Love Cookies for Your Favorite Valentines

Huge, delicious cookies hanging on a ribbon necklace are sold by vendors at festivals in Germany. Made in the shape of a heart, these spicy cookies have endearing messages written in frosting.

Young men are excellent customers, buying cookies and draping them around the necks of their sweethearts. A father might buy a cookie for his wife or one for each of his little daughters.

While these cookies are sold any time of the year in Germany, Valentine's day seems a most appropriate occasion for you to bake your own cookie hearts.

The German cookies are usually made with Lebkuchen cookie dough which has lemon peel, orange peel as well as brown sugar and lots of spices like ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Since the citrus peels are not readily available all year, you can use a simpler gingeerbread recipe, any one that produces a firm cookie. Choose your favorite recipe that has a dough meant to be rolled.

Take a piece of paper and draw a large heart on it in the desired size. Fold the heart in half and cut it out. Unfold and use this pattern to cut out your cookie hearts.

Make up the cookie dough and then on a floured surface roll out a portion of the dough until it is just larger than the paper pattern. Slip the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Put the paper pattern on it. With a knife...trim all around the edge of the cookie shape. Take away the excess dough and put it aside. (Remember the idea is to have a giant cookie. If you have a giant heart shaped cookie cutter that is most excellent. I have also used heart shaped doilies.)

Make a hole in the heart with a chop stick or the end of a spoon. You will be slipping the ribbon through it so the hole should be at the center...just below the top of the heart.

Continue to make hearts and combine the scraps cut from around them to make additional cookies. Bake the hearts until lightly browned and then cool on wire racks.

Use a frosting tube with white frosting to decorate the cookies. You may make your own frosting or just use purchased frosting...it all gets eaten and enjoyed! Write a love message. Something like..."Only you"..."I Love You"..."Are You Mine?"..."Will You Marry Me?" Of course, you get the idea. If you don't want to write anything just decorate them with flowers or squiggles.

When the icing is firm, string the ribbon into the hole on the cookie and make a slip knot to hold the cookie in place. Tie the ends of the ribbon so the loop is long enough to fit over the head.

If the cookies will not be worn immediately, store in an air tight container or wrap each one separately in pink plastic wrap.

Recipe for "German Spiced Honey Cookies"

* 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
* 1/2 tsp. baking soda
* 1 cup honey
* 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
* 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
* 1 tsp. allspice
* 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
* 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts
* 3/4 cup chopped citron
* Blanched almonds
* Candied lemon peel

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift together the flour, soda, cloves, cinnamon, allspice and set aside.
3. Mix honey with brown sugar in a saucepan large enough to make the cookies in.
4. Heat to the boiling point.
5. Cool and stir in the egg, juice, zest and nuts.
6. Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients.
7. Combine with the chopped nuts and most of the citron.
8. Chill the dough overnight or until it is chilled enough to roll out onto 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
9. This is a sticky dough..work carefully.
10. Cut as directed above with large heart shaped item. You may also cut out smaller heart shaped cookies with cookie cutters. Bake about 10 minutes or until done. Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before attempting to remove. Let the flavors merge...wait 3 to 4 days before eating...it's worth it!