Long-time followers of this here Cup of Sugar :: Pinch of Salt page will know that even though I find Valentine’s Day silly, I always manage to make a few varieties of Valentine’s Day Cookies. This year is no different so I present his year’s four varieties: Red Currant Lemon Linzer Cookies, Valentine’s Day Shortbread Blossoms, Baci di Dama (Lady’s Kisses) and Double Chocolate M&M Cookies. Recipes follow after the jump:
Red Currant Lemon Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup red currant jam
Powdered sugar
To cut the hole in the top cookie, you will need a linzer cookie cutter or a small cutter the same shape as the larger cutter
Directions
Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare cookie sheets with silpat or parchment paper.
In the work bowl of your stand mixer, cream together butter and powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add in egg and yolk one at a time, then lemon zest. In a mixing bowl, combine flour and salt, then gradually add dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating just until blended. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Cover and chill 1 hour.
Roll each portion to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 3-inch heart-shaped cutter. Cut centers out of half of cookies with a 1-inch heart-shaped cutter. Make sure that you have an even number of solid and cut out cookies. Bake for 13 minutes; cool on wire racks.
Spread solid cookies with jam and then sandwich with a cut out cookie. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Valentine’s Day Shortbread Blossoms
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup valentine’s day colored nonpareil sprinkles
1 10-ounce bag Hershey’s Special Dark
Directions
Heat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper. Pour sprinkles into shallow bowl. Unwrap Kisses and keep in the fridge until needed.
In the work bowl of your stand mixer, cream together butter, eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add flour; beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.
Using a 1-tablespoon disher, shape dough into small 1-inch balls. Roll balls of dough in sprinkles, patting sprinkles gently onto any areas where sprinkles have not adhered. You want to have the little balls completely covered with sprinkles all over. Place 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake 14-18 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from oven and quickly place a Kiss in the center of each cookie, pressing down barely (only about 1/4 inch or so) into the cookie. Don’t be tempted to press the Kiss too deeply into the cookies as they will crack at the edges. If you do have any cracking, gently push the crack back together while the cookies are still warm.
Let the cookies stand 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully remove to cooling rack. Cool completely before moving or touching. The Kisses will take a while to firm up. If you try to move them too soon the Kisses will collapse or distort in shape.
Baci di Dama (Lady’s Kisses)
Ingredients
3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and partially skinned
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter,
cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Directions
Heat oven to 325F. Line baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper.
Line bottom of 8-inch square baking pan with parchment. Process hazelnuts, flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until hazelnuts are very finely ground, 20 to 25 seconds. Add butter and pulse until dough just comes together, 20 to 25 pulses.
Transfer dough to counter, knead briefly to form smooth ball, place in prepared pan, and press into even layer that covers bottom of pan. Freeze for 10 minutes. Run knife or bench scraper between dough and edge of pan to loosen. Turn out dough onto counter and discard parchment. Cut dough into 64 squares (8 rows by 8 rows). Roll dough squares into balls and evenly space 32 dough balls on each prepared sheet. Bake until cookies look dry and are fragrant (cookies will settle but not spread), about 20 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer sheet to wire rack and let cookies cool completely, about 30 minutes.
In a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water (double boiler) or in the microwave at 50% power, melt chocolate, stirring every 20 seconds, 1 to 2 minutes. Let chocolate cool at room temperature until it is slightly thickened and registers 80 degrees, about 10 minutes. Invert half of cookies on each sheet. Using 1/4-teaspoon measure, spoon chocolate onto flat surfaces of all inverted cookies. Top with remaining cookies, pressing lightly to adhere. Let chocolate set for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Double Chocolate M&M Cookies
Ingredients
18 ounces (1 1/2 packages) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup dark brown sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
12-ounces Red and Pink Valentine’s Day M&Ms
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with silpat or parchment paper.
In a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water (or a double boiler), melt together chocolate chips and butter, mix until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in melted chocolate. Mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Mix in 1/2 of the M&Ms. Drop tablespoons of dough evenly placed about 1 1/2 inches apart onto the lined cookie sheet and top with a few more M&Ms, pressing them in slightly. Bake, until cookies are crackly, about 12 minutes. The cookies should still be soft. Do not over bake.
Cool on sheets until about mostly cool then carefully transfer the cookies to racks to cool completely.
Print/PDF Versions
Red Currant Lemon Linzer Cookies