Make the dough:

1. Beat the butter with the powdered sugar just until smooth in either a stand mixer or with a hand mixer in a bowl.
2. Add in the egg yolk and vanilla, and beat until smooth.
3. Pour in the flour, then beat in briefly, just until the flour disappears.
4. Transfer the dough to the center of a piece of plastic wrap. Fold the plastic wrap around the dough, then press everything into one even mass of dough.
5. Divide the dough in half.
6. Sprinkle the strawberry and beet powders on top of one half of dough, then fold the dough on top of itself to distribute the color evenly.
7. Divide the strawberry dough into 12 balls, then divide the plain dough into 12 balls as well.
8. Chill the balls on a sheet tray in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

Roll the twists:

1. Line one baking sheet with a piece of parchment.
2. Lightly flour your counter.
3. Roll a piece of the strawberry dough and a piece of vanilla dough into a rope about 8″ long.
4. Twist the two ropes of dough together. It’s helpful to roll one over the other with light pressure. If the dough breaks at all, pinch it together and keep going.
5. When you’ve fully twisted the two ropes together, pinch the ends together to form a circle, then form it into a heart.
6. Place the heart on the prepared baking sheet.
7. Repeat the twisting for the rest of the dough.
8. Chill the cookies in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Bake the cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F (160 C).
2. Bake the cookies for 15-16 minutes, rotating the sheet tray 180 degrees halfway through the baking process.
3. Cool the cookies until the sheet tray is cool, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
4. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature. Because of their fragile shape, these cookies do not freeze well.