#3395 - Valentine Heart Cutout Cookies

(by Shirley McNevich)

2 cups white sugar
2 sticks softened Parkay margarine
2 eggs
1 cup of buttermilk
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 TBSP vanilla
6 cups of sifted flour (measure before sifting)
Frosting/Icing: 1/2 box Domino's Powdered Sugar (1 lb. size); 1 stick Parkay margarine; 2 tsp. vanilla; 1.5 TBSP milk, red food coloring

In a mixer add 2 sticks margarine, 2 cups white sugar and 2 eggs--beat until smooth. Add salt, baking soda, baking powder, 1 TBSP vanilla and buttermilk--beat until smooth. Add flour one cup at a time and mix into batter. Once you've put in two or three cups of flour, you will need to mix in remaining flour by hand unless you're using a heavy duty Kitchen Aid mixer - stir until smooth. Cover the bowl and refrigerate dough overnight. The next day take out a handful of cookie dough and put on a floured countertop. Roll with a rolling pin to about 1/4 inch thick (flour top of dough also). Use heart shaped cookie cutter to cut cookies. Carefully place each cutout on to greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown (do a test cookie to figure out the time appropriate for your oven). Repeat until dough is depleted. Once cookies are cool, in a mixer add 1/2 box Domino's powdered sugar, 1 stick margarine, 2 tsp. vanilla, and 1.5 TBSP milk--beat for at least 5 minutes until it's nice and creamy. Remove 1/2 of the frosting/icing and place it in a cereal bowl--add red food coloring and stir until it's the red color you desire. Use the white icing/frosting to frost 1/2 of each cookie. Use the red icing/frosting to frost the other half of each cookie. Optional: instead of using both red and white frosting on each cookie, frost each cookie with only one solid color.