Heart-Shaped Cookie Puzzle with Royal Icing

Info

• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Total time: 1 hour 5 minutes
• Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough

• 225 grams (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
• 200 grams (1 cup) superfine sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 medium egg
• 495 grams (3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Icing

• 200 grams (1 1/2 cups) royal icing mix, plus extra if needed
• Red food gel coloring
• 1/4 teaspoon flavored extract, such as vanilla (optional)

Instructions

Making the Cookie Dough

1. Set the oven to 175°C (350°F). Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
2. Using a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, which takes about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate everything evenly.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry mixture gradually in three additions, mixing until just combined.
4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Lightly wet your hands and knead the dough into a smooth disc. Place it between two sheets of parchment paper and roll to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
5. Peel off the parchment and cut out heart shapes using a heart puzzle cookie cutter. If you don’t have a puzzle cutter, use a regular heart cutter and then slice each heart in half lengthwise with a knife to make two pieces. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet and bake until the edges are just barely golden, about 7 minutes. Let them cool completely.

Preparing the Royal Icing

6. Divide the royal icing mix: put 1 cup in one bowl and the remaining 1/2 cup in another. In the bowl with 1 cup, make flooding-consistency icing. Add a drop of red food gel, then stir in 1 teaspoon of water. Continue adding water 1/2 teaspoon at a time until the icing is flooding consistency—when you draw a line through it with a spoon, the line should vanish within 5 to 10 seconds. If it disappears faster, the icing is too thin; thicken it with a few tablespoons of royal icing mix. If the line takes longer than 10 seconds, add more water 1/2 teaspoon at a time until it’s right. Once the red flooding icing is ready, cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel to keep it from drying out.
7. In the other bowl, make soft-peak consistency icing. Again, add water 1/2 teaspoon at a time, stirring until the icing forms a soft peak when you lift the spoon—the peak should hold its shape softly. If the icing runs off the spoon, it’s too thin; add more royal icing mix. If it’s too stiff, add water 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you reach soft-peak consistency. When the consistency is correct, transfer about 2 tablespoons of the white icing to a small bowl. Color the remaining icing with red food gel and stir well. If you want to flavor the icing, stir in 1/4 teaspoon of extract, such as vanilla.
8. Put the icings into separate piping bags fitted with #2 round tips. Keep the tips covered with a damp tea towel when not in use to prevent drying.

Decorating the Cookies

9. Take a cooled cookie and pipe a border of red soft-peak icing around its edge. Apply steady pressure and squeeze a thin line along the outline, joining the ends. Repeat with all the cookies.
10. Next, flood each cookie: pipe the red flooding icing inside the border to fill the center completely. Use the tip to nudge icing into any gaps so the surface is fully covered. Let set for 10 minutes.
11. Using the white soft-peak icing, pipe names, initials, or messages in the center of each cookie with even pressure. For the best flavor, enjoy the cookies the same day they are made.