HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
Give something sweet to your sweetheart on Valentine's Day. Make a batch of Linzer cookies that feature a cute little cut out heart or bake up "Secret Message" heart-shaped sandwich cookies where you can slip a little note inside to your Valentine.
The Viennese Linzertorte is such a beautiful dessert it's almost a shame to eat it. Basically, this torte is a jam filled pastry shell topped with a latticework design and decorated with nuts. This heart cookie rendition is perfect for Valentine's Day.
Ingredients
- 3/4 Cup sugar
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 Teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Cup unsalted butter, chilled
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 Cup strawberry preserves
- 1 egg white, beaten
- 1/2 Cup hazelnuts, unsalted, skinned, finely ground
Steps
- Add sugar, flour, and baking powder to a food processor and process until combined. Cut butter into small pieces. Add butter, sour cream, egg yolks and vanilla and process into coarse crumbs. Gather dough in ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray a baking sheet with a non-stick cooking spray. Roll out dough on a heavily floured surface to a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a 2 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter. Cut out a smaller heart from center of half of the cookies. Use you knife to make the small heart or purchase mini cookie or canapé cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet.
- Brush beaten egg white over cookies with cut-out hearts. Sprinkle hazelnuts on top and brush egg white over nuts. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool thoroughly.
- Heat strawberry preserves in microwave; stir until smooth. Remove from heat and cool thoroughly.
- Place cookies without cut out centers bottom side up on a sheet of wax paper. Spread strawberry jam on cookie bottoms. Place cookies with cut out heart centers and nuts on top of jam and sandwich the two cookies together. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.Makes 24 sandwich cookies
More Ways to Celebrate Valentine's Day
- Try a Simply Romantic Valentine's Dinner for Two
- Throw a Kiss-worthy Cocktail Party
- Or, have a Valentine's Girls Night Party!
I created this Valentine's Day craft years ago. You bake sandwich cookies in such a way that you can slip a little note inside. The kids love it!
Preparation
Try my Butter Almond Cookie recipe for this craft or your favorite roll out cookie recipe where the dough is nice and stiff. (Store-bought cookie dough is usually too soft for this craft.)
Steps
- Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on a floured surface.
- Use a large 6-inch wide, heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out cookie dough. Or you can use a similar size heart-shaped candy box and trace around the box with a knife cutting into the dough to make hearts. The average cookie recipe should yield about 4 large hearts.
- Lightly coat cookie sheets with baking spray. Place half of your hearts on the cookie sheet. These will be the bottom cookies.
- Fold a piece of aluminum foil into a 2 X 6 inch rectangle that has about 4 layers so it is a bit thick. Make a rectangle for each cookie. Lay a foil rectangle on each cookie so one end of the rectangle is in the center of the cookie and extends across the cookie off the edge.
- Place the remaining cookies directly on top of the cookies on the sheets. The foil should be sticking out. Crimp the sides of the cookies to seal the top and bottom together. Bake the cookies according to the directions. Remove them from the oven and cool.
- Write a little Valentine message on 1 X 3-inch slips of paper; fold the paper slips in half. When the cookies are cool, gently pull out the foil rectangles and slip the folded paper inside the cookie.
- Decorate the cookies however you like with white glaze and pink sugar or bright red frosting and sprinkles! Give a cookie to your Valentine and tell him or her to "Break the Heart" whereupon they'll find a personal message!
A Valentine's Day of
Family Fun
Family Fun
Aphrodisiac Food
Aphrodisiac
Valentine's Day Menu
Valentine's Day Menu
