Happy Valentine's Day! Lauren here, and I love this month since it's all about sweet treats & little love notes, celebrating our significant others and also our girlfriends. I usually package up these heart cookies around Valentine's Day, but this year I was inspired to use my mom's sugar cookie recipe to create something new. 

Inspired by Jen's LOVE prints and colorful paintings, these painted LOVE cookies send a sweet message to their lucky recipients. I am not a gifted baker, so I promise they're incredibly easy too...they'd even be fun to make with kids! Keep reading for the rundown...

Whoops: I had a little kitchen accident and dropped one of my Anthropologie bowls, filled with flour, all over the floor. So I made the most of my mess and just photographed my ingredients right where it landed! My favorite part of these sugar cookies is the lemon...the lemon rind and juice add a subtle citrus flavor that really kicks them up a notch. 
 

I ordered this set of alphabet cookie cutters to create my L-O-V-E. Another fun option would be to use X-O-X-O.
 

For the dough:
 

1 cup butter, softened

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

As you can see, things may get a little bit messy, but that's okay! It's time to let your inner artist come through and not worry about making these perfect. Experiment with layering different colors on the paintbrush and trying different.

brush strokes. I used the edge of a sponge paintbrush we had on hand, but I'd actually recommend using a smaller art paintbrush. Just make sure it's brand new and hasn't been previously used with real paint. 

For the icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

Food coloring

Paintbrush

The final touch: See-through boxes that ensure your painted cookies are perfectly packed for gifting to loved ones at Valentine's Day. 

Makes about 3 dozen.

Instructions:

1. Cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, lemon rind, then lemon juice. Add flour, soda and salt; mix until blended.

2. Divide dough; wrap each half in plastic wrap and pat into a disc. Refrigerate several hours until firm.

3. On a floured surface, roll one disc about 1/4 inch thick. Cut with letter-shaped cutters (ex. LOVE or XOXO).

4. Transfer to a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in a pre-heated 325-degree oven for 12-15 minutes, until barely browned. Cool on wire racks and repeat with remaining dough. 

5. To decorate, stir 1 tablespoon of cream into 1 cup of powdered sugar. Divide among small bowls and use food coloring to make intense shades.

6. Use a paint brush to paint the cookies with the icing, adding a little extra cream into the icing if needed to make it thinner. Wipe the paintbrush off in between, or even let a little color remain on the brush to overlap shades. Go back over each cookie with extra brush strokes.

7. Make sure you let the icing fully dry on each cookie, then stack into boxes.

-Recipe & images by Lauren Craig

https://sexygirlspic79.blogspot.com/2013/02/food-baked-with-love.html

Hi! This is Mat, Jen's husband. This is the recipe from a photo that appeared on Jen's Instagram last night. 

Jen is fasting from coffee and chocolate for 21 days, so by the end of the day she's looking for something sweet to and I thought this would do the trick. It's pretty easy to make from scratch but if you're nervous about the cake part, you can always substitute a mix. Plus it's also no milk, low fat & half the sugar.

(photo via instagram)

Also, this is a recipe for a very small batch. We're only a couple and making big batches is so wasteful so I prefer to make only a few at a time. This should make about 5 cakes.

Coconut Cake
1/2 C granulated sugar
4 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
2 egg whites
1 tsp coconut or vanilla extract
3/4 C cake flour (use sifted all-purpose if not available)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 C coconut, rice or soy milk
3/4 C shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the sides and bottom of six cups in a cupcake tin with butter.  Cream the butter and sugar. Once creamed, beat in the egg whites one at a time, then add the extract. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until creamy, then add the "milk" and coconut and finish mixing.

Evenly distribute between the cups until they are 2/3 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes. Be sure to cool completely before frosting.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
2 egg whites
1/2 C granulated sugar
12 Tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cut the butter into 1 Tbsp chunks and leave out so it reaches room temperature. In a metal bowl, add the egg whites and sugar. Place the bowl into simmering water (leave on the heat) and whisk slowly until the mix is hot to the touch (about 140°F). Remove from heat, and using mixer with wire whisk, beat for 2 mins producing soft peaks. Change to a paddle mixer. Add 1/2 of the butter and beat for 1 minute, add the remaining butter and beat another minute. Add the vanilla and beat 1/2 minute more.

Once the cakes have cooled, you can frost them. The frosting doesn't have to be perfect - in fact just a nice spoonful on top of each cake served with some berries on the side works fine.

(photo via instagram)

https://sexygirlspic79.blogspot.com/2013/01/coconut-cake-swiss-meringue-buttercream.html