Valentine Cookies

We get a head start on Valentine's Day each year, since several valentines need to be mailed back east. 

 This year's Valentine was a tiny care package of brown sugar shortbread cookies and lime meltaways.

The lime meltaways were from Martha Stewart's Cookies. They taste just like the key lime coolers I used to have in Florida when I lived there.

She recommended shaping the dough into two logs to chill. I made mine into two long Toblerone-shaped pyramids, then used a chopstick to create a very deep groove along one side. Slices of this grooved pyramid produced...

 ...heart-shaped cookies!

 ....which I overbaked.

I also made some old standby brown sugar shortbread cookies. It's a pretty standard recipe I got from a friend almost 20 years ago, but I'll list it below. Super easy. 

My cookie stamp is star-shaped, so I used brand new rubber stamps, with hearts or "love" on them, to press the cookies. I was disappointed to decide that heart-shaped cookies proved too time consuming. If you have any ideas of a quick way to make these into hearts, please comment below.

Starboy was busy playing, so his help with the cookies was minimal, but he did help me package them in valentine tins (Michael's, $1.50) to send to my best friend The Optimist, and some family.

He also put himself in charge of tasting them. He liked the shortbread more than the meltaways, and he liked the shortbread batter best of all!

Brown Sugar Shortbread cookies

Preheat oven to 350.

1 cup butter, softened to room temp (2 sticks)

¾ cup brown sugar

2 ½ cups unsifted flour (if you use presifted flour, you’ll need more butter)

granulated sugar for rolling

Thoroughly blend butter and brown sugar. Stir in unsifted flour. Roll into one-inch balls, roll in granulated sugar and place 2” apart on ungreased sheet. Press each ball with a cookie stamp or the bottom of a glass.

If the balls are too big, the cookies will be dry and flaky on the edges, and rather heavy and moist in the center.

Bake 10-12 mins at 350, until just starting to brown at the edges. Cool on a wire rack.