Valentine Heart Cookies

I always enjoyed the ritual of exchanging valentines as a kid. Opening up a box of 32 (plus two for the teachers!) brand-spanking-new valentines, preferably the Snoopy variety. Carefully addressing the envelopes in crayon for all the kids in my class. Even the boys. Dropping a few conversation heart candies into each envelope. Being careful not to include any too-lovey messages in the ones for the aforementioned boys. Eagerly opening the little cards from everyone else in the class. Hoping for chocolate.

{Hmm-hmm} years later, I still love Valentine’s Day. Our playgroup is having a little celebration this week for the kiddies so I thought I’d make some conversation heart-inspired cookies, with one subtle little twist – these are actually made with animal cracker dough. The difference? They’ve got a lot more crunch to them as well as a hint of spice from dashes of nutmeg and mace. For a treat that will be grabbed and tossed by two-year olds I tend to prefer these over traditional sugar cookies. Plus they’re so darned good.

There’s a bit of inactive chilling time involved with these cookies, so be sure not to wait till the last minute. As for the icing, it was actually a bit easier than I’d expected. The trick is to use only a small amount of icing while you’re piping – it’s much easier to control that way. Rather than make my own royal icing, as I did with the Butterfly Sugar Cookies, I used some Betty Crocker Cookie Icing tubes I saw in the baking aisle. They set up rather quickly just like royal icing and saved me from having to make several batches with the different colors. The decorating is the fun part anyway, right?

 

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3 Comments

  1. Jordan wrote:

    I can totally relate to the Valentines Day as a kid in school. I love Valentines Day, and I still do. Winnie the Pooh cards were my favourite!

    This recipe is really interesting. I like the adaption of the animal cracker recipe. Definitely getting bookmarked!

    Posted 2.10.10 Reply
  2. janes wrote:

    Loved your site — and these cookies. I made mention of them on my Valentine’s Day blog item at http://www.memphisparent.com/2010/02/stuff-id-like-to-do-for-valentines-day/.

    Come by for a visit!

    Posted 2.11.10 Reply
  3. Jennifer wrote:

    These are precious! I would love to do something like this but I don’t have a very steady hand!
    .-= Jennifer´s last blog ..The Kitchen Notebook: Smoked Cheese & Sausage Lasagna =-.

    Posted 2.12.10 Reply