Let's Have a Conversation......

It is hard to believe that this is my 6th post of Spicy, Sexy, Saucy Bites for our #TripleSBites event. I hope that you are having as much fun as I am.  I just want to take a moment again today to that Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla for taking the time to set up this event for all of us.

So far this week I have shared with you some Spicy Shrimp, A Passionate Martini and a Filet Mignon with a little Zip to it.  I gave you my Heart (of palms salad) and a little Kiss (of honey in my Chocolate Mousse).  I certainly hope you are feeling the love but just in case you're not....today I am spelling it out for you with these wonderful Conversation Heart Cookies.  I hope they bring back happy memories of your childhood and put a smile on your face.

These would make a great Valentine's Day treat to make with your children and send off to school instead of those little boxes of rock hard candies.

I added food color to the cookie dough to try to get them similar in color to candy conversation hearts.  I found a really neat little cookie cutter set by Sweet Creations that came with words that you could attach to the cookie cutter and stamp onto the cookies.  This made it much easier to write on with the frosting since you only had to trace the indentations.

I used a cream cheese sugar cookie recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com, originally submitted by Karin Christian.  I cheated and used store bought frosting in the tube to fill in the words but if you are feeling energetic or have more time than I had available feel free to use your favorite cookie icing.

Conversation Heart Cookies

adapted from Allrecipes, submitted by Karin Christian

1 c. sugar

1 c. butter, softened

3 oz. neufchatel cheese, at room temperature

pinch of salt

1/2 t. almond extract

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

2 1/4 c. flour

Food Coloring 

Cookie Frosting

Cream sugar, butter, neufchatel cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extract and egg yolk in a large bowl. Stir in flour until well combined.  

Chill the dough overnight.  Cut dough into equal portions according to the number of colors you want to make the cookies.  I cut mine into 3 equal portions.  Allow the portions to sit at room temp for 30 minutes.  Place each individual portion, one at a time, into a small bowl and add desired food coloring (I used orange, pink and green) a drop at a time while mixing on medium speed with an electric mixer until desired shade is reached.  I attempted to keep the cookies pastel in shade.

Once all the portions are the desired color, wrap individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or more.  Remove portions, one at a time, from the refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface.  Cut into heart shapes with cookie cutters.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  (If you have word stamps, stamp the cookies with chosen phrases).  Bake in a preheated 375* oven for 7-10 minutes or until light and golden brown.

Cool cookies completely before writing desired phrases on them with icing.  Print Recipe

I hope that you have found and continue to find some great Spicy, Sexy and Saucy bites this week. None of this would have been possible without all Camilla's hard work and the support of the many sponsors that she lined up.  While I did not use any sponsored products in today's recipe, I still want to send a huge THANK YOU to them for their support.  This post does contain affiliate links.

Don't forget to enter the great raffle they are sponsoring!!

An InLinkz Link-up