Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies

By: Najla Banimalek, Staff Reporter, The Pawprint

With Valentine’s day steadily approaching, a great way to show your affection is through some delicious and cute cookies. Chef Alton Brown has crafted this simple and easy recipe that is bound to please your lovers heart and appetite! This recipe yields around 3 dozen cookies, and takes around 2 hours from start to finish.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt 
• 1 cup of unsalted butter, softened 
• 1 cup of sugar 
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon of milk 
• Powdered sugar (for rolling out your dough)

Directions:

Start out by getting a large bowl and sifting together your flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, use an electric stand mixer to combine your butter and sugar, until it is light in color. Add the egg and milk into the butter mixture, and beat to combine it.

While having your electric mixer on low speed, gradually add in your flour mixture, until it is pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Divide your dough in half, wrap it in wax paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours. 

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F).

Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough, and sprinkle powdered sugar on the surface. Roll out your dough until it is ¼ inch thick, and use a heart shaped cookie cutter to create the designs. Lay them 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper, and bake for 7-9 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. Repeat the same process with the second pack of dough.

When you take the cookies out of the oven, let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before placing it on a wire cooling rack. You can serve them plain, or use icing to decorate them.

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container for about 1 week.