Happy Valentine's Day

I had so many ideas for Valentine’s Day this year and I did not get to blog about all of them.  Sure I did the apple cinnamon dog bones and blondies with kisses, but I really had many many other ideas.  Some of them came to fruition and I did not get to write about them (like the ones below) but some just did not happen and will have to be saved for next year or morphed into another holiday.

And while hearts are still the number one cookie for Valentine’s Day I did make a few fun new ones that tuned out quite lovely for this day that is all about amore.

Love Is In the Air

Bee Mine

Loves Me, Loves Me Not Daisy

 Not sure if I will ever get though all the ideas in my head -- do you ever have that problem?  Well I guess that it is better to have too many ideas than to run dry.  

In the meantime I hope today is a day full of love and kisses and hugs (and if some of those are chocolate kisses and hugs -- then it is sure to be a great).

Happy Valentine's Day!

Blondies With All Kinds of Kisses

Blondies are sorta like chocolate brownie, but are based on brown sugar instead of cocoa – which makes them really carmely.

I wanted to share a recipe for Valentines Day that included Kisses so I made blondies with all kinds of Kisses.  I was trying to base this entire blog around the idea of this blondie sending you lots of kisses … but I’m starting to run out of time to get this up in time for you to make for your Valentine’s Day.

So I made these and this is how I did it.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)^*

1 tsp baking powder

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups of Hershey Kisses (I used Hugs & Caramel Kisses)

^* If you don’t have cake flour in your pantry , measure out 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, remove three tablespoons of flour and replace with three tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift flour and cornstarch. 

  

Directions

Preheat oven to 350⁰.

Grease and lightly flour a 13”x9” baking pan – I always use Bakers Joy.

Unwrap the Kisses – and set aside -- you might have to test a few -- unwrapping Kisses and not eating ANY is almost impossible -- if you can do it, let me know your secret.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.

Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Stir in the Kisses.  Spread the batter evenly in the pan – it will look sorts thin but don’t worry it will fill out and rise.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the pan comes out with moist crumbs.  Don’t over bake – like brownies a little under baked is better.

Allow to cool before cutting – I used this Wilton Brownie Combo Heart Cutter – which is great because if cuts a fun shape and does not waste much of the blondies (and by waste I mean corners that you can eat).

Sending you lots of Hugs and Kisses in the form of really yummy blondies.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Us in Cookie

Last week (or maybe a bit longer than that) was our 7^th wedding anniversary.  I could not think of what to make for my husband that expressed how much I love him, how cute I think he is and how happy I am to have him in my life.  Then I remembered our Stationary Studio stick figure stickers – which pretty much sums it up…

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

So I made these cookies of us – I heart the heart mouth and my hair which is either blond with brown lowlights or brown with blond highlights – I don’t really remember anymore. 

What I like about these CopperGift.com cookie cutters is that each can be personalized with different hair, eyes, glasses and accessories -- they are great cookies for your loves on Valentines Day, birthday favours or for a family reunion.

What I really like about my husband is his sense of humor and his ability to see through my kookiness!

XOXO Honey -- I LOVE you!

Have Heart

Nothing really says Happy Valentine’s Day, like a simple heart.  I made about one hundred of these hearts using white, pink and, of course, red royal icing (not to mention heart & lip sprinkles & candy).  They were so fun to make because I could be as creative as or as simple as I wanted.  My favorite decorated cookies are often incorporate white on white.  I just love the way the red hearts pops on the white. 

I truly hope that your day is as sweet as a cookie.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cinnamon Bun Cookies

So you know that Valentine’s Day is coming up.  I have been thinking a recipe to share. Valentine’s Day is synonymous with cinnamon because of those yummy cinnamon hearts which, by the way, are a perfect sweet and just right spicy.  So I started to think about cinnamon.  And, when I think about cinnamon, I think about cinnamon buns or Cinnabons which are those yummy  yeast dough buns filled with cinnamon and topped with cream cheese frosting.  But you know, I’m all about the cookie so I started to think about cinnamon bun cookies.  See how my mind works? 

I found an amazing cinnamon bun cookie on Recipe Girl which she found in the King Arthur Flour Companion. And here they are a recipe with my own little directional twists.

This is a perfect cinnamon treat to make for your loveys on Valentines Day.  And because they are so great, I think you may like to bake at other times too.

And here is how to make them…

Ingredients

Cookie Dough

1/2 cup powdered sugar 


3/4 cup unsalted butter 


1/2 teaspoon salt 


1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 


1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cinnamon Centre

1 large egg white 


1 Tablespoon water 


1/4 cup granulated white sugar 


1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar 


2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream can also use milk or water too

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 


1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions & Tips

Cookie Dough

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the sugar, butter, salt and vanilla. Add the flour, stirring until the dough comes together. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you're ready to use it.  If you are making the cookies right away then no need to wrap and refrigerate.

Transfer chilled dough to a lightly floured piece of parchment or waxed paper. Roll it into a 9x12-inch rectangle.   I use a ruler because these cookies really look better if the sheet of dough is the right size and fairly consistent.

Cinnamon Center

In a small bowl, whisk together egg white and water until foamy. Brush onto rolled out dough.

In another bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly over the dough.

Cinnamon Bun Assembly

Starting with a long edge, carefully roll the dough into a log.

Wrap in plastic wrap or parchment, and freeze until firm.  You can make this days or probably weeks ahead and keep the logs in the freezer until you want to bake the cookies.

Baking

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the freezer and unwrap it. Using a sharp knife, gently trim each end.  The recipe makes 24 cookies so to ensure the cookies are approximately the same size, I cut the log in four even quarters and then cut six cookies from each quarter.

Transfer them to the parchment lined baking sheets. If the log got a bit flattened on one side in the freezer, simply reshape into a circle.  Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until they're a light golden brown.

Icing

Sift or strain the powdered sugar and cinnamon into a medium-sized bowl to remove any lumps. Whisk the cream (or milk or water) and vanilla into the sugar to make a smooth icing. Drizzle, pipe or spread icing onto cookies.

My husband liked them so much he asked me NOT to make them again.  And I love him so much, I won't... until I need to.  If you make these cookies for your loved ones, them let me know how they turn out.

HAVE A HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

S.W.A.K.

Blowing kisses and writing letters – busy, busy, busy for Valentine’s Day.  I made these S.W.A.K envelopes and my husband questioned if people know that S.W.A.K stands for Sealed With A Kiss.  I think everyone knows S.W.A.K. but just in case, I also made some kisses to bring the point home. 

As a kid, we always S.W.A.K.ed our camp letters.  So now I’m thinking both the envelope and letter can be used as a care package for some happy camper – but I will blog some camp cookies in July.

In the meantime I’m still thinking about the acronym S.W.A.K.  So, really did anyone need the whole definition OR is it just my “Mr. Romantic”?

Funky Tea Cookies

Think tea cookies are just for teatotallers?  Think again!  Love these white hearts (but so many cookies work) with a small cutout to hang on a mug -- they look super fun on the polka dot mugs.   But, honestly, these mugs and cookies are not just for teatotallers because I’m quite certain they are equally yummy with hot chocolate and marshmallows.

Love Letter Cookies

Love can be expressed in a myriad of different methods, but the most timeless and most treasured will always remain the classic love letter.  Of course, I always express my love with cookies so I think these love notes are just perfect.

I made this one for my husband, but I have lots of others to write up, because I’m so lucky to have a lot of loved ones in my life.

Who would you give a love note cookie?  What would you like to write?

And of course, if you would like to order, please send me a note at shelly.shapero@sympatico.ca.

Conversation Sweet Hearts

 Remember the old fashion "Sweet Hearts"?  Apparently they have never gone out of fashion (sort of like the sock monkeys) and they are now called "Conversation Hearts".  


So I made some for Valentine's Day but decided they could be great any time! 

I used the second smallest heart cutter from this Wilton set -- the smallest one would have worked too but I thought I could get better "conversation" on the slightly larger one -- and I was right.   


The cookies ended up being around 2" x 1.5" or a perfect bite size cookie with enough room to write fun expressions from the traditional, "kiss me" and "be mine" to the more hi-tech "email me" and "LOL".  

These were fun to make and looked cute all  packaged up.

Have a great SWEET HEART CONVERSATION on Valentine's Day!


Make sure you tell someone (and that someone may be a boyfriend or husband, girlfriend or wife, mother, father, brother, sister, old friend or dog or cat or bird) that you love them.

Sock Monkey Love

I had tons of stuffed animals as a kid, but only two have survived -- an original Snoopy and this sock monkey, "Trixie".  Who knew that sock monkeys would be even more popular today then they were when I was growing up? So when thinking of cute Valentine's Day cookie ideas that fit the theme but break from the heart tradition, I thought of the timelessness of the sock monkey --with a little heart, of course.

Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe.

Cut and bake your cookies according to the recipe.

Materials Needed for Decorating:

• royal icing -- my new favorite royal icing is made with Ateco meringue powder (white or no colour for hat, hands, feet & mouth)
• large heart sprinkles
• candy eyes
• brown & white crystal sugar and brown sand sugar (mixed 1/3 each)
• large red round sprinkles
• clear corn syrup
• paint and pastry brushes
• candy tweezer

Using a # 3 tip, pipe in hat, mouth, hands and feet.

Add a red round candy sprinkle for the mouth.

Brush clear corn syrup on the cookie and cover with sanding sugars.

Add the final details of eyes and the heart and let dry over night before packaging and sharing with your LOVE ones.

This if forsure my new favorite cookie.  It's cute and fun and reminds me of my childhood.

Did you have a sock monkey as a kid?  Let me know and have great weeks planning something special for Valentine's Day.

I will try to post some other ideas on the Flour Child Facebook site [+] during the week.

Lovey Cupcakes

In order to keep up, I really should be adding Valentine's Day cookies to my blog.

For every holiday cupcakes are in order -- Valentine's Day is no different.

These cookies are a basic sugar cookie.

To make the chocolate royal icing, add brown colour gel AND cocoa powder -- it makes a great colour and yummy taste.

The pink cupcake tops are always cute and some heart sprinkles make the cookies quite festive.

Scrabble Cookies for All Occasions

Last week was my 5th wedding anniversary so I made these scrabble pieces for my husband but I think they could be used in so many ways:  Valentine's Day, family get togethers or game night, going to a cottage or chalet, happy birthday for a scrabble lover -- the heart could be a picture of anything -- and any words can be spelled out -- thank you, family names, happy birthday, get well...


I should mention, I totally stole the idea from the Bake At 350 blog -- she is so very talented and detailed (I think hers are actual Scrabble tile size) -- mine are way bigger but the sentiment is there.


Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe.


The cookie cutter I used was a simple square -- it's a bit smaller than 3" but when the cookies are baked, they are about 3".  Roll them out to your desired thickness and bake.

To decorate, I outlined with white royal icing.  Sometimes, depending on the cookie, the consistency for outlining is much thicker than the filling so that the icing does not run over -- but because the filling is white I did not worry too much about this.

It is always a fine line when flooding a cookie with royal icing -- too runny and it will run over the sides; too thick and it won't spread nicely.  I test for the right consistency to cover a cookie by placing some icing in a cereal bowl -- the icing test is to lift your spoon and let the icing drip back into the bowl.  The ideal consistency is when the ribbon of icing that falls back into the bowl remains on the surface of the icing in the bowl for about 4 seconds before disappearing.

On the cookie, I usually use a toothpick or wooden skewer to help move the icing around to ensure the whole cookie is covered.

For a cookie that is completely covered in royal icing, I usually let it dry overnight before packaging.

I did not grab pictures of drawing on the letters (a very simple sans serif font) but used a #2 tip for the letters and a #1 tip for the Scrabble point values.

This is a super cute idea for just about any occasion.  Boxed or bagged, Scrabble cookies are fun to share, spell/figure out and eat!

Happy Anniversary Eric -- wishing us many more happy years filled with happy times and sweet cookies;)  Thank you for all you do -- your support and your love.  I love you!