Greg and I do our part to support the US Postal Service, though slightly begrudgingly with shipping prices ever on the rise. We love to send treats to friends and family, sometimes for holidays and sometimes just because. It’s fun to keep it unpredictable! I love getting real mail (it was often the highlight of my day when we lived in Atlanta), so we try to pass that bit of happiness on to our loved ones!
I knew that I had to mail these cookies out as soon as I spotted them over on Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories! I love that they’re 100 times the size of the iconic Valentine’s Day candy, and taste 100 times better, too! Not only that, but they’re completely customizable and so fun to make. Brilliant!
By the way, who knew you could make cookies this thick? Without burnt bottoms, gooey middles or a ton of spreading? Not me.
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories suggests using your favorite shortbread recipe, so here’s the one I used, courtesy of my mother-in-law!
Supplies:
1 pound lightly salted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
4 cups unbleached flour (all purpose)
Food coloring
Decorating spray (ours was Betty Crocker brand in red)
Card stock
Xacto knife
In order to make different colored hearts, the easiest thing to do is divide the above ingredients into four mini-batches (they divide nicely!). Or make four batches and share!
Also, our red + blue never quite blended right to make purple. The cookies came out kinda grey and speckled. Meh. I’d skip purple.
1. Beat butter and (one color of) food coloring with electric mixer until smooth.
2. Add sugar, and beat again until homogeneous, scraping down sides.
3. Add flour/salt mixture, and beat on low until it clumps together into dough and is mixed. Avoid over-beating.
4. Roll dough out, but keep it thick (approximately 1/2″).
5. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out large hearts. Place 1/2″ apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Chill.
7. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, then reduce to 275 when putting trays in to bake. Check at 30 minutes, then cook 5-10 minutes more, or until done (very lightly brown on bottom.)
8. Cool cookies on a rack. Meanwhile, make your template by typing up phrases and printing them on card stock. Leave plenty of space around each phrase.
9. Use an Xacto (or scissors, if you’re talented) to cut the letters out of the card stock. Don’t worry about the center pieces of letters like o (also known as counters).
10. Separate the phrases into templates.
11. After the cookies have cooled, it’s time to spray! Set the template on the cookie, and keep the area clear of other cookies. Lightly spray on the color, following directions on the can. It takes a few tries and adjustments to perfect the technique.
