Apple-Heart Cookies

Directions

1. For this recipe, we won’t use a stand mixer; instead, we’ll knead the dough with a hand mixer, adding almost all the ingredients a little at a time.

2. Let's start with the flour and butter.

   

3. Add the eggs, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt, and mix until the batter looks like this:

   

4. As usual, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.

5. While it’s resting, we have time to wash (always wash them, even if you have to peel them!), peel, and cut the apples into large cubes, which we’ll then cook in a small saucepan along with brown sugar, water, and lemon juice.

6. Remember to stir occasionally, and the smaller you cut the apples, the faster they’ll cook!

   

7. Once the apples have softened (when they’re tender and you don’t feel any resistance when you pierce them with a fork), remove about half of them and continue cooking the rest for another 5 minutes.

8. Once these steps are complete, turn off the heat, add back the apples you set aside earlier, stir, and let it cool.

   

9. Thirty minutes after placing the dough in the refrigerator, we’re ready to roll it out. Let’s divide it into two parts.

   

10. Roll one out to about 3 mm thick—this will serve as the base for our cookies—while the other should be rolled out very thin, just a little thicker than a veil!

11. Let’s get started by preheating the oven to 180°C (conventional) and cutting the first batch of dough into 3-mm-thick circles with a 6-cm diameter (or whatever size you prefer), spoon a teaspoon of apple “jam” onto each one, and place the thin sheet of dough on top. If you stretch it slightly as you place it, it will create a “torn” effect that exposes the apple, making them resemble Mulino Bianco’s apple-heart cookies.

    

12. Bake for about 15–20 minutes, then let them cool on a wire rack.