Heart cookies

I spent my night making some cookies for Scooter to make up for the tempting treats he has had to pass up. Although it required an extra trip to the grocery store (for food coloring since we didn't keep our old stuff in the move), I kept it pretty simple.

I started with a sugar cookie mix from Cherrybrook Kitchen, preparing the dough according to the directions. Rather than making the two-inch balls as suggested, I chilled the dough for a little bit and then rolled it out. The dough is a little crumbly, so I had to pat it together, but I was able to get a decent sheet of thin dough. Then I cut out a number of hearts. I had thought about using our vehicle cookie cutters too, but decided that those shapes might be too delicate to transfer to the baking sheet.

I still baked the cookies for about 12 minutes and then transferred them to a rack. Once they were a little cooler, I mixed together a simple confectioner's sugar/milk frosting with a few drops of red food coloring. I made the frosting in progressively lighter-colored batches, making only a little at a time. The first batch was fairly red, followed by a medium pink and two lighter pinks. I also fooled around with some food coloring "markers" I found at the grocery store.

The whole process, not including chilling time for the dough, took about an hour, and I now have a couple dozen good-sized heart cookies to get us through this pink holiday.