The Ultimate Valentines Day Cookie Recipes

THE ULTIMATE VALENTINE'S DAY COOKIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F. In large bowl, beat 1 cup powdered sugar, the butter and vinegar with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining cookie ingredients except food color. Divide dough in half. Mix food color into one half. (If dough is too dry, stir in milk, 1 teaspoon at a time.)
• On lightly floured cloth-covered surface, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut into heart shapes with various sizes of cookie cutters. Place smaller hearts on larger hearts of different color dough if desired. On ungreased cookie sheet, place shapes about 2 inches apart.
• Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until set but not brown. Cool 1 to 2 minutes; carefully remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In medium bowl, mix all frosting ingredients until smooth and spreadable. Tint with food color if desired. Spread frosting on cookies.

VALENTINE'S DAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until it is light and fluffy. Scrape bowl as needed. Add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla and then flour and salt. (For the chocolate variation, add the cocoa with the flour.)
• Scrape dough onto a piece of waxed paper, pat into a disk, and cover with another piece of waxed paper. (For the butterscotch variation, refrigerate for about 1/2 hour before proceeding.) Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out cookies, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake until golden brown on bottom and light golden on edges, about 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.
• For icings, put 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar into each of three small bowls. Stir 4 teaspoons of milk into one of the bowls. Stir cocoa and 4 teaspoons of milk into another. Stir remaining 4 teaspoons milk into last bowl, and tint with food coloring if desired. Spread a little icing over each cookie. Let harden for 20 minutes.

VALENTINE'S COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream the butter. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the egg, milk and vanilla and combine. Sift together 1 cup of the flour with the baking powder and mix it into the batter. Add some or all of the additional flour depending on how much the dough can handle. Form into a disk, cover in plastic and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours. Roll out on a lightly floured surface about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out hearts with various sized cookie cutters and place on a greased sheet pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes until very light golden brown. Let cool on the pan.
• Icing: Whisk together the egg whites and powdered sugar to form a slightly loose icing. It should flow a little bit but not too much. Transfer a small amount to a separate bowl and add a tiny amount of red food coloring to make pink icing. Pipe a rim of pink icing around the edge of the cookie and then fill in the center with white icing, or just pipe decorative designs on the surface. Embellish with silver or gold balls. Let dry and package up in cello bags tied with a ribbon.