A Love Day for All!

A Heart Day for Everyone

As Valentine’s Day approaches you’re sure to be bombarded by ideas for gifts for those that you love.  At Vie we feel like the best gifts come from the heart and the the hands.  So sit down this week (maybe with your little ones by your side) and bake these scrumptious sandwich cookies that everyone will love to enjoy!

Meet The Love Cookie Sandwich

It could certainly be just average as far as sugar cookies are concerned, but take it up a notch by adding warming cardamom and rose water to really say “I love you” in a perfect way.

By adding ground cardamom to the cookie base and rose water to the creamy {otherwise} vanilla buttercream, and then of course rolling out the dough and cutting the cookies into petit heart shapes, your end result will be delicious and truly heart-felt. 

Make sure to give yourself a half day to make these as you’ll need to chill the dough (a crucial step).  The butter cream can be made while the dough is chilling in the fridge and then all that’s left is to roll, cut out your shapes, and bake!

We appreciate that some of these ingredients might be hard to come by at your local grocery store.  Check the spice aisle for cardamom and the baking/International aisle for rose water.

Don’t forget to snap some photos before or on the big day and share with us! And check out the sister article that we wrote for The Scout Guide Charlottesville.

RECIPE

Ingredients

3 sticks butter, unsalted

5/3rd granulated sugar

2/3rd light brown sugar

3 whole eggs + 1 egg yolk

2 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cardamom, ground

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour (+ 1 cup for rolling)

For Rose Buttercream

3 sticks salted butter

1 pkg powdered sugar, plus more as needed

¼ cup rose water

Instructions

For Cookies

1. Combine butter and sugar(s) in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed.
2. While the sugar and butter are incorporating, crack the three eggs into a separate small bowl.  Crack the fourth egg and separate the white (you can freeze this or discard)/ Add to the same egg bowl.
3. To the bowl of your stand mixer, add 1 egg at a time and mix completely before adding the next.  You’ll want to turn down the speed for this. Note: Cracking the eggs in a separate container ensure that no shell gets in to the final product.
4. Once mixed, add baking soda and vanilla.  Mix together completely then add your four cups of flour, mixing carefully and slowly.
5. Once everything is smooth, divide dough into two (you can eye-ball this) and split amongst two long sheets of plastic wrap.  Cover tightly, seal, and give each disc a little push to flatten out (this expedites the chilling process due to an increase in surface level).
6. Once dough has chilled, remove and place on counter until soft enough to roll out.  See Notes below for more detailed advice.
7. Preheat oven to 350 F.
8. Fill up a one cup measure with flour (that’s final 5th cup) and liberally flour your work surface with no more than a quarter cup.
9. Remove your dough and turn it gently to coat in the flour, then also lightly flour your rolling pin.
10. Shape the dough into a rectangle by pressing the sides of your hands against the outer edges until the shape is achieved, then roll out by pressing your pin in the middle and using a small amount of pressure to roll away from you and toward you.  Rotate the pin and repeat the same method, only this time going to the left and to the right. Make sure to always start in the middle, which keeps the thickness level. You’ll be rolling to a ¼ inch thickness (the thicker, the easier to remove and transfer to your baking sheet).
11. Once you’ve filled a parchment-lined baking sheet with hearts (they need to be spaced about ½ inch apart), place them in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to set.  Next, put them in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden brown around the edges and soft, yet cooked through, in the middle. Baking happens fast so stay near the oven and keep a close eye out!  While the cookies are baking you can choose to roll out another batch of dough, just make sure to keep an eye on the temperature of the dough and chill as needed. *Reserve scraps for rolling out extras. I call these “chef cookies” because they can be a little tougher than the originals due to the added flour content.

Notes: Cookie Dough will need to chill for an hour or two.  Too long and the butter will set again so if you’ve let the dough gone overnight (Or if you’ve frozen some -smart!) then just give the dough 30-1 hour to warm at room temperature before beginning to roll out.

For Rose Buttercream

1. In the bowl of a clean and dry stand mixer, add powdered sugar (all of it), butter and rose water.
2. Using a whisk attachment, turn to its lowest setting and work to increase speed as ingredients get incorporated.
3. Keep an eye on the consistency and add more sugar to thicken or more rose water to loosen.
4. Place icing in a gallon sized plastic bag and cut a small triangle off of the tip of the bottom left or right side (no bigger than 1/8th of an inch.

TIPS ON SERVING & PACKAGING

Save an old chocolate box (or empty out one from the store) and stack sandwich cookies inside for an adorable gift.  Make sure to ice cookies as you go if you’re simply enjoying them at home, but really the choice is yours! The longer the cookies sit as a sandwich with the buttercream in between, the softer they will get; it’s really all about preference.