Valentine’s Day Sandwich Cookies

Directions

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on low speed until smooth.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go and add in the egg and vanilla. Continue to mix on low speed.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until the dough comes together nicely. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to get the dough evenly mixes throughout.
• Remove 1/4 cup of dough and dye it pink. Remove another 1/4 cup of dough and dye it red.
• Roll out the remaining uncolored dough to about 1/8″ thick on top of parchment paper for easy movement.
• Roll out the pink and red dough separately to the same thickness as the uncolored dough.
• Place each rolled out sheet of dough onto a cookie sheet then into the fridge to chill for about 15-20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees after the dough has chilled.
• Remove the pink and red dough and cut out as many small hearts as you can.
• Place the small hearts all over the uncolored sheet of dough. Place parchment over this, then use a rolling pin to flatten the hearts into the uncolored dough.
• Use a larger heart cutter to cut out as many hearts as you can. Place these onto a cookie sheet fit with parchment paper then bake for 7-8 minutes.
• Let the cookies cool completely on a cooling rack before assembling.
• To make the filling, cream together the butter, sugar, and strawberry powder. Slowly add in the vanilla and cream. Add the cream 1 Tbsp. at a time until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
• Once the cookies are cooled, use a butterknife or a piping bag to fill the cookies. To do this, flip a cookie upside down, place about 1 Tbsp. of filling in the center evenly distributed throughout the shape of the cookie, then top with another cookie facing upright.
• Repeat this process for each cookie.
• Enjoy!