Love Cookies

I love making these cookies, but I rarely have a good excuse for them. My sons classroom celebration of Valentines day was perfect. His classroom has each of the children make ONE card to share with the class, then they swap the cards and every kiddo goes home with one that someone else made. I sure like that a lot more than buying cards from the store!

I started this recipe a few years ago with my basic sugar cookie recipe, something from a Christmas cookie book that I was given too many years ago to remember. It came from Goose Berry Patch, they called it Magical Sugar Cookies. Indeed, I loved the cream cheese in the cookie. Also, I found that the baked cookies tasted even BETTER a day old.

I can never remember if I used baking soda or baking powder in the recipe, but when I did it this time I used the soda. It gives it just enough lift to not let the cranberries make it overly dense.

The kids loved the cookie, as well as my knitting group who got the extras!

I am really bad about not getting out everything I need before I start, so this is good for me!

Liam helped me upwrap sticks of butter.

I love how pretty it looks with the cranberries in it!

Sharing the beater blade

Cutting out hearts

Ready to bake

Cooling

Ready to decorate

All done!

1c butter - softened
3oz of cream cheese - softened
1c sugar
1 egg yolk
1tsp vanilla (I usually double this. I always double the vanilla)
1 c flour. (I use Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. It is fine enough to work well for this)
1 1/2c all purple flour
2/3 cup dried cranberries
pinch of baking soda
pinch of salt

Oven 350

In a stand mixer blend butter and cream cheese until smooth.
While that is working, toss the whole wheat flour, the baking soda and the dried cranberries into a food processor and run that until the cranberries are chopped into tiny pieces. Add some of the all purpose flour if it gets sticky on you.
Beat sugar into the butter/cheese mixture
Add egg yolk into the butter/cheese mixture along with vanilla and the flour as well as the cranberry/whole wheat mixture.
Mix until combined.
You can roll it out now and cut it out, but it works better if it chills for an hour at least.
Bake on baking sheet covered with parchment paper at 350 degrees for 8 - 12 minutes. You are looking for a slight browning to the edges.

For frosting, I use 1c powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and enough milk to make it the consistency you like. Add milk in small small small increments. Like 1/4 tsp at a time. The smallest bit too much and your frosting is runny and you can't make the little designs. I do this often and end up making 4 cups of frosting as I try to balance it out.

I imagine you can do this with almost any dried fruit you like. Cherries or apricots, mangoes or pineapple even!