Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

I want to go everywhere I haven't been, and back to everywhere I have been.

Monday, February 10, 2014

"Have a Heart" (Or Two) Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread Heart Cookies  -- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes



Shortbread Heart Cookies  -- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Is it Spring yet? 

I think this has got to be one of the longest winters we've had in a long time. All of this snow and ice isn't for the faint of heart


Shortbread Heart Cookies  -- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

I've really got a bad case of cabin fever, and in fact, I think this weather is making everyone feel a little disheartened. 

Mr. Goo Shoes and I wanted to get out of the house on Friday night, so we went for a quick bite to eat. I didn't want to go too far, because I had my heart set on watching the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics, and wanted to get home on time. 

Shortbread Heart Cookies  -- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Mr. Goo Shoes did not share my enthusiasm:

"My heart isn't into watching that. 
I have absolutely NO interest in it at all." 

So I was surprised that when I turned on the TV in the Family Room, he sat down to watch.  I thought he would go right upstairs to his man cave.

I headed into the kitchen to whip up a batch of shortbread heart cookies, and some cupcakes (I'll share that recipe next week), while I was watching the ceremony. It's great to be able to see the TV from the kitchen, so I can multi-task. 

Shortbread Heart Cookies  -- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Mr. Goo Shoes was parked on the couch reading the stats of each country as their team walked out: how many athletes they had; what the population of each country was, etc.

You could have fooled me that he watching halfheartedly.

"Team USA is coming now! Can you 
turn off the mixer for a few minutes?

Oh, sure, not a problem. It wasn't like I was right in the middle of whipping egg whites until they formed soft peaks, or anything. 

Shortbread Heart Cookies  -- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

But he seemed so interested in seeing them march in -- which totally surprised me -- that I figured egg whites be damned...if their peaks were pooped, I'd toss them and start over. I sat down to watch with him. 

As soon as the Americans finished their entry, Mr. Goo Shoes said, "I'm going upstairs." Which left me alone and broken-hearted...ok, ok, that's not at all how I felt...I'm exagerating. 

The cupcakes were in the oven, and it was time to make the cookies.  

Shortbread Heart Cookies  -- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

My heart always skips a bit when I think of shortbread cookies. I was going to make them the usual way, with white sugar, but I had a change of heart, and substituted brown sugar instead. I used the same basic shortbread recipe as the Shortbread Sparklers, from Fine Cooking's 2004 Holiday Magazine.

And, I made them red. I know that there are red food colorings out there that have no taste, but I used the regular kind (McCormick's) that I always use in my red velvet cakes. I've never experienced a weird tasted, but I'm going to look for the other kind anyway. Use as much as you want to get your desired color. I used about 3 tablespoons.

I thought I made a mistake by not adding the food coloring to the wet ingredients. Maybe that would have been better? I added it after I blended in the dry ingredients, and freaked out a bit that it would leave big red clumps in the dough, but it did eventually blend in. I kept the mixer on a slower speed, so that I didn't over-mix the dough. 

If you make the cookies as red as mine, you will not be able to easily tell when they are golden around the edge. Carefully lift a cookie to look at the bottom. You can see a slight golden color if you look hard. They should not be brown on the bottom, so check periodically. All ovens are different  -- my cookies were done after 30 minutes. 

I decorated the cookies with white Wilton Cookie Icing in a squeeze bottle. It was easy to squeeze out just the right amount. 

With a 3-inch cookie cutter, I got about 20 cookies. 

Shortbread Heart Cookies  -- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD COOKIES
Recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

8 ounces (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  

Combine the butter, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer bowl (use the paddle attachment) or a large mixing bowl.  

Mix on low speed until the butter combines with the sugar but isn't perfectly smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the flour and mix on low speed, scraping the bowl frequently.

Add the food coloring. Mix until the dough has just about pulled together, about 3 minutes; don't over mix.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface, to about 1/4 inch thick. Aim for uniform thickness to ensure even baking. 

Use a cookie cutter and cut out shapes as close to one another as possible.  Press the scraps together, roll them out, and cut out more cookies. If the dough becomes sticky, refrigerate it briefly.  

Arrange the cookies on two parchment-lined baking sheets and refrigerate until chilled, at least 20 minutes.  

Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 300°F.

Bake the cookies for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  

After 15 minutes, swap the position of the baking sheets and rotate them 180 degrees for even baking. 

If the cookies are done before 30 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 275°F for the remaining batches; if they take longer than one hour, increase the temperature to 325°.

Eat them to your heart's content. 

Shortbread Heart Cookies  -- Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Oh, and one more thing.  

Happy Valentine's Day...from the bottom of my heart






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35 comments:

  1. This is timely as I am going to bake today! But, I have a question about the flour. Is 10 oz. 2 1/4 cups? I am thinking it is 1 1/4 cups (8 oz. being a cup). If you could check and let me know I would SO appreciate! I LOVE shortbread cookies!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!

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  2. Hi Chris, I checked both the magazine and the website, and they both say 10 ounces (2 1/4 cups), but you are right, that sounds like it is wrong. Bottom line is that you need to use 2 1/4 cups of flour. I'm going to take out the "ounces" part to avoid confusion. Thanks for asking, and hope you enjoy.

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  3. Thank you so much for your response! I am making them this afternoon! The 2 1/4 cups SOUNDED right based on the other ingredients, but the ounces v. the cups mentioned were throwing me. I so appreciate your response. I have been following your blog for a few months and look forward to your posts. We, too, are enjoying the Olympics and trying to keep warm. Once again t is supposed to be -19 real temps tomorrow morning. I think it will be the 4th of July before we thaw out.

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    1. Thank you for following :) I can't even imagine -19 degrees! I don't think I have ever been in temperatures that cold!

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  4. Darling post. I am very disheartened that it is overcast all the time but we aren't getting needed precipitation to ease our drought. Texas is usually gorgeous in January and February.

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    1. I had no idea that Texas was nice in the winter months. Hope you get your needed rain soon!

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  5. Great post! My daughter Love it! Congratulations!!

    Marina

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  6. Great post, I saved this recipe in my food recipes. Thanks so much. I have to agree this winter has really gotten to us. Try building a house, NOT, for right now anyway. Waiting for the 30's for the next steps. UGH!!!

    Cynthia

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    1. Sorry to hear your house is on hold, Cynthia! I hope warmer weather comes soon for your sake! Thanks for saving the recipe!

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  7. Oh how lovely and perfect! :D I love seeing all the Valentine's posts...it just brightens my day to see everything pink and red and in heart shapes. I love how simple these are and yet festive for the holiday.

    Toodles,
    Tammy<3

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    1. Hi Tammy, I agree! I love the pink and red! I usually make these cookies in their natural color, and dip in chocolate, but I just wanted to do RED this year!

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  8. What a cute post, Amy. Do you know we have been waiting on our new oven for TWO MONTHS? It is finally in our garage- shipped directly from the factory and now it will be installed in week or so. Can't wait to bake again- xo Diana

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    1. Thanks, Diana! Wow, 2 months? That's crazy. We recently got a new cooktop and new oven, and they came surprisingly quickly. But the cooktop is defective, and now we've been waiting weeks for a new one!

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  9. The cookies are really cute and your writing as witty as usual!

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    1. Thanks, Magali! And they taste good, too! I had to freeze them so I can save them for Valentine's Day to give Mr. GS and Jr. GS!

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  10. Amy, you definitely baked your heart out! Your shortbread cookies are adorable and I'm sure taste amazing, especially after tweaking the sugars. LOVE the photo of them all lined up on your marble counter! They look like they're the cream of the crop, cookie contestants in the 'Miss. Sweetheart Shortbread' beauty pageant, one biscuit is more beautiful than the next!

    Ah, yes, the things we do in the name of love...daring to drop everything and deflate one's egg whites, and possibly sabotaging an entire post in the process - what passion!! ;-)

    Thanks for sharing all the fun, my friend!

    Happy Valentine's Day!

    Poppy

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    1. Thank you, Poppy! I will have Mr. GS and Jr. GS vote on their appearance and talent in the Miss Sweetheart Shortbread Pageant when I give them to them on Valentine's Day. For now, they are resting up in the freezer, awaiting the big day.

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  11. I really agree with you that this is one of the longest winters we're ever had!! I also love the play on words. They're a great color and look adorable! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks, Danielle. Seems like winter has been especially harsh everywhere!

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  12. Well, as they say here in the south.........."Bless your heart"! You had so many cute ways to say that word. LOL! I think it's funny that your husband got into the Olympics after saying he wasn't interested in it. It has been the opposite at my house. My husband is watching it and I am not. Your sugar cookies look good! I can tell you really enjoy baking.

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    1. Ah, that's a good one, Kelly. I do have a good friend from Atlanta who always says Bless your heart! I couldn't believe my husband watched -- and he even watched some events with us tonight. I told him I want to go to the summer olympics in 2016!

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  13. Those are stinkin cute and look so yummy Amy~

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    1. I hope I don' t eat them before Valentine's Day! I had to freeze them and pretend I forgot about them.

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  14. Dear Amy, Beautiful cookies for Valentine's.
    I have been watching the games too..
    Blessings, Catherine xo

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  15. What a cute post Amy!! "Be still my Heart" - those cookies are so pretty!! We're enjoying the games over here too and the weather is -20C something today and for the past 3 weeks - I'm starting to have doubts about Spring ever reappearing. I think beautful red shortbread heart cookies might cheer me up!

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    1. Thanks, Rosella! I cannot believe this winter -- seems like it has been extreme everywhere! We're expecting a big storm tonight. I may have to eat all those cookies myself, instead of saving them for Valentine's Day!

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  16. These look amazing. I can't wait to try them Amy! And thanks for joining my site...I'm definitely reciprocating! Have a great weekend.

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  17. These little shortbread heart cookies look so cute and delicious. I just love shortbread basically in any form... so I was glad to see that these were shortbread - YUM YUM! (Sharon)

    Thanks for sharing these on #simplybebetsy - such a great addition to your gallery!
    Sharon and Denise

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  18. These look great! Thanks for sharing :)

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