Heart Shaped Delights

Seems like love is in the air this month or it might be Valentine spirited baking that's everywhere I look . Well  its plenty good excuse to get involved and bake towards it :). You definitely don't have to be together with someone to celebrate this day because its all about spending time or remembering who we care about and love. Plus a day to bake all those cute little treats that involve red or pink lol. When I think of Valentine's I look back in elementary school days where we gave out valentine cards or even baking treats to our fellow students :).

For everyone that loves the aroma of sugar cookies dancing from their ovens and throughout the home well then you have come to the right place. I think sugar cookies are the best treat to make for valentines because their easy to impress and one of the simplest cookies to make.They are a must when certain holiday/seasons come around. Sugar cookies can be transformed into anything you like from heart shaped cookies,  chocolate chip or to iced cookies.I love them for this reason because they are so versatile and you can bring so many wonderful ideas towards them. They are the little charmers of the cookie world :)

Most people know what sugar cookies basically should taste like in their plain form and this recipe is just that. However anyone can add their favorite flavorings or treats. This recipe would be great for chocolate chips, dried fruit or maybe lemon flavoring.Can really take it anywhere you want, but for me I went with just a few changes. In the texture department of sugar cookies you can go in a few directions especially on the width of them. For me I went for a thinner, crisp and melt in your mouth texture however many sugar cookies go with a thicker softer texture. Both textures are delightful its all basically what peoples preferences are on their cookies. Their are so many opinions on this topic of cookie texture that I pretty much just go with liking all of them, especially thinner cookies because you end up with more cookies to eat or around at least lol.

A very important direction in making sugar cookies is the dough always has to be chilled no matter what because its next to impossible to roll out dough that's to sticky and trying to use cookie cutters. For me I let it chill till it was pretty stiff and continued to take chunks of the dough to roll out till I needed more.Also the board for rolling has to be floured very well because you will have mishaps of dough sticking , trust me I had to re roll some cookies because of not having enough flour. If you follow these steps you wont have any trouble.

For my ideas for valentines I went with a  basic heart shaped cookie cutter and use some red sprinkles to dress it up a bit. I thought of icing the cookies but I thought it make the cookies way to sweet when their already quite sweet on their own. So I found the simplest decorating is the cutest cookie. 

The one let down though in the whole thing is you really need to watch these cookies like a hawk because you can easily get a over baked or burnt batch. I had one mishap with one burnt batch in the oven because I thought their wasn't anything in it at the time. So always keep checking and don't go by the time for this recipe because 8-10 minutes is way to long you will have burnt cookies by then. I really go by appearance which is slightly golden brown around the edges because they do continue baking while cooling. Sugar cookies are though very simple to make and really fun to add your own touches too.

So enjoy you valentine's day weekend and impress people with your holiday baking :P

Valentine Heart Sugar Cookies (Adapted Chipits Easter Bunny Cookies, Hershey Chipits Book)

1 cup unsalted butter,softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

Red colored sugar

Beat softened butter with sugar and egg, until light and fluffy.

Mix in dry ingredients and blend well.

Wrap in saran and chill for at least 1 hour or until stiff.

Dust your work surface with flour.

Unwrap dough and take a large chunk of dough and proceed to roll to about 1/4 inch thickness.

Use a heart shaped cookie cutter any size you like (Mine was a pretty basic sized heart shaped cookie cutter).

Place on a ungreased cookie sheet or nonstick pan.

Sprinkle on red colored sugar. Oven at 375F and bake till edges are golden brown,8-10 minutes. (That is the recipe time, but I think its lower  so just watch these cookies frequently to prevent over baking. I hardly go with time and I go by appearance especially with cookies)

Makes about 3-4 dozen.