Tasty Tuesday: Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

We made these cookies for Valentine's Day, but as with so many recipes and crafts, they can easily be adapted to fit any occasion. 

 Aren't they pretty? They're fairly simple to make. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time before starting them since there's a lot of inactive time involved.

 First thing's first - make the dough.

Once the flour is mostly combined, it's easier to use your hands to fully incorporate the dough into a ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. 

 Use your muscles to roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface.

Then cut out your shapes and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer for another half hour.

Use a smaller cutter (does not have to be the same shape) to cut a hole in the center of half the cookies.

Jake got excited at this part because he remembered the stained glass candy cookies we made a few months ago. We didn't fill them with candy pieces this time though.

Instead, we filled the baked and cooled cookies with strawberry jam and . . .

Nutella! Yummy!

Surprisingly, I liked the jam-filled cookies better than the Nutella ones. The hazelnut-chocolate flavor was lost in the buttery-goodness of the cookies. In order to really taste it, you have to add a lot of Nutella. And that's just fine by me too. The cookies though, are pretty delicious all on their own. I could barely keep the kids from gobbling them all up before I could assemble them. They loved eating the tiny heart cookies cut from the centers. There's just something irresistible about cute, little desserts, especially when they're really yummy! 

They make a perfect Valentine treat and are even great for weddings or anniversaries. I think it would be fun for practicing shapes with toddlers, too. You could make the cookies into various shapes and use a different shape for the cut-out in the middle. Hey, any excuse to make cookies is a legitimate reason for me!

Shortbread Sandwich Cookies  

Ingredients:    

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c confectioners' sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt

jam

Directions:
1. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla with a mixer. Beat in flour and salt until just combined. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate 30 minutes.
2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out with a approximately 1 3/4-inch scalloped cutter, and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; place in the freezer to harden for 30 minutes. Cut out heart shapes from half the cookies, then return to freezer for another 15 minutes.
3. Bake at 325° for 11-13 minutes or until just before cookies begin to brown around the edges.
4. Shortly before serving, spread scant 1 teaspoon jam on whole cookies; gently top with cut-out cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Finished cookies can sit at room temperature up to 3 hours.

(Recipe adapted from Martha Stuart Weddings) 



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Tasty Tuesday: Nutella Hot Chocolate

I had you at Nutella, didn't I? 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you could add Nutella to just about anything and it would be better.

Well, maybe not spaghetti. Although, ever since watching Elf for the first time a couple years ago, Jake insists on eating syrup on his spaghetti. And the one time that he tried it (since he was sitting with my dad while we were all at a restaurant), he actually liked it. In fact, I'm not surprised that my dad let him. Not only does he let the grandkids do all sorts of crazy things, he's the one who will take a swig out of the pure maple syrup jug at the house.

But I digress . . . on to the drink!

 Four ingredients. That's all it takes to make one delicious cup o' chocolate.

 Dump it all in the pan - proper proportions, of course.

 Whisk it up.

Once it's hot, pour it in a mug, top it with whipped cream, and enjoy!

This is so super simple to make. And tastes amazing! Come on, a chocolate and Nutella drink??? You have to try it!

Yeah . . . it's that good.

Nutella Hot Chocolate  (adapted)

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

1/3 cup Nutella

2 tablespoons cocoa 

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, whisk all ingredients together until well blended and hot.
Pour in a cup and top with whipped cream.

Whipped Cream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoons sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Place a medium bowl and your beaters from your electric mixer in the freezer for 10 minutes (this helps the whipped cream stiffen faster.)
2. Pour all ingredients into the chilled bowl and start to beat. Start off on low and gradually work your way up to high until it is the consistency of whipped cream. (Don’t over-beat, or you'll have a repeat of THIS.)