Raspberry Sugar Cookies

What is it about Valentine’s Day that makes me love it so much? I don’t know if it’s all the pink and red appealing to my girly senses, or the welcome excuse to celebrate amidst winter, or if it’s a great excuse to bake sweets. Possibly all of the above. I still remember my first V-day with my hubby. He made me dinner, and being the awful cook I was at the time I was quite astounded by the menu: filet mignon, crab risotto, asparagus, and creme brulee for dessert. Besides the asparagus and crab I had never eaten any of those things before in my life. Now that I think of it, that boy really taught me to appreciate good food. In college while I was surviving on ramen and Burger Supreme every day, I kid you not he was dining on smoked salmon and caviar. Okay, minus the caviar. Anyways, I am grateful for the fond memories I have surrounding Valentine’s Day, and excited to make some more. What memories do you have? Or any fun plans?

Raspberry Sugar Cookies
Makes about 35 two-inch cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, room temp.
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 pkg. (1.2 oz) freeze-dried raspberries
• pink candy melts

Directions:

Pour the entire bag of freeze-dried raspberries into a small bowl and use the back of a spoon or ladle to smash them until you have a mix of about 1/3 powder and 2/3 inconsistent crumbs. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and combine well, then the vanilla and almond extract. Then beat in the baking powder and salt. Mix in the flour until fully incorporated. Then add the freeze-dried raspberries, reserving 2-3 Tbsp for garnish. After the dough is fully combined, form it into two balls.

Take one ball and place it between two long pieces of plastic wrap. Use a rolling pin to roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick. Slide it onto a pan and refrigerate for one hour. Repeat with the other ball of dough.

Heat oven to 375F.

After chilling for an hour, remove one sheet of dough. Slide the dough back onto your counter and line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut shapes out of your dough and place at least 1 inch apart on your sheet. Bake for about 7 minutes. Do not overbake. These will ideally have a bit of golden brown only on the bottom, not along the edges, so remove them once you see they are just done. Let cool on a rack. With leftover dough, reform it into a ball and repeat the process of rolling it out and letting it chill in the fridge while you work on the other dough sheet. Continue to repeat the process until done. Let cookies cool completely before decorating.

To decorate:

Place cookies over parchment paper. Melt candy melts according to directions. Do just a handful at a time to prevent it hardening before you’re finished. Spoon the melted candy into the corner of a small sandwich bag. Make a small snip in the corner and drizzle over your cookies. Immediately sprinkle with leftover raspberry crumbs. Wait until hardened (at least 5 minutes) before serving or storing.

Thanks to my awesome mother-in-law for the base sugar cookie recipe <3