Valentine's Day Cookies

Although the purpose of this blog is to post mainly vegan/gluten free recipes, I’ve decided to share this butter cookie recipe that is neither vegan nor gluten free. Valentine’s Day is coming and some of us may want to bake something sweet and simple to share with our loved ones. These cookies, made with regular butter and gluten containing flour, can be made in a flash and as quickly will disappear from the serving plate. 

Making your own cookies also has another advantage: we know what ingredients were used. I try not to use anything artificial like: sprinkles, food coloring, artificial flavors or frosting and in my recipes I usually adjust the amount of sugar to suit my taste, using less than the original recipes call for.



Ingredients:

Yields: about 36 cookies

•  3 cups organic white flour,
• 1 cup potato starch
• 1¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 3¼ cups butter, cut in small cubes
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks, cooked
• ½ tsp salt
• 4-5 spoons ice cold water
• 1 tsp baking powder (optional)
• cookie cutters, cookie stamps

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl combine flour with potato starch, salt, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar (and baking powder, if you choose to use it). 

2. Place a strainer over the bowl with the dry ingredients and add 2 cooked egg yolks grating them through the strainer. Mix well with the dry ingredients.

3.  Add 1 egg and butter. Knead the dough with your hands until the ingredients are well combined. It may take several minutes. After about 5 minutes add the ice cold water and continue kneading until the dough sticks together. You may need to add 1-2 tbsp more cold water. If the dough becomes too sticky, add a little more flour. When the dough's texture becomes smooth and uniform, form the dough into a ball and wrap it with a plastic or aluminum foil. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Note: you can divide the dough in two parts, add about 1/8 cocoa to one part and carefully work it into the dough until it has a uniform light brown color.

4. When the dough is sufficiently cooled, preheat the oven to 350 F. Roll the refrigerated dough a little less than 1/4 inch thick on the floured board and cut shapes with cookie cutters.

5. Lightly butter the baking sheets or line them with parchment paper. Place the cookies on the baking sheets leaving 1/2 inch spaces between them (they will rise in the oven). Bake for about 16-18 minutes until golden switching position of sheets after 8 minutes. When ready, transfer with a wide knife or a metal spatula to a cooling rack.

When cooled, you can lightly dust the cookies with powdered sugar, glaze them with a homemade frosting or spread good quality fruit preserves on the flat side of the cookies and put them together "linzer cookie style".