Sometimes I feel like I’m still detoxing from my holiday sugar intake by the time Valentine’s Day rolls around. I love baking cookies, but after baking hundreds in December a month and a half does not seem like enough of a break! But I live with three cookie monsters, so I continue to bake them.
I wasn’t thrilled with the royal icing recipe I used. I could not seem to get it thin enough to get that real smooth look that I was going for. I was afraid I was going to make it too thin, and it wouldn’t dry. Even though the cookies still turned out cute, you might want to try another recipe when making these. Christina at Sweet Pea’s Kitchen has a nice tutorial that I should have read before I made these! On second thought, maybe I’ll give them another try this weekend with this icing recipe!
If you haven’t tried these edible markets before, they are a lot of fun for decorating cookies, fondant, or chocolate. Have fun!
Conversation Heart Cookies, adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 recipe royal icing
- Edible markers for decorating
Instructions
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Cream butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. With mixer running, add egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture gradually, beating until just incorporated.
Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk, and wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (but preferably overnight).
Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in top third and lower third. Let 1 disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to just under 1/4-inch thickness, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Cut out cookies with a 2-inch heart cutter, and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll out scraps once, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough. Freeze cookies until very firm, about 15 minutes.
Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through and switching from top to bottom, until edges turn golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
Once frosted, let the cookies stand uncovered overnight until dry.
Cookies will keep, covered, for up to 1 week.
https://www.theculinaryenthusiast.com/2015/02/06/conversation-heart-cookies/
