'I Heart You' Cookies

Over Christmas, there was an obscene overabundance of cookie dough that had been created in preparation for an obscene overabundance of Christmas cookies.  After some unforeseen circumstances and some plan changes, that left us all with several batches of dough that were relegated to the depths of my freezer, while my family tried, in vain, to consume the already baked goodies.  Shortly before Valentine's Day, EM's boyfriend reminded me that we had frozen dough to use, so I thawed it out and rolled it out, determined to make use of our aforementioned cookie surplus.  Conveniently, Valentine's Day was just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than by making heart cookies?  

Show your loved ones how much you care with a cookie that practically shouts, I heart you!



Unless your loved ones are a bit squeamish, because I'm told that not everyone appreciates what I like to call "culinary gore."





If that's the case, might I suggest something a little more traditional?

Basic Sugar Cookies from Martha Stewart. What can I say?  The woman knows her cookies!

 

Makes roughly 32, depending on how big you like your cookies!

 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Assorted candies, sprinkles, or colored sugars, for decorating (that is, if you don't have the patience to wait for them to cool enough to ice or dip in chocolate, which can sometimes happen)

Directions

1.  In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).


2.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. (Cholesterologist's Note:  Obviously, I didn't have anatomical heart cookie cutters because I have yet to find those, so I simply eyeballed my hearts and cut them out with a knife.  This also takes forever and leaves rough edges, so while I love these hearts, I would encourage you to find a cookie cutter, or use a very sharp knife and then once on the cookie sheet, smooth out the edges of the dough.  If you're hasty and hungry like me, they'll look quite rough like the ones above.)  Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.

3.  Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks.

Royal Icing from Not So Humble Pie, one of my favorite bloggers ever, who also gives a great icing tutorial!  You should click on that link and go read it, because she's 110% amazing and will teach you how to make beautiful cookies relatively easily.

 

Makes enough for about 2 dozen cookies, depending on how you ice them.  I usually halve the recipe to start, and then make more as I need it, so that my icing doesn't get crusty.

 

Ingredients

1 pound powdered sugar

5 tablespoons meringue powder
1/3 cup plus one teaspoon water
few drops almond extract (optional.  Essentially you could use any other clear extract to flavor your icing, such as lemon or orange, but stay away from vanilla because it'll tint your icing brown!)

Directions

1.  Mix these together until smooth. It is going to be pretty thick, so add one additional teaspoon of water at a time. You want it to still be fairly thick to start, so go easy with the water. The icing should be smooth and fluid but still hold a firm peak. Meaning that if you pull a spoon out of the icing you have a nice stiff point left behind that doesn't sink back into the icing.

2.  If you go read the Humble tutorial, you'll learn how to make your own pastry bags to do icing and piping and all that good stuff, but since I was in a hurry, I did the unthinkable and made some quick and dirty Ziploc icing bags by spooning my icing in and cutting a teeny tiny hole in the bottom corner.  (Obviously, my icing needs practice, so don't judge me too harshly.)  Outline your cookie first, then let that dry.  Dilute your icing a few drops at a time for your flood icing, then fill in your cookie.  Let it all dry and enjoy!

If you're fancying something chocolatey, temper some good semi-sweet in a double boiler over the stove and simply dip your cookies in.  I let mine set on some wax paper for a couple hours before devouring almost entirely.