1-Preheat the oven and prepare the tray: Start by preheating your oven to 170°C (335°F) and lining a baking tray with parchment paper, as this sets the stage for even baking.

2-Cream the ingredients: First, cream together the 125 g unsalted butter, 60 g caster sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until the mixture is pale and light, usually taking a few minutes with a mixer. This step incorporates air for a fluffy dough.

3-Add dry ingredients: Next, add the 180 g sifted plain (all-purpose) flour and ¼ teaspoon fine salt, mixing just until it forms a rough disc to avoid overworking the dough.

4-Roll out and cut the dough: Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to about ½ cm (¼ inch) thickness. If the dough feels too soft, refrigerate it for 10-15 minutes to make it easier to handle. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out your shapes, placing them on the prepared tray and re-rolling scraps as needed for efficiency.

5-Refrigerate before baking: After cutting, refrigerate the shapes for at least 30 minutes to firm up, which helps prevent spreading during baking as mentioned in the tips. Preheat the oven if you haven’t already, then bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the edges turn just golden. Let them cool on the tray for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack.

6-Prepare and apply the glaze and filling: For the glaze, mix 110 g powdered icing sugar with 2 tablespoons strawberry puree and 1 teaspoon melted unsalted butter until smooth, then gradually add 30 ml milk to reach your desired consistency. Dip the top of each cooled cookie into the glaze and let it set. Finally, spread or pipe the 170 g strawberry jam on the bottom halves and sandwich with the glazed tops, allowing everything to set for about an hour.