036 Valentine's Day Nutella Linzer Cookies

I had every intention of posting my attempt at Valentine's Day cookies before Valentine's Day, because I had every intention of making them prior to Valentine's Day eve. But I am was lazy.

Essentially my life. 

I finally managed to get off my well-used bottom to bake last Thursday night. Clint said that me making Valentine's Day cookies for the office was very American, which I thought was evident enough by the fact that I also bought over $20 worth of candy at Walmart to celebrate this made-up holiday. Kidding - I love America, and candy, and Nutella Linzer Cookies. Smooth transition, I know.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and am pretty happy with the way it turned out, so enjoy and good luck if you try it!

The first step is to gather the ingredients. I had everything except for slivered almonds, which you can pick up at Walmart in the baking aisle.

Needs more Nutella.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder together, and set aside.

In a food processor, blend slivered almonds and brown sugar until finely ground and delicious. 

Delicious before.

Delicious after.

Using an electric mixer, whip the butter and powdered sugar together on medium-high speed until creamy and fluffy, which will take about a minute.

Then, add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Okay - so, at this point in the recipe I was supposed to add the almond-brown sugar mix before the flour mix, but apparently I don't read very well, so I added the flour first. :( 

Oops.

I don't think it affected the taste at all, but it did make mixing very difficult when I added the almond-brown sugar mixture after, because the dough got too thick. So, I had to revert to the traditional mixing method aka using my hands.

After successfully combining all the ingredients (however you get there), form the dough into a ball and flatten on a piece of plastic wrap. Cover and let chill in the fridge for about 2 hours. 

Hanging out with Dory while waiting.

After you've finished watching two episodes of something on Netflix, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously dust working space with flour, cut the dough in half, and roll out each portion to about 1/8- to 1/6-inch in thickness.

The dough was pretty "wet" when I pulled it out from the fridge, so I kept adding just enough flour to keep it from sticking to the table and the rolling pin. Pro-tip: Keep the dough that you're not using in the fridge - chilled dough is easier to work with and keeps its shape better.

Start cutting out your cookies. You will need an equal number of bases (big hearts), and tops (big hearts with little hearts cut out). Recycle the dough and keep making cookies until you run out.

Carefully transfer the cookie dough to a prepared cookie sheet (I used aluminum foil over mine), and bake the cookies in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until the edges or bottoms are lightly golden. Allow to cool completely.

Fun fun fun!

And now for the best part - use whatever spread you enjoy to cover the bases. The original recipe calls for strawberry jam for the red in the Valentine's Day heart. But I love me some Nutella, so that is what I used. #noshame

Dust the tops with powdered sugar. I don't have a sieve, so it looked a little ghetto...but I'm okay with that, because it was a delicious kind of ghetto.

Assemble the cookies for an awesome finished product!

Omnomnom.

I enjoyed these cookies because they weren't too sweet. Easy to eat...which also means I ate entirely too many. The office enjoyed them, though, so I can't complain. :) The recipe is below, slightly adapted from Cooking Classy's Linzer Cookies.

Yield: 24 cookies

Nutrition: 130 calories/cookie

Ingredients:

    2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

    1 tsp ground cinnamon

    1/2 tsp salt

    1/2 tsp baking powder

    3/4 cup slivered almonds

    1/4 cup light brown sugar

    1 cup unsalted butter, softened

    1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting

    1 large egg

    1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

    4 oz strawberry jam, Nutella, or any spread of your choice

Instructions: 

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder, and set aside.
2. In a food processor, blend or pulse slivered almonds and light brown sugar until finely ground, and set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, whip butter and powdered sugar together on medium-high until fluffy, about a minute.Then, add in egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
4. Mix in the almond mixture, and then slowly add the flour mixture and mix on low. If the dough becomes too thick, knead with your hands.
5. Form dough into a ball and flatten on a piece of plastic wrap. Cover and let chill in the fridge for about 2 hours.
6. Watch something on Netflix for 2 hours.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
8. Generously dust work space with flour. Cut chilled dough in half, and roll out each portion to about 1/8- to 1/6-inch in thickness. Add flour where necessary to prevent sticking.
9. Cut out hearts with cookie cutters. You will need an equal number of bases (big hearts) and tops (big hearts with little hearts cut out). Recycle the dough where possible, and keep making cookies until you run out.
10. Carefully transfer the cut cookies to a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges or bottoms are lightly golden. 
11. Allow to cool completely. Spread the spread of your choice onto the bases, and dust the tops with powdered sugar. 
12. Assemble and enjoy! :) 

Nutritional Information from MyFitnessPal: