Crunchy French Onion Chicken

Homemade Valentine’s Day cookies are the best way to show your love this season. Give someone special a sweet delicious treat! Have fun by customizing these heart-shaped cookies with royal icing colors and adding personalized messages.

ingredient

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups gluten-free flour
1 pound powdered sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
9 tablespoons warm water
gel food coloring, to color icing

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, add butter and sugar. Mix on low speed to combine. Increase to medium speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add vanilla. Mix on medium speed until combined for 15 seconds.
Add flour to the bowl and mix on low speed to combine. Increase speed to medium and mix until the dough begins to clump together and cling to the paddle, about 10 seconds.
Transfer dough to a flat surface and use hands to bring the dough together.
Place dough on a large piece of plastic wrap. Press into a ½-inch thick rectangle. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove dough and allow to soften slightly at room temperature.
Place dough on a piece of parchment paper and lightly dust the surface with flour. Place another piece of parchment paper on top and roll out to ¼-inch thickness.
Use a 3-inch heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out 12 cookies. Transfer cookies 1-inch apart on a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Chill cookies for 15 minutes if the dough has come to room temperature before baking.
Adjust the oven rack to the center position. Preheat to 350°F (177ºC).
Bake cookies until lightly golden-brown on the edges, about 13 to 15 minutes. Times will vary depending on the size of the cookie.
Completely cool cookies on a sheet tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack before icing.
Add powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 9 tablespoons warm water about 100-110°F (38-43°C) to a large mixing bowl.
If using a stand mixer beat on low speed for 7 to 10 minutes until a thick glue-like consistency is reached. If using a hand-held mixer beat on high speed for 10 to 12 minutes.
If needed, add and mix an additional ½ teaspoon of warm water at a time until desired consistency is reached.
For border-icing, the consistency should be similar to peanut butter but pipeable. If you drizzle a little from your spoon, the ribbon should hold for a few second before melting back into the icing.
Evenly separate into cups for each color you want to use. Use a small amount of gel food coloring to color each icing.
Transfer a portion of the border-icing to a pastry bag, saving the rest to make flood-icing. This will help keep the border and flood-icing color consistent.
For flood-icing, the consistency should be similar to glue and not fall off the cookie when piped. When drizzled from a spoon the icing should sink immediately back into the icing. Make the flood-icing by adding ¼ teaspoon of warm water to the border icing, whisking and adding more water as needed until flood consistency is reached.
Add the flood-icing to a pastry bag. You should have more flood-icing compared to border-icing made.
Pipe a heart-shaped border around the cookies with border-icing leaving about a ⅛-inch edge.
Allow border-icing to dry slightly to the touch. If you draw the borders on all your cookies before moving onto flooding, the first cookies will be dry enough to start flooding once you finish drawing the borders.
Fill in the interior of the cookie with flood-icing, filling the interior of the cookie and pushing the icing into the corners and against edges. If needed use a small offset spatula to spread the icing.
Allow the cookies to dry. Leave the cookies undisturbed for at least 6 to 8 hours to fully dry. Depending on the thickness of your icing and the layers on the cookie, it may take longer.
When the cookies are dry, the surface of the cookies will be completely smooth, dry, and resistant to nicks or smudges.
Use red border icing or edible writing pens to write messages on the dried cookies if desired.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.