Ingredient Title Chef Category

Everybody loves Valentine's

So what if Valentine’s Day has become a bit commercial, it is one of the few days we celebrate that is devoted to love, sweet love. The word “sweet” is crucial here. If a Valentine’s Day gift isn’t in the shape of a heart it had better be made of sugar.

Flo Braker is a baker and a good one. She came up with a clever idea that you and any of the children in your life may want to devote a little togetherness time to. She mixes a dough that is ideal for rolled-out cookies because they bake without changing their shape at all. The cookies are sturdy and crisp with a buttery, not-too-sweet taste.

When this dough has been rolled out, she has the child, children, or family members put their hands on the dough and she outlines the hands with holes made by a toothpick. From that come the hand-shaped cookies, which will later hold heart-shaped, pink cookies. They are great fun to make and to eat, finger by finger.

Let’s get to that recipe before we talk about the even more fun part—decorating.

Valentine Cookie Cutouts

Sturdy, crisp and buttery, they also make great ornaments for a Christmas tree come December. If you find the dough is too soft to transfer to cookie sheets with a metal spatula, slip a cookie sheet under the plastic wrap on which you rolled out the dough, and return to the refrigerator until firm. (A speedy solution is to set it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.) When the dough is firm but not brittle, it’s easier to transfer the shapes to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

2 2/3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract

Put flour, sugar and salt in food processor. Process just to blend the ingredients. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch slices and scatter over the flour mixture. Process with on/off bursts just until the butter looks like it is disappearing into the mixture. Whisk the egg with vanilla, almond and lemon extracts. With the motor on, pour the egg mixture through the feed tube. Process until ingredients form a ball. Remove the dough to a work surface, and using your hands, gently press it together until it is smooth. Divide the dough in half and roll out each half between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to form a rectangle about 13- by 9- by 1/16-inches thick. Leaving the dough between the sheets of plastic wrap, stack them on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days, or freeze, well wrapped, for up to 1 month.

Adjust the rack to lower third of oven and preheat to 325 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove one dough package at a time from the refrigerator. Peel off the top sheet of plastic wrap, replace it loosely on top, and flip the entire package over. Peel off and discard the second sheet of plastic wrap. Place the child’s hand on the dough. (Yes, on top of the sheet of plastic, it keeps the hand clean for the next step and keeps the dough cold longer.) Following the shape of the hand, punch holes at 1/2-inch intervals in the plastic-covered dough with a wooden toothpick. After the hands have been copied, peel away the top sheet of plastic wrap and with the tip of a paring knife trace the dots to yield cutout handprints. Use a turner or spatula to lift the handprints onto the baking sheets, leaving 1/2-inch between them. Repeat with the remaining dough. (Dough scraps may be pressed together and rolled out again.)

Using a heart-shaped cutter (or fold a piece of paper to make a heart pattern, cut out cookie hearts and place a small heart on each hand. Bake 1 sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, or until cookies are ivory-colored with a slight golden tinge on the edges. They should feel slightly firm (lightly touch a few). Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest for about 10 minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Yields about 14 (4 year old) hands.

Variations on Heart-In-Hand Cookies

You can use them as is, but it is more fun to decorate them a little.

1. You can add red food coloring to half of the cookie dough and cut the hearts from this dough to place on each hand.
2. Or, stir up a little pink icing for the hearts by sifting confectioners sugar into a bowl and stirring in a little cream and a few drops of red food coloring. You can outline the edges with little gold or silver edible cake decorating balls.
3. Or, use the pink icing to make fingernails at the ends of the fingers.
4. Use a pastry bag or make one from waxed paper, by folding the paper into a triangle. Spoon some of the pink icing on the paper and folding the paper to make a cone. Cut a tiny hole at the point of the cone and write names of family or friends on the hearts.
5. Bake some of the hand shapes without the hearts. Sift confectioners sugar over the surface. Cut a heart-shaped piece of cardboard and sift cocoa over the stencil.
6. Write a message in the palm of a hand and tie a string of red licorice around a finger.
7. Make handwiches: Spread jelly or peanut butter or frosting between 2 plain hand cookies.
8. Place a small candy chocolate kiss on one of the fingers as if it were a ring. Or, use other valentine candy like a Necco conversation heart.

A Valentine Meringue

A white heart with a cream cheese and bright cherry filling.

Meringue
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Filling
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 can cheery pie filling

Meringue: Preheat oven to 275 F. Beat egg whites until foamy; add cream of tartar and whip until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time, until very stiff peaks form. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Spoon meringue onto paper and shape into a 9-inch heart shape, building the edges up slightly. Bake for 1 1/2 hours; turn oven off but DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR. Allow to cool in oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven, and let cool completely on a rack.

Filling: Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Fold in whipped cream until mixture is well blended. To serve, place heart on serving platter; fill with cream cheese mixture and top with pie filling. Makes 6 servings.

Heart to heart can’t be tart!

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