Thursday, February 12, 2009

Linzer hearts

These cookies are my Valentine's day tradition. They are very delicate, just a tiny bit sweet, and kind of adorable.

butter + flowers
The fresher your butter, the better these will taste, so it's worth indulging in a good brand

Linzer Hearts
(from The Book of Afternoon Tea, makes 20)

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (I used vanilla)
1 3/4 cups flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Jam of your choice for the filling

Superfine sugar for dusting (optional)

1. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and extract.

2. Sift together dry ingredients and stir into the butter mixture until a soft dough forms. (This will be fairly dry and also not very sweet - don't worry about it!). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate briefly before rolling out.

3. Cut out 20 large hearts (assuming you use a cookie cutter that is approximately 2 inches across) and then cut a smaller heart inside each one. Knead and re-roll the dough and cut out more large hearts, making a total of 20 whole and 20 with the centers cut out.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes until the edges are just barely brown. Dip the hearts with the cut out centers in the superfine sugar. Spread the whole hearts with jam and then top each one with a cut out cookie.

linzer hearts + jam
They are much more colorful and cute in real life

*My beloved D40 is in Dubai with D, so I dusted off my first camera infatuation, SX 70. Sadly, the local camera store doubled the price of film when Polaroid announced it would be discontinuing the line. $20 for 10 exposures is a painful shock to someone who is happy to take 10 shots just to get a single usable one, but I'm still having fun with it.

18 comments:

  1. These are precious looking! Thank you so much for the recipe!

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  2. you've got to be kidding. these look like little bites of heaven. the teeny tiny heart makes them so much more appealing!

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  3. wow, these look so cute & delicious too, the little hearts is so pretty!

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  4. They are so pretty and cool pictures!

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  5. thanks :D
    and to think, i almost let them choose their own.

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  6. these look amazing. i do really wish i was good in the kitchen.

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  7. that is dedication to your art when you think of $20 for one shot but I guess it could be like that when I used film too. Once you count the processing.

    I love these cookies...much like I love thumbprint cookies.

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  8. Soo pretty! Looks very labor-of-love-intensive :D, but very worth it! (Even with the $$ of the polaroid film, boo!)

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  9. how is it humanly possible that all of your stuff looks sooo good and delicious??

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  10. They look amazing. Whoever is going to eat those is very lucky indeed. Mmm, I wonder if I should try baking those...no, I don't think so.

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  11. these are too cute, i love that the hearts are small and understated. what a great recipe, i'll definitely be making these this weekend!

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  12. I just found your blog, and I truly heart it. YAY!

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  13. Rachel, these photos are so beautiful and romantic. From my own selfish point of view, I'm very happy you took these with (albeit expensive) Polaroids!

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  14. I like making linzer cookies, easy to make and so pretty when finished. Don't forget to freeze some when your love comes home. xoxo

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  15. oh so cute! i just made these too! see http://unintuitiveeating.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-knew-id-be-eating-dinner-late.html

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  16. I think I'm going to make these this weekend!

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