Gewürzte Herzen (Spiced Heart Cookies)

Another new cookie addition to my christmas cookies collection this year.  I added Lebkuchengewürz or gingerbread spices to the dough to give this cookie a subtle taste.  Once baked, I glazed the tops with icing glaze made up of beetroot juice and decorated with sugar pearls.

Ingredients (yields 60 pcs):
250 g brown cane sugar (Rohrzucker)
200 g cold butter, to be cut into cubes
1 packet Lebkuchengewürz or 15 g gingerbread spice
200 g rye flour (Roggenmehl), to be sifted
300 g plain flour. to  be sifted
1 tsp (heaped) baking powder, to be sifted
3 eggs ("M" size)

Glaze Ingredients:
150 g icing sugar, to be sifted
100 ml beetroot juice (taken from bottled beetroot), to be boiled until concentrated - only 3 tbsp are needed OR 3 tbsp fresh orange juice
sugar pearls for decoration

Method:
In a bowl, knead cubed butter, cane sugar, both types of flour, baking powder, gingerbread spice and eggs together.  Wrap dough in cling film and store in fridge for about 30 minutes.

On a floured worktop, knead dough again.  Take a portion of dough and roll it out to a thickness of 5 mm.  By using a heart shape cookie cutter, cut dough out and place them on a baking tray which is lined with baking paper.  Repeat until all dough is used up.

Bake in a preheated conventional oven at 180° C (fan:  160° C) for about 18 minutes. Once done, remove from oven and leave to cool down completely.

For the glaze, mix icing sugar with concentrated beetroot juice or orange juice until smooth.  By using a small brush, glaze the tops and decorate with sugar pearls. Leave to dry overnight before storing in the tin - each layer to be lined with pergament paper.

Happy Baking!