cookies

Cup of Yum
1. Preheat oven to 375˚F.
2. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer cream together butter and sugar.
3. Add milk, egg and vanilla and continue to mix. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
4.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Pour flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix until evenly blended and a dough forms.
6. Divide dough into two discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
7. Lightly flour a clean surface. Roll out 1 disc of dough to ⅛ inch thickness. Using a 4-inch heart shaped cookie cutter punch out about 9 heart cookies.
8. Transfer cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet, 1 inch apart. (You will need multiple baking sheets or will need to bake cookies in batches).
9.  Repeat steps 7 and 8 with other half of dough.
10. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies barely begin to brown around the edges.
11. Remove baking sheet from oven and allow cookies to rest for about 5 minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack.

strawberry icing

1. In a food processor, combine powdered sugar and freeze dried strawberries. Blend until freeze-dried strawberries become a fine powder and evenly mixed with powdered sugar.
2. Add remaining icing ingredients and blend together until completely combined and smooth.

assembly

1. Once cookies have cooled completely, dip tops of cookies into icing, shaking off any excess.
2. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Add eyes to each cookie and allow icing to dry completely.
3. Once icing has dried, transfer melted chocolate to a piping bag fitted with a #2 wilton tip (or Ziploc bag and snip a very small hole at the tip). Pipe smiles on each cookie. Allow chocolate to harden before serving.