Lemon Shortbread Cutouts

The heart obsession continues. A day late, I know, but still delicious no less. They can obviously be shaped into any desired form such as a heart, star of David, garage, etc. It would not feel right if there wasn't a decorated shaped cookie on Valentine's day, or any holiday for that matter. I can't help myself.

Instead of the ol' sugar cookie recipe, which is perf, shortbread took over. Seriously. Shortbread is straight amazing on its own but works with the icing too. Isn't that little guy cute?

Lemon Shortbread Cutouts

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 cup flour

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 300º.* In a small bowl, sift together the sugar, cornstarch and flour. In a larger bowl, beat the butter until nice and fluffy. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until it forms into a loose, crumbly dough. Using your hands, knead the dough together to form a soft dough. Put the dough on a large piece of parchment paper or a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thickness. Shortbread is better when it is on the thick side. Cut out the desired shape and place on a parchment lined or ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. Do not let the cookies brown, they will continue to set a bit on the sheets after they are removed. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheets completely. Eat them straight or decorate.

Royal Icing

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp meringue powder

scant 1/2 cup water

Sift together the confectioner's sugar and meringue powder. Add about 1/3 cup of water and beat until combined. Add more water until the desired consistency is achieved. For a great tutorial on how to basically decorate sugar cookies, go here, and for the heart design tutorial, go here. Annie is the master of step by step for sugar cookies.