Valentine’s Day Shortbread Cookies

Hey you, Saint Valentine. Happy your day!
You sure are lucky to have such a dear holiday named after you.

My eight-year-old sister came home with 11 Valentines today. Being the nosy sister that I am, I read through all of them and let me just tell you, they were adorable! At my high school in New Zealand, there are red roses everywhere on Valentine’s Day. The school sells individual rose stalks as a fundraiser each Valentine’s Day and as the day progresses, red rose petals would start to carpet the ground. It’s a BEAUTIFUL sight.


There is no better way to show someone how much you love them than to put the time and effort into baking something for them. Forget Hallmark Valentines. This year, I opted for love notes on cookies instead.

I know that this recipe for shortbread is far from “nutritious,” (Lisa’s Nutritious Kitchen Experiments…) but I really had to share this recipe with you for these are the most scrumptious cookies that you will ever taste. This recipe is from my beloved NZ Edmonds Cookbook. Although great recipes are all over the worldwide web these days, there is something about following directions from a paper book. Ya know what I mean?

Decorating these cookies is almost as fun as eating them. Mix up some sweet colors and words, and have a blast making these look almost too pretty to eat.


Ingredients

250g butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 cups all purpose flour

For the royal icing:
1 egg white
½ tsp lemon juice
1 ¾ cup confectioners sugar
Food coloring

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Cream butter and confectioners sugar until light and fluffy. Sift cornstarch and flour together. Mix sifted ingredients into creamed mixture. Knead well.
3. On a lightly flour board roll out to 0.5cm thickness. Use a heart-shaped cutter to cut into hearts. Place on a greased oven try.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until pale golden.

For the icing:
In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and lemon juice together, adding the powdered sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Fill a piping bag with the icing and pipe as desired.