Heart-shaped cookies abound! In the spirit of the season, I developed a savory cut out cracker recipe for a Valentine aperitif. Since I forego frosting and sprinkles, this treat is relatively low maintenance.
My heart biscuits contain a few ingredients, two of which stand out: Parmesan cheese and Piment d’Espelette. Piment d’Espelette is a sweet, flavorful red pepper grown in a Basque village called Espelette. I bought mine in France, but it’s available dried and ground in specialty markets and online. I use it anywhere I’d use black pepper—in vinaigrettes, on roasted vegetables, and sprinkled on soup. It’s a little deeper and sweeter than black pepper. And it’s so pretty. The subtle, red pepper flakes make my rustic crackers worthy of Valentine’s Day.
If you don’t have Piment d’Espelette in your spice drawer, I suggest using ground pink peppercorns. They lend a deep pink-purple hue to the crackers and taste just as delicious.
What should you sip with your heart biscuits? Something bubbly: Champagne, Prosecco, a white beer, or sparkling water with a twist of lime. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Savory Valentine Biscuits
I include both weight and volume measurements.
- Category: Celebrations, Cheese, Small Bites
Ingredients
- 100 g Parmesan cheese, grated (3/4 c)
- 120 g butter, cubed and at room temperature (8 1/2 T)
- 180 g all-purpose flour (scant 1 3/4 c)
- 1 tsp. Piment d'Espelette (or substitute ground red peppercorn)
- 2 pinches fine-grained salt
- 2 egg yolks
Instructions
- Using your fingers, blend Parmesan cheese and butter, until you have a fairly uniform, moist dough.
- Add flour, Piment d'Espelette, and salt. Using your fingers again, mix to obtain a sandy consistency. There will be different sized "grains."
- Add the egg yolks and knead until you have a homogeneous, compact dough. If the dough isn't coming together, add water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.
- Split the dough in two or three pieces. Form a ball with each piece. Loosely wrap each one in a piece of plastic wrap, then flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Remove discs of dough from refrigerator. If they're hard, give them 15-30 minutes to soften a bit.
- Preheat oven to 400. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat sheet.
- Unwrap a disc of dough and place between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll out dough to approximately 1/8 inch. Put some muscle in it!
- Use heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut crackers. Repeat with additional disc(s). My two-inch cookie cutter makes approximately 35 biscuits.
- Bake until biscuits are golden, approximately 12 minutes. Keep an eye on them the last few minutes, as they turn quickly. Transfer biscuits to rack to cool.