Ah, what a beautiful day! Hope everyone is enjoying their day. As for me, there is never a dull moment. Today, I have been preparing a treat for everyone. I made everyone Valentines Cookies! Yes, cookies shaped like hearts, just for this lovely day. I hope everyone comes by the cafeteria to grab a cookie or two! Specialty by yours truly, the great Wonder Chef!
And never to forget, you can also make your own Valentines Cookies with this great recipe!
Valentine's Cookies
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 24 to 36 cookies
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Approximately 3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Icing, recipe follows
Silver balls
Gold balls
Icing:
2 tablespoons egg whites*
2 cups powdered sugar
Red food coloring
Directions
Cream the butter. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the egg, milk and vanilla and combine. Sift together 1 cup of the flour with the baking powder and mix it into the batter. Add some or all of the additional flour depending on how much the dough can handle. Form into a disk, cover in plastic and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours. Roll out on a lightly floured surface about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out hearts with various sized cookie cutters and place on a greased sheet pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes until very light golden brown. Let cool on the pan.
Icing: Whisk together the egg whites and powdered sugar to form a slightly loose icing. It should flow a little bit but not too much. Transfer a small amount to a separate bowl and add a tiny amount of red food coloring to make pink icing. Pipe a rim of pink icing around the edge of the cookie and then fill in the center with white icing, or just pipe decorative designs on the surface. Embellish with silver or gold balls. Let dry and package up in cello bags tied with a ribbon.
*RAW EGG WARNING: The American Egg Board states: "There have been warnings against consuming raw or lightly cooked eggs on the grounds that the egg may be contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria responsible for a type of food poisoning. Healthy people need to remember that there is a very small risk and treat eggs and other raw animal foods accordingly. Use only properly refrigerated, clean, sound-shelled, fresh, grade AA or A eggs. Avoid mixing yolks and whites with the shell."