airtight container or cookie jar. I understand the temptation to try your shortbread immediately, but it will be very crumbly while fresh. And I mean, it will literally feel like a mouthful of sand. It’s best to leave the shortbread to rest for at least 12 hours before eating or gifting it — it will get more buttery and flavourful each day!

Notes on Ingredients

Caster Sugar

Caster sugar has a finer grain than granulated sugar, which is important for the delicate, crumbly texture of this shortbread. While you might get away with granulated sugar, I wouldn’t recommend this substitution. The finer grain helps the sugar dissolve more quickly and makes the dough come together more easily.

Dried Rose Buds or Petals

I found dried rose buds at my insanely well-assorted Asian supermarket, but you can also order them online. For example, here or here. Just make sure they’re marked as ‘food grade’ or ‘edible’.

Red Food Colouring

Since you want to turn your sugar light pink rather than red, the food colouring doesn’t have to be particularly potent. If you’re vegan, it’s worth checking the ingredients and E-numbers since some red food colouring contains animal-derived ingredients.

Rice Flour

I was sceptical at first when I saw rice flour mentioned in some traditional recipes, but it really helps give the shortbread that distinct sandy mouthfeel. However, make sure to use regular rice flour rather than glutinous rice flour. You can find this in the world foods aisle of most supermarkets. I have used this and this before. If you don’t have access to rice flour (or just can’t be arsed, you can use substitute the amount of rice flour in the recipe for regular plain white flour,

Rosewater

Do not confuse with rose extract! The latter is much more concentrated and will make the shortbread inedible if used in the same quantity. In the UK, you can find rosewater from various brands in all regular supermarkets — for example, this, this or this.

Tonka Bean

I LOVE the flavour of this delicious little bean, but I have yet to find it in the supermarket. Like vanilla, tonka comes ground, in the form of whole beans or as a paste. I always prefer the whole bean, as it keeps its aroma for longer. If you can’t find tonka at your local supermarket, you can order it online. For example, here or here.

Vegan Butter

It’s important to use unsalted firm vegan butter in this recipe, or the shortbread won’t hold its structure. I have made this recipe with Flora Unsalted Plant Butter and Naturli Organic Block, both of which worked equally well.

Galentine’s Shortbread Hearts (two ways)