Hello! I'm Jen, and I re-create a lot of viral recipes! I have a biweekly series where I try recipes that are trending in pop culture (or some that just look good).
In the clip above, user @lina.ways uses the back of a spoon to make heart-shaped indents in pieces of cookie dough and then fills each hole with jam. The clip now has over 17.2 million views.
After doing more digging around on TikTok, I learned that the cute jam heart in the center can be made using your own two thumbs — no cookie cutter necessary — and that's where they get their name.
Ahead of the holiday of love, I thought I'd try out the recipe because it looked relatively simple, and I mean, who doesn't love cookies? Based on the plethora of great reviews, I decided to follow this recipe from Live Well Bake Often for the cookie dough. I ended up making a few adjustments, which are listed below:
To begin, I preheated my oven to 350 degrees. I then started on the cookie dough and creamed together the softened butter and sugar.
Once it came together in an even consistency, I added the egg yolk and the vanilla extract.
I stirred that mixture until I got a smooth, yellowy cream-like texture, pictured below. I then added the flour and mixed some more.
After a few minutes of stirring, the cookie dough came together. It was pretty crumbly, but the recipe said that this was normal and that it'd stick together once the shaping began, so I trusted the process.
Then, using a tablespoon, I measured out the dough and rolled them into balls with my palms. I placed each one into a pan.
Following the ball formation, I used my fingers to make the heart indents. I found it easier to use my pinky finger at first just to get an outline of the shape, and then go back in later with my thumb to make the heart bigger.
Next, it was time to fill each indent. I used a half teaspoon of the Trader Joe's strawberry preserves for each cookie.
The recipe I followed said to put the cookies in for 12–14 minutes, but I ended up leaving the cookies in for closer to 15–16 minutes, or until the bottoms were a light golden brown. I would just recommend checking on the cookies after 12 minutes and using your best judgment based on that assessment.
Finally, after the cookies cooled for about 30 minutes, I plated them. I'd say they turned out pretty well for my first go at the recipe!
After snapping some pics, I did a taste test and was very pleasantly surprised!
The cookies were perfectly chewy, moist, and cakey. I'm a soft cookie lover, and these were DELISH. The jam adds just the right amount of sweetness, and the buttery, doughy flavor of the cookie contrasts that sugary taste very nicely. These definitely surpassed my expectations, and they were so easy to make!
