Bloatal Recall: Triple Heart Cookies

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Triple Heart Cookies

I wanted to make Valentine's Day cookies this year, but didn't feel like icing each one individually. So I thought this was a good idea for making cute hearts with a little less time and effort. I like the way they turned out. True they're not red or pink, but I think that makes them a little classier. They may not be the tux of Valentine's Day cookies, but they're at least the suit and tie (definitely not the t-shirt and sweats).

You'll need:

- rolled sugar cookie dough (made with 3/4 cup more sugar than the original recipe)

- chocolate rolled cookie dough (see recipe below)
- heart cookie cutters (various sizes)

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CHOCOLATE ROLLED COOKIES

Yield: about 3 dozen (depending on size)

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons chocolate liqueur (such as Godiva) or extra strong coffee*

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

*can be made by dissolving 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso in 3 tablespoons warm water

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1. Sift together (or gently stir with a whisk) the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. With an electric mixer cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until fully incorporated and fluffy.

3. Beat in egg, liqueur and extract.

4. Add in flour/cocoa mixture about 1 cup at a time. Blend until fully incorporated. (If you are using a hand mixer you may need to add the last cup of flour by hand).

5. Divide dough into 2 or 3 disks, wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator 1-2 hours.

6. Once chilled, work with one ball of dough at a time, and roll onto a lightly floured surface. I find it works best to place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough, and then roll on top of the parchment. This prevents the dough from sticking to your rolling pin, and you also don’t need to add as much extra flour (as you would without the parchment).

7. Heat oven to 350º F.

8. Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters and place on a baking sheet.

9. Place the baking sheet in the freezer about 5 minutes (this helps the dough keep its shape when baked).

10. Bake cookies for 7-10 minutes (depending on size).

11. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

barely adapted from glorioustreats.com

cutting hearts out of the rolled sugar cookie dough

Remember when you make it to increase the sugar
by about 3/4 cup (since these are not being iced,
they won't be sweet enough without the extra sugar).

cutting hearts out of the chocolate dough

hearts mixed

I recommend putting the baking sheet in the
fridge for about 15 minutes before baking
(so the cookies hold their shape better).

I baked these at 375º F. for about 8 minutes
(one recipe said 350º F. and the other
said 400º F., so I split the difference).