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If you’re looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day treat, look no further! These Lightened-Up Sandwich Cookies are my take on a lighter version of a shortbread dough, coupled with some quick, homemade jam. They come together to make the cutest sandwich cookies ever! I’m especially proud of these because I am definitely NOT a baker. That being said, these turned out.
The key to lightening up the dough is to cut back on the butter by substituting reduced-fat cream cheese. I also used less sugar than most traditional recipes I’ve found, but I think they are still perfectly sweet.
Lightened-Up Sandwich Cookies make me pretty nostalgic. At the age of seventeen, my first job was at an after-school program for K-8 kids. We would have cooking making days, where the kids cut cut out the dough with cookie cutter shapes and decorate. We made something very similar to this quite often. This was by far one of their favorite activities. I wish I would have though to lighten them up back then!
As for shapes, you could cut the cookies into whatever you like, but I thought hearts were pretty cute and festive for this time of year. I found a set of different sizes at Michael’s for about 5 bucks. They are actually fondant cutters, but it’s all the same. Look for them in the cake decorating section. Wondering what to do with those mini heart cutouts? I cooked mine at 350 for 4 minutes, then drizzled with melted dark chocolate. You can have around 5 for 2 SP!
Here’s a tip–make sure you are rolling the dough out at thin as you can (about .2 mm thick). This will ensure even cooking and a cook cookie-to-jam ratio. Here’s how thin I got mine before baking.
Also make sure you are measuring out your flour in grams to get the best consistency. Baking is all about formulas and ratios, so I included exact weights. If you must use measuring cups, make sure you are spooning and leveling your flour into your cups rather than packing the flour in.
Lastly–I highly recommend making your own Sugar-Free Jam to cut back on the artificial sweeteners. But if you want to save another step, jarred sugar-free jam will work.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you make it, be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook (@litecravings) and use the hashtag #litecravingsrecipes. I sometimes miss a tag here or there, but I always check in on the hashtag.
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Lightened-Up Sandwich Cookies
The perfect shortbread cookie base to keep you on track, paired with a healthy 0 SP jam. A guilt-free and adorable holiday treat!
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time8 minutes mins
Total Time38 minutes mins
Servings: 30 sandwich cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 oz light cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (for best results, measure out 350 grams)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 lemon peel, finely grated
- 1/2 cup sugar-free raspberry or strawberry jam*
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, In the bowl, use a stand or hand mixer to combine butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Then beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Add in flour, salt, and lemon peel. Mix until a dough begins to form. Knead with hands to competely combine.
Cut dough in half. Cover one half in plastic and place in refrigerator. On a floured surface, roll out other half as thinly as possible, until the dough is about 1/3 inch thick.
Use a cookie cutter to cut out shape of your choice. I used a 5-inch heart-shaped cutter. You should get 30 cookies out of this half of the dough. You'll probably need to knead scraps and roll out again to get to 30 cookies. Use the same process on the other half of the dough, or freeze and use later.
Use a smaller cookie cutter shape to cut out a hole in 15 of the 30 cookies (these will be the tops of the sandwich).
Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes in the middle of the oven until edges are just barely browned. DO NOT over bake! Let cool completely.
To decorate the cookies, sprinkle the cookies with hole with powdered sugar. Spread the tops of the cookies that don’t have a hole with about 2/3 tsp jam and put one of the other cookies on top. Let the cookies rest and come together for another hour or so, then transfer to an air-tight container. Store in a dry and cool place for up to 1 week.
Notes
*I prefer to make my own raspberry jam, using my 0 SP Jam recipe (no artificial sweeteners)
Click here to determine your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe (if you are logged in to your WW app, it should calculate for you automatically)
WW Green, Blue, and Purple SmartPoints: 3 per cookie
Cals: 88 | Fat: 3g | Sat Fat: 1g | Carbs: 15g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Protein: 2g
