I love to make these cookies for Valentine’s Day, but they are delicious anytime of year. Perhaps they should be called Ghost Cookies because no matter how many I make, they disappear!
INGREDIENTS
3/4 pounds unsalted butter, softened slightly
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup raspberry jam
More confectioners’ sugar for dusting.
DIRECTIONS
Cream the butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until well-mixed and light.
Mix the flour and salt together and add to the butter-sugar mixture. Add the vanilla and mix well.
Make three balls of the dough. You can refrigerate the dough in plastic wrap for several hours if the dough is sticky. If not, roll out each ball of dough to a 1/2-inch thickness.
Using a 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 20 cookies. Using a 1 – to 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookies cutter, cut the center out of 10 of the cookies. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, sprinkle with sugar, and refrigerate for one hour.
Preheat the oven to 325F.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cookies barely begin to color.
Cool.
Just before serving, add a dollop of jam to the whole heart cookies. Spread lightly. Place the cut-out hearts on top of the jam. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and watch the cookies disappear!
Birchwood Inn, http://www.birchwood-inn.com Ellen Gutman Chenaux
