Since I made my favorite guy his own batch of Valentine's Day Peanut Butter Blossoms, I figured the kiddos could probably use a proclamation of my love, too - in cookie form.
Back during the Christmas holidays, I bought this amazing embossed rolling pin at the Budapest Christmas market. Sadly, I lost the business card of the artist, but you can Google search "embossed rolling pins", and find all different patterns, to fit any occasion.
I loved the one that I bought because it was reminiscent of some of the traditional Hungarian (or on broader terms, Eastern European) folk imagery. I've been dying to use it!
On a slightly sad note, my former sugar cookie dough and I on are a break. I want to be like, "it's not you, it's me", but really, I don't know who is at fault. The last couple times I've used it my cookies have spread to INSANE sizes and have lost all definition. I was on the search for the perfect "non-spread" sugar cookie dough recipe, as I really wanted the pretty pattern on these to stay defined and crisp. I decided to use one by Design, Eat, Repeat. I liked that it didn't need to be chilled. Well... it was okay. I cut out and baked a few cookies to start with, and felt like they were spreading more than I'd like. So, I cut out the rest, then let them sit in the fridge for maybe 15-20 minutes, and they turned out much better - but still spread more than "advertised". She has a picture on her blog post with the cookie cutter on top of her baked cookie, to show that there was basically no spread - I don't know what she did, but mine definitely spread, even with chilling a bit.
So, I'm still on the search for the perfect recipe.
That said, I will give you the recipe as I ended up using it, with you, sweet reader keeping in mind that if you have a favorite no-spread sugar cookie recipe, definitely use that! Also, hook a girl up! Let me in on your secret!
For these cookies specifically, you'll need these tools:
- a rolling pin with a thickness gauge (like this one, that I got for Christmas). Okay, this one isn't a "need", but I've found it to be really helpful.
- embossed rolling pin (you could just as easily cut out plain hearts and dip them, too. This just makes them a little "extra").
- Standing mixer
- Offset spatula
- Heart-shaped cookie cutter (any other shape will do too, but it's fun for Valentine's Day)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter (softened at room temperature - approx 2 hours)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
150 gr ruby chocolate
sprinkles of your choice - I found the cutest ones yet, here. (I also really liked them with just the chocolate. They looked a little more "elegant".)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C.
2. Cream together butter and sugar on medium setting for about 20-30 seconds.
3. While mixer is going add egg and vanilla extract.
4. On a low speed add in baking powder and salt.
5. Still on the low speed, add the flour 1/2 cup at a time.
6. Mix until flour just combined.
7. Pour onto a slightly floured surface. Kneed into a ball for about 10 seconds, then flatten into a disc shape.
8. Using your (lightly floured) rolling pin with thickness gauges, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Firmly roll the (lightly floured) embossed rolling pin over the dough, creating the gorgeous pattern.
9. Dip your cookie cutter in flour, find the part of the dough that fits it the best, and cut it out. Continue until you've used up all your dough, but do try hard not to re-kneed your dough over and over again. Makes 20-30 cookies, depending on size.
10. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Using an offset spatula, lift out the cookies and place them on the lined baking sheet.
11. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
12. Remove the baking sheet from the fridge, and bake for 7-9 minutes, depending on size. (You can see in these two pictures - the top one was the first batch that I didn't chill. They got a little deformed. The second picture is of the ones I chilled. They kept their shape better.)
13. Allow cookies to fully cool. (10 minutes in baking sheet, then until room temperature on a cooling rack.)
14. While waiting for the cookies to cool, using the "Dutch oven method", melt the ruby chocolate. (A metal bowl over a pot of boiling water. Make sure the water level in the pot is low enough that it doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.)
15. Take each cookie, dip it partially in the melted ruby chocolate. Allow excess to drip off, then place on a sheet of baking paper.
16. If desired, use sprinkles at this point.
17. Allow to fully cool. Keep in a cool, dry air tight space.
18. Take adorable pictures - because, memories. <3
Extra tip:
- Ruby chocolate is a bit of a novelty, and I hated to let any go to waste. I had some left over after dipping all the cookies, so I poured it into a silicone ice cube tray, placed it in the fridge for it to set up, and then moved the chocolate cubes to a ziplock - ready to be quickly melted for a drizzle got another day.
If you decide to try this recipe, I would LOVE to know how it goes! Please feel free to leave a comment. :)
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