Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter, softened. 1 cup granulated sugar. 1 large egg. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. 3 cups all-purpose flour. 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pink gel food coloring. Heart-shaped cookie cutter. Piping bag with small round tip.
Instructions: In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract to the mixture, and beat until well combined. Gradually add the all-purpose flour and salt, mixing until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Color one part of the dough with pink gel food coloring, kneading until the color is evenly distributed. Shape each portion of the dough into a flat disc, wrap them separately in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350F 175C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the chilled pink and white dough separately on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out hearts from both the pink and white dough. Carefully swap the inner parts of the hearts between the pink and white cookies to create striped hearts. Place the striped heart cookies onto the prepared baking sheet. Gather the dough scraps, chill, and repeat the rolling and cutting process until all the dough is used. Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with any remaining pink dough. Pipe small pink dots around the edges of the heart cookies. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container to maintain freshness.
