These adorable valentine cookies are infused with rose water and lots of orange zest. To make them even better, you can dip them in some melted chocolate and sprinkle with rose petals.

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Marbled Rose Water and Orange Valentine Cookies

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 10

Course Dessert

Servings 3-inch cookies

Ingredients

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes - 226 grams
1 cup granulated sugar - 200 grams
1 egg - cold
zest of one large orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rose water
½ tsp salt
3 cups minus 2 tbsps all purpose flour - 342 grams
2 tbsp cornstarch - 15 grams
½ tsp baking powder
gel food coloring, as needed
8 oz 70 percent or bittersweet chocolate
Rose petals - for decoration

Instructions

Sift flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
Add cubed butter and sugar into the bowl of your mixer. Start beating on medium high with a paddle attachment for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is fluffy and lighter in color. Scrape down the sides as needed.
While mixing, add in egg, vanilla extract, rose water and orange zest. Beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides to make sure all the ingredients are combined.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the dough comes together about 15 seconds. Do not overmix.
Divide the dough in how many colors you want. I did 3 colors, one part light pink, one part dark pink and one part plain, without any food coloring. Add food coloring to each dough and mix on low until combined. Don't over mix.
Now take small pieces of each color and stick them together in a pile. I made sure to spread the colors evenly.
Now gently press them all together and knead one or two times until the colors bleed together slightly.
Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a piece of parchment paper, lay another piece of parchment paper on top and then using a rolling pin, roll it out until it's ¼ inch thick.
Transfer it as is to a baking sheet. If you are planning to bake the cookies right away, freeze the dough for half an hour or until firm (it shouldn't bend) and then proceed with baking. If not, freeze it for about 15 minutes until it's firm enough to handle, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to a month.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
Once the dough is firm, take it out of the freezer and use your favorite heart shaped cookie cutter to cut the dough. I then used this cookie stamp to write some cute valentine words on each cookie. Place the cookies on a lined baking sheet and freeze them for 15 minutes before baking. This helps them hold their shapes.
You can re-roll the dough scrapes but be very gentle as we don't want the colors to bleed together too much or the cookies will lose the marble effect. If the dough sticks to the surface, dust with a little bit of flour. If the dough is getting warm and soft, wrap it in plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge until it firms up again. It's best to only re-roll the cookie dough once or not more than two times because cookies may get tough after baking and they don't hold their shapes as well as the others.
Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes, rotating half way through. It's best to always start with one cookie to see how long it takes to bake. Cookies are ready when they are no longer shiny on the top and light golden brown on the edges. I baked my cookies for about 10 minutes but the baking time is totally different based on size and shape of the cookies. Try to bake all the cookies that look alike at the same time so they are all ready at the same time. Also, some ovens run high and the cookie bottom may get darker than we'd like it to be. In this case you can place a large baking sheet on the bottom rack of your oven. This helps distribute the heat more evenly. Lighter baking sheets also helps with it.
Let the cookies cool down on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then place them on a cooling rack to cool down completely.
After the cookies are completely cooled down, chop the chocolates, add them to a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, then stir and microwave for 30 more seconds, stir. Now microwave for 15 seconds, then 10 seconds, stirring after each round. When 90 percent of the chocolate is melted, stop microwaving and continue stirring until the last pieces are melted too.
Wait a few minutes for the chocolate too cool down slightly, then dip the sides of cookies in it and immediately sprinkle with rose petals. Place them on a parchment paper to set. Enjoy!