Minnesota Love Cookies

How to make Minnesota Love Cookies

Old-fashioned shortbread cookies are rich, crumbly, buttery, and made with only three ingredients—flour, butter, and sugar. These cookies should not stress you out, so if you’re missing a spice, just skip it. I promise they’ll still be delicious.

You’ll start by creaming together the butter and powdered sugar in a stand mixer. Next, you’ll add vanilla. Then, you’ll reduce speed to low and add your flour mixture (flour, salt, pistachio and dried spices) until the dough starts to come together.

Because shortbread dough is very soft and delicate, the dough needs to be chilled before rolling it out and cutting out the cookies.

• After you’ve made your dough, place it in the fridge in a disc shape wrapped in plastic wrap for at least one hour. You want the dough to be very cold.
• Once chilled, remove the dough from the fridge. Dust a flat surface with flour and roll out your cookie dough to about ¼-inch thick with a rolling pin. The other method is to roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper. No additional flour is needed using this method.
• Use a cookie cutter to cut-out cookies, and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. You can use a circle, heart, or this Minnesota-shaped cookie cutter.
• Before you bake the cookies, place them in the freezer or fridge on the sheet pan for at least 15 minutes to firm up again. This helps them hold their shape better while baking.
• Bake. Bake the cookies just until the edges turn slightly golden, about 8-12 minutes. Allow to cool completely before dipping them in white chocolate.

*Tip: I like to take a quarter of cookie dough at a time out of the fridge to roll out. That way, the rest of the dough will stay cold while cutting out the first batch of cookies.

How to dip Minnesota Love Cookies in chocolate

Minnesota love cookies are great on their own, but dipping these delicious cookies in white chocolate is really what elevates them.

1. Place white melting chocolate wafers in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in 30 second increments, stirring between each. You can also melt your chocolate over a double boiler.
2. Dip half of each cookie in chocolate and place it back on a sheet of parchment paper.
3. Working quickly before the chocolate hardens, decorate with your favorite dried edible flower sprinkles, pistachio nuts, and gold flake (optional, but really adds a stunningly simple touch).
4. Put the sheet pan in the fridge for a few minutes to set the chocolate when you’re all done decorating.

Tips for making the perfect MN Love Cookies

• Since there are only a few ingredients, I recommend using high quality butter and pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste for the best flavor.
• Use powdered sugar in these cookies for a super, melt-in-your mouth texture.
• Instead of using a cookie cutter, you can roll the dough into a rectangle and cut it into 2-inch squares with a knife.
• Take a quarter of cookie dough at a time out of the fridge to roll out. That way, the rest of the dough will stay cold while you cut out the first batch of cookies.
• Rolling the dough between two sheets of parchment paper helps make the cut-out process a breeze!
• If your cookie dough gets too soft while rolling it out, you can just put it in the fridge for a few minutes to chill up.
• Freezing your cookies briefly before putting them in the oven will reduce spreading and help them keep their shape while baking. And if they don’t look perfect, don’t worry! They’ll still taste delicious and your guests will still love them.
• Wait until your cookies are completely cooled to dip them in chocolate.

Love Scandinavian treats?

Try my recipe for traditional kanelbullar, or Swedish cinnamon buns. They are beautiful, soft buns with a hint of cardamom and a delicate buttery cinnamon filling. They taste incredible any time of day, but especially around the holidays.