Valentine's Treat: Strawberry & Coconut biscuits

Home-made biscuits make me feel really warm & fuzzy. Maybe it’s the smell that fills your home or the satisfaction of having tea with biscuits that you made by hand…. Anyway…

This recipe is the absolute perfect treat to bake for teachers, kiddos, grandparents or someone you have a – old or new – crush on. They are melt-in-the-mouth good & will make any heart melt.

Coconut & Jam Hearts, makes 24

Recipe taken from the Donna Hay magazine (December 2012)

250g Butter

1 Cup castor sugar

2 Teaspoons vanilla extracts

2 Eggs

3 Cups of plain flour sifted

1 Teaspoon of baking powder sifted

1 Cup desiccated coconut

Icing sugar, for dusting

1 Cup of raspberry or strawberry jam

Preheat the oven to 160° Celsius. Place the butter & sugar in an electric mixer & beat until pale & creamy. Add the egg & vanilla & beat until well combined. Add the flour, baking powder and coconut and beat for a further 1 minute or until well combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

I made the dough & then refrigerated it, but only got round to baking the biscuits the following day & it still worked perfectly.

Divide the dough into two equal portions & roll both portions out between two sheets of non-stick baking paper to 3mm-thick.

Using a 7cm round cookie cutter, cut the 12 rounds from the dough & place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Using a 4cm heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut the hearts from the centre of half the rounds & discard.

I used two different sizes of heart-shaped cookie cutters & I loved the look of these, but it’s really up to you which shapes you prefer!

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool. Dust the cut-out rounds with icing sugar. Spread the plain rounds with jam & sandwich with the cut-out rounds.