so, the jews don't acknowledge it. the muslims outright ban it (at least in jeddah and riyadh). but there's no doubt about it - it's valentines day! now we don't have to get into all the nitty gritty details - who's the patron saint of what, etc.. just think of it as a time to express yourself, and let the love shine through!
and speaking of expressing yourself, may i be so bold as to recommend these super delicious cookies, which as it turns out, are best eaten in pairs (one is not enough, and three is too many!) ... enjoy that special glow!
have a heart cookies:
1. preheat oven to 300ยบ
2. in a mixing bowl pair 2 sticks of plugra butter (1/2 pound) with 1 cup confectioner's sugar - beat in your stand mixer until the two are creamy and unite as 1!
3. add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 large egg to the mixture, and beat thoroughly until the 'batter' is light and fluffy (don't forget to scrape down the sides) - note: it should not look like 'curds'; rather, it should be creamy and smooth
4. add 1/4 cup corn starch, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1-3/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour - beat until JUST combined - do NOT overdo it!
5. refrigerate dough for 30 minutes, then roll out to 1/8 inch thickness (you can even make them thicker or thinner, depending if you like 'crunchy' or 'chewy'!)
6. using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out your shapes, placing them on a flat baking sheet - gather the excess dough, roll it out again, and repeat
7. bake the cookies in the oven, rotating them so they do not brown on top - they are done when the bottoms are a very pale golden color, and you may see some slight browning along the edges - don't bake them any longer!
8. let the cookies cool on a wire rack ... in the meantime, prepare the icing by combining 1 large egg white with 2 tablespoons cold milk - add 4 cups confectioner's sugar and mix until combined (note: the icing should be glossy and quite thick, but NOT stiff and NOT runny - adjust with a bit of extra milk or sugar as needed)
9. color can be added to half the icing (red, as seen above for example); spoon the icing(s) into ziplock bags and snip a corner just at the tip to use as your piping piece
10. go wild with the icing - to get an overall glaze, pipe an outline around the cookie, about 1/4 inch from the edge - then 'fill in' between the piped outline with one or both colors (which can then be swirled with a toothpick, or dotted, or criss crossed - the two colors will blend together after a few moments)
11. let the iced cookies set for at least 3 hours - the inner part of the icing has to 'harden' (of course, they can be eaten right away, just know that the icing may run ...)
12. enjoy, and have a heart!
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