Baking for Valentine's Day

February 17, 2017

I love all holidays, and every year, I try to make something special to give to my male friends and colleagues for St. Valentine's Day.

This year, I was able to take some time from my very busy schedule to bake and decorate dozens of heart-shaped cookies. I made them at our headquarters in New York City's historic Starrett Lehigh Building, where we have an expansive and well-stocked test kitchen. I had so much fun, and even recorded a short video you may have already seen on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 - do you follow me? I included the video below, along with some of my photos - enjoy.

And, bake some cookies this weekend - your friends and family will love them!

: I was at the office the day before Valentine’s Day, and decided to roll and cut the dough, and bake some cookies. It’s become an annual tradition – if you recall, I did the same last year.

: I used my Sugar Cookies I recipe from “The Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Everyday” – I am sure many of you have a copy, but if not, you can still find it. It has so many wonderful recipes and tips. goo.gl/gvq8n0

: The recipe is among my favorites, and makes approximately two-dozen cookies.

: I made several batches – dozens and dozens of cookies in various sizes.

: The recipe calls for 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 pound butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons brandy, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

: All the dry ingredients were sifted. And then, in an electric mixer, the butter and sugar were combined and the egg, brandy and vanilla added.

: The dry ingredients were added to to the mixture until well-blended. Once the doughs were made, they were wrapped and chilled for at least 30-minutes. The doughs get really hard, but they roll out beautifully.

: The cookies were about 1/8-inch thick, and baked at 400-degrees Fahrenheit for 10-minutes.

: I used royal icing made from confectioner’s sugar, meringue from my own egg whites, food coloring, and water, and then hand-dipped each cookie very carefully.

: I dipped just the top of the cookie, so each one looks smooth and perfect.

: The frosting has to be exactly the right consistency to dip the cookies satisfactorily.

: I made large and small cookies – I love how all of them look on this drying rack.

: I have such a busy daily schedule filled with meetings – it was such a treat for me to make all these cookies myself. I love baking, especially when I can create fun holiday cookies for those near and dear.

: The largest cookie was about five and 3/4-inches wide.

: For decorations, I used words, dragees or different sanding sugars. For some I used a toothpick to create designs.

: Some have decorative borders and others have simple dots piped around the perimeter – it really dresses up the cookies.

: I decorated with more dots on these cookies. Nearly every one was different.

: Of course, I made Jude and Truman each a large cookie with their name.

: I decided to style some of my cookies for photos – here is a single, large “love” cookie on plate.

: And a variety of smaller cookies stacked on top of each other.

: I placed Jude’s cookie and Truman’s cookie on a platter for this photo.

: I love this photo of the cookies on top of containers of sanding sugar.

: I used cellophane bags to package my cookies.

: Cellophane bags are so versatile, and they look so pretty.

: Valentine’s Day 2017 may be over, but these sugary classics are great any time of year. I hope you take some time to bake some cookies for your loved ones this weekend!