Jam Heart Cutouts

here’s a pic of Canaan Boy during his valentine’s day performance…little singing voices are just too precious!!
we made some cookies to bring to the Senior Center today to share during the valentine’s day performance. this is one of my favorite valentine’s recipes, because they look so festive, and taste so yummy!
Jam Heart Cutouts
here’s the recipe:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
strawberry jam
powdered sugar
combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
in mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
add egg and beat until smooth.
reduce speed to low. add flour mixture, lemon juice, and zest.
Beat until smooth. the dough will be very soft, like this:
shape dough into disk and cover with plastic wrap. refrigerate for 3 hours.
after its firm (3 hours), roll out dough to 1/2 inch thick. cut out 1 1/2 inch heart shapes. i wish i had a cookie cutter this size, but since i don’t, i used a template and cut with a small paring knife.
transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment (i used wax paper b/c i was out of parchment, but it smoked up my whole kitchen. it did work, but use parchment!)

cut a smaller heart (about 3/4 inch) out of half of the bigger hearts. (its easier to do this once the cookies are already on the cookie sheet)
bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden on the edges.
transfer and cool on wire racks. when cooled completely, dust cut out cookies with powdered sugar. spread each full heart cookie with strawberry jam. place the cut out on top of the full cookie, creating a sandwich. (i forgot to take pics during this part, but you know what to do!)

here’s what they look like when finished!
i sandwiched together the tiny heart cutouts too…perfect for little hands!
enjoy making some for your little loves!!