When it comes to Valentine’s Day you will see a lot of hearts around you. Everything is pink, sweet, and decorated with hearts. More hearts. They are everywhere ;P If you are into »that stuff« I might have something for you: cute little Valentine’s Day Heart Cookies. You can use them plain, or you can write little love messages on them… or not. Maybe you want to use them for other messages. Messages to express your real feelings for this made-up holiday ;P
Don’t get me wrong – I am absolutely fine with Valentine’s Day. Do I think it’s an unnecessary day? Yes. Can you give little surprises to someone you like all year round? Absolutely! You don’t need a holiday (invented by the »flower mafia«) for that purpose ;) Nonetheless, I like to decorate cakes and stuff like that with little hearts, and I’m also fine with the color pink. Sue me ;) But I do that all year round – not only for February 14th ;P
The cookies made with this recipe here can be used for Valentine’s Day – or whenever you want to surprise someone with something cute. You can bake those cookies for family or co-workers as well. I am pretty sure they will love them. But you can also let off some »steam« ;) With the right decoration (texts) you can play »Valentine’s Day Grinch« and maybe get some laughs out of it. See the pictures below ;) I am pretty sure nobody will be angry if he/she gets a »Mean Valentine’s Day Cookie«. Unless you get too personal I guess… but we are not gonna do that here. Right?! All fun and giggles ;P
If you got a steady hand for working with icing you can do the texts with a sugar glaze. Conveniently, there are some ready-made sugar glazes in supermarkets available you can use like pens. I used pens that are food-safe. You can write with them on basically every surface. You just have to make sure the icing on top of the cookies you want to decorate is completely dry. I did not wait long enough. You can see on some letters that I pressed too hard and broke the icing a bit. It just added to the ugliness of my handwriting ;P
Get the cookie dough and frosting ready and come up with some »nice things to say«. Or the opposite – whatever you’re in the mood for.
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(30+ cookies)
For the dough:
8.1 oz. (230g) all-purpose flour
2.5 oz. (70g) confectioners’ sugar
1 pinch of salt
5.3 oz. (150g) butter
1 medium egg yolk
For the decoration:
5.3-7.0 oz. (150-200g) confectioners’ sugar
some lemon juice
food coloring (pink, red, purple, turquoise)
food coloring pen (optional)
(30+ Kekse)
Für den Teig:
230g Mehl (Type 405)
70g Puderzucker
1 Prise Salz
150g Butter
1 Eigelb (M)
Für die Dekoration:
150-200g Puderzucker
etwas Zitronensaft
Lebensmittelfarbe (pink, rot, lila, türkis)
Lebensmittelfarbe-Filzstift (optional)
As you might have noticed – the text on the second picture is digitally added to the cookies. My handwriting was extremely ugly this time. You can see that on the picture right next to the »good-looking ones«. I am pretty sure you can do a better job ;)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Add flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt to a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter in small pieces, the egg yolk, and mix/knead until you got a nice smooth dough. You can use a handheld mixer, a pastry cutter, or your hands to do all of that. Your choice of weapon. Wrap the dough into plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 1 hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Roll out half of the dough (leave the rest in the fridge) on a floured work surface and cut out hearts* (about 2.4 inches in size). Place them on the baking sheet with some space in between. Collect leftover dough and roll out again with some added dough from the fridge and cut out more hearts until the baking sheet is full. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes – they should only get a hint of color. Take out of the oven and let cool down on the baking sheet for some time, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool down completely. Repeat with the remaining dough until you used everything.
3. For the glaze mix confectioners’ sugar with a little bit of lemon juice – add more if necessary to get a thick and not too runny glaze. Take a small amount of the glaze and color it with food color (in a separate bowl) to your liking. Glaze the cookies. I usually do this with a small spoon because it’s faster than filling it into a piping bag and using that for decorating. Color the remaining glaze with more colors and decorate the rest of the cookies. Let the glaze dry for at least 24 hours.
4. If you want to write something (nice or nasty) on your cookies you can either do that with some leftover sugar glaze, pre-made sugar glaze for writing text*, or you can use a food coloring pen* – that is actually the easiest way to get text onto the cookies.
Note: The amount of confectioners’ sugar depends on how thick you want the glaze to be and if you also want to use it for the writing later on – that’s why the amount is not very precise ;P
1. Mehl, Puderzucker und Salz in einer großen Schüssel vermischen. Butter in kleinen Stücken und das Eigelb dazugeben und alles zu einem glatten Teig verkneten – geht am einfachsten mit den Knethaken eines Handrührgeräts. Den Teig in Klarsichtfolie einschlagen und für mindestens 1 Stunde (oder über Nacht) in den Kühlschrank legen.
2. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Ein Blech mit Backpapier auslegen und zur Seite stellen. Die Hälfte des Teiges (Rest im Kühlschrank lassen) auf einer bemehlten Arbeitsfläche den ausrollen und dann Herzen* (ca. 6cm groß) ausstechen – mit etwas Abstand zueinander auf das Blech setzen. Teigreste sammeln, mit mehr Teig aus dem Kühlschrank erneut ausrollen und weitere Herzen ausstechen, bis das Blech voll ist. Die Kekse für etwa 10 Minuten backen. Die Kekse sollten nur minimal Farbe bekommen. Aus dem Ofen holen und auf dem Blech kurz abkühlen lassen, dann auf ein Kuchengitter setzen und komplett auskühlen lassen. Mit dem restlichen Teig wiederholen, bis alles aufgebraucht ist.
3. Für die Glasur den Puderzucker mit etwas Zitronensaft verrühren – nur so viel Zitronensaft dazugeben, bis eine recht dickflüssige Glasur entstanden ist. Einen Teil der Glasur in ein separates Schüsselchen geben und mit ein wenig Lebensmittelfarbe einfärben. Die Kekse mit der Glasur überziehen. Ich mache das i.d.R. mit einem kleinen Löffel, weil das schneller geht – man kann den Zuckerguss aber auch in einen Spritzbeutel füllen und damit dann dekorieren. Den restlichen Zuckerguss nach Belieben in weiteren Farben einfärben und die Kekse damit dekorieren. Die Glasur für mindestens 24h trocknen lassen.
4. Wer die Herzen noch mit (netten oder fiesen) Sprüchen versehen möchte, kann das entweder mit übrig gebliebener Glasur tun, mit fertiger Zuckerschrift*, oder einen Lebensmittelfarbe-Filzstift* verwenden – ist etwas einfacher.
Hinweis: Die Menge an Puderzucker hängt davon ab, wie dick die Glasur sein soll und ob sie auch noch für die Schrift herhalten muss – deshalb die etwas ungenaue Menge ;)
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Cute Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies (or maybe not)
- Prep Time: 00:30
- Cook Time: 00:10
- Total Time: 26:00
- Yield: 30 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
You are not sure what to gift for Valentine’s Day? How about some (mean) sugar cookies? You can show people directly if you like this made-up holiday or not ;P
Ingredients
For the dough:
8.1 oz. (230g) all-purpose flour
2.5 oz. (70g) confectioners’ sugar
1 pinch of salt
5.3 oz. (150g) butter
1 medium egg yolk
For the decoration:
5.3-7.0 oz. (150-200g) confectioners’ sugar
some lemon juice
food coloring (pink, red, purple, turquoise)
food coloring pen (optional)
Instructions
1. Add flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt to a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter in small pieces, the egg yolk, and mix/knead until you got a nice smooth dough. You can use a handheld mixer, a pastry cutter, or your hands to do all of that. Your choice of weapon. Wrap the dough into plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 1 hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Roll out half of the dough (leave the rest in the fridge) on a floured work surface and cut out hearts* (about 2.4 inches in size). Place them on the baking sheet with some space in between. Collect leftover dough and roll out again with some added dough from the fridge and cut out more hearts until the baking sheet is full. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes – they should only get a hint of color. Take out of the oven and let cool down on the baking sheet for some time, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool down completely. Repeat with the remaining dough until you used everything.
3. For the glaze mix confectioners’ sugar with a little bit of lemon juice – add more if necessary to get a thick and not too runny glaze. Take a small amount of the glaze and color it with food color (in a separate bowl) to your liking. Glaze the cookies. I usually do this with a small spoon because it’s faster than filling it into a piping bag and using that for decorating. Color the remaining glaze with more colors and decorate the rest of the cookies. Let the glaze dry for at least 24 hours.
4. If you want to write something (nice or nasty) on your cookies you can either do that with some leftover sugar glaze, pre-made sugar glaze for writing text*, or you can use a food coloring pen* – that is actually the easiest way to get text onto the cookies.
Notes
Let’s get baking!
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