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Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line a large baking sheet with baking/greaseproof paper.
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Tip: You will bake the cookies in several batches, so you can line 2-3 baking sheets if you have them on hand. Otherwise, just re-use the same baking sheet, but make sure to cool it completely before you place the next batch of unbaked cookies onto it.
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In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together the softened butter, superfine/caster sugar and vanilla bean paste until combined. Don’t cream the butter – just stir it all together until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Tip: You don’t want to cream the butter and sugar together, as that aerates the mixture (that is, it incorporates air into it), which can cause the cookies to spread and lose shape in the oven.
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Sift together the gluten free flour blend, cornstarch, xanthan gum and salt, and add them to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix well until combined. Initially, you’ll get a VERY CRUMBLY dough – that’s okay.
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Knead the dough by hand until it comes together in a ball – this might take up to 5 minutes, but the dough should come together eventually.
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Roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of baking/greaseproof paper to a thickness of about 5mm.
Tip: Rolling out the cookie dough between two sheets of baking/greaseproof/parchment paper prevents it from cracking during rolling. It also eliminates the need for dusting your work surface with extra flour, as you don’t want to incorporate more flour into the cookie dough.
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Once you’ve rolled out the dough to a thickness of about 5mm, cut out the cookies using a large heart-shaped cookie cutter, about 7.5cm/3 inches in diameter.
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Transfer the cookies onto the lined baking sheet, spacing them out slightly (leave about 1cm/½ inch of space between them, they don’t really spread out during baking).
Tip: You can use a small offset spatula to lift the cut cookies off the baking paper. Be gentle with them as they’re fairly fragile.
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Use a smaller heart-shaped cookie cutter about 3.8cm/1 ½ inches in diameter to cut out the middle of each cookie. You can use a fork to remove the middle part from each cookie (see the post for photos). Re-roll any scraps to make more cookies, you should get a total of 24-26 cookies.
Tip: I recommend transferring the cookies onto the baking sheet first and only then cutting out the middle, so as to maintain the perfect shape of the cookies as much as possible. Transferring them when the centre is already cut out makes it easier to either destroy the nice heart shape or even to break the delicate cookie while you’re lifting it.)
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Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 12-14 minutes until light golden brown.
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Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
For raspberry icing:
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First, make the raspberry reduction:
In a saucepan, cook the raspberries on medium-high heat until they have softened and released their juices.
Pass the raspberry mixture through a sieve to remove the seeds and skin.
Return the raspberry juices to the saucepan and cook further until they have thickened and become slightly viscous and syrupy.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
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Mix 2-4 tablespoons of the raspberry reduction with the icing/powdered sugar, depending on how intense you want the pink colour to be. Then, add the lemon juice, about 1 teaspoon at a time, until you get the correct icing consistency – the icing should be quite thick but still runny.
Tip: Depending on the pink colour you want to achieve you can use more or less of the raspberry reduction (to get the correct icing consistency, add less or more lemon juice, respectively). Also, you can easily tweak the consistency of the icing by adding more icing/powdered sugar (to make it thicker) or lemon juice (to make it runnier).
Assembling the cookies:
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Dip the top of each cookie into the icing, allowing any excess to drip away.
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Place onto a wire rack and decorate with sprinkles while the icing is still wet to the touch.
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Allow the icing to dry out at room temperature for at least 30-45 minutes before serving.
Storage:
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The cookies keep well in an airtight container in a cool dry place for 1-2 weeks.
