My Kitchen Aid Mixer is named Sir Charles Mixalot III. I just call him Sir Mixalot for short. We had a conversation the other day. It went something like this:
Sir Mixalot: Hey Trace! Would you please use me? I’m sick of collecting dust on your pantry shelf.
Tracy: Hey. You talk! Fiiiiine. I’ll use you. What should I make?
Sir Mixalot: I’m a little outta shape. Something easy. Baby steps. Take it easy on me.
Tracy: I totally get it Sir Mixalot, I haven’t worked out in awhile too. How about cornmeal cookie dough?
Sir Mixalot: I can totally handle that. You’re a dear. Many thanks. Don’t forget to clean my crevices afterward.
Tracy: Ummm. OK…
So I busted out Sir Mixalot and put him to work. The dough came together in a snap. We high-fived and I gave him a deep cleaning (head out of the gutter!). Then I got to work cutting, baking & glazing these cookies. The dough was the easiest part thanks to Sir Mixalot. The glazing part was a little tough and I only say that because I had a 3 year old running around the kitchen island begging me for some cookies and showing me a new toy every 5 seconds. Labor of love, my friends. LABOR OF LOVE.
Valentine’s Day is coming up! Bust out your Kitchen Aid Mixer (and name him/her if you haven’t already) and get to work. Your Valentine is gonna love the crunchy bite of a sugary cornmeal cookie. I know this.
And we’re off!
Ingredient gathering. A very small list of ingredients. I love that!
Butter & sugar. I love the smell of these two together. I’d totally wear it as a perfume.
But like a liquid perfume…not a solid. I’d probably try to eat it if it was a solid perfume.
Mixing the dry ingredients. Whisk it! No sifting involved!
Add the egg & vanilla to the creamed butter.
Now the dry ingredients!
Mix mix mix. DOUGH.
Take a small ice cream scoop. Make a ball.
Roll that ball in sugar.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Smoosh the ball down with a glass.
Dip the glass in sugar after each cookie. It helps prevent sticking. PRO TIP!
Take your cute little heart cookie cutter and press it into the cookie. Not all the way down!
You’ll have two trays that look something like this.
Bake them. Cool them on a rack. Watch how impatient everyone gets!
Get your icing ingredients together.
Mix in the vanilla and water. I had to add more water for some reason. Just a little.
I split the batch up into purple & red. I added too much purple and it looks blue-ish black.
But maybe that’s what I was going for…I’m not really a pink & red kinda gal.
Whatevs! Take a small little spoon and spread the colored sugar glaze on top of the cookie.
REPEAT. A lot.
The cookies are done! The sugar will harden a bit after like 5 minutes. Don’t stack them! They’ll get mucked up.
Take a bite out of my heart.
Heart Glazed Cornmeal Cookies
makes about 40
(recipe from Everyday Food Magazine)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 to 2 drops red or pink food coloring
Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1/2 cup granulated sugar on medium-high until creamy, 3 minutes. Add egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat until combined. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat to combine.
Place 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl; roll dough into 1-inch balls and coat with sugar. Transfer to two parchment-lined baking sheets. With the bottom of a glass, flatten balls to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Press a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter into each (do not cut through). Bake until cookies are golden at edges, 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool on wire racks.
In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 3/4 teaspoons cold water. Whisk in food coloring. With a small spoon, spread glaze inside heart. Let set 15 minutes.
