Valentine Sweet Peach Cookies

Ingredients

COOKIES
• 4 cups (540g) all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup (155g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (120ml) full-fat milk
• 1 stick (1/2 cup | 115g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room T
• small pinch of salt
• zest of 1 organic lemon
• 1 cup granulated sugar, for coating the cookies
• 1 pkg orange jello mix
• 1 pkg strawberry jello mix
• 1 pkg lemon jello mix
• mint leaves or other edible leaves

Instructions
Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C – see notes for more options) with a rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until combined. Whisk in milk, melted butter, salt and lemon zest until smooth. Fold the dry ingredients into wet in 2-3 additions, until well incorporated. Finish mixing the dough with your hands and press it into a ball. If it’s very sticky add another tablespoon or two of flour until it sticks together, but not more than that. The dough should be smooth and soft. Let rest in the fridge for 15 minutes (or even a few hours).
Roll the dough into 2 logs, slice each log into into 44-48 pieces and shape each one into a smooth ball. Transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, placing them 2.5cm (1 inch) apart, as they will rise during baking. Press down each ball slightly, so the bottom flattens. Bake the first round for about 10 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown (the tops will remain pale). Rotate the pan halfway through baking. As you take the first tray of cookies out, put the second one in the oven. Pour out about 2 tsp of each jello onto a small plate. Slightly mix. Paint a light coat of water on the rounded part of each cookie and roll in the powdered jello mix until covered. Dip food paintbrush in water and dab over the top of the rolled jello cookie top. Proceed with other cookies and jello. Let them dry and roll in granulated sugar.
Pair each cookie, you want the halves of the peach to be of similar size.
Assemble cookies: Fill each cookie pair with just enough buttercream icing to seal the two pieces together. Put a dot of buttercream on the back of the leaves and press to seam of cookie where you want it to stay. Put them in an airtight container and refrigerate. Press the two flat sides of each half together, so the filling comes out at the “seam” and swipe away the extra filling. Brush each peach with food coloring (you can add a splash of rum to it), gently roll it in sugar and place on a large plate. Continue with the rest of the cookies.
Chill cookies, covered with plastic wrap, for a few hours before serving. This will harden the buttercream and moisten the cookies. Decorate the cookies with small edible leaves before serving, to mimic peach leaves. (These cookies keep for about 4 days and taste best on the first two days. Leave them out at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before serving.)

ON OVEN TEMPERATURE
While I’ve always baked these at 350°F (175°C) without any issues, I now have a different oven and I need to bake these at a lower temperature to avoid all of the cookies cracking. I now bake them at 320-330F (160-165C). If you’re unsure what to do, bake a test batch first by placing 6 cookie balls on a baking sheet and baking at 350F. If they come out smooth, you’re good to go. But if all come out cracked, try a lower temperature.

LEMON ORANGE BUTTERCREAM
Unsalted butter – 2 sticks room temperature
4 drops of Young Living Vitality Orange Essential Oil
3 drops of Young Living Vitality Lemon Essential Oil
Powdered sugar/Confectioners sugar – 1/2 of one pkg
Pudding mix or cornstarch – 1/8 cup
Whipping cream – 1/8 cup (plus extra for consistency)(30 ml/2 tbsp
Clear vanilla extract – 1/2 tsp
Clear almond extract – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Place butter in a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment and mix until creamy – 30 seconds. add vitality oils. Add cream, salt, cornstarch/cornflour/pudding mix – mix slowly to incorporate. Make sure you have no lumps – if necessary add a bit of the powdered sugar to help it combine.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl for any butter stuck. Once you have a smooth creamy mix – add the powdered sugar in two batches. When all the sugar is in – scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl again. Add vanilla and almond extract. Give it one last mix for 2 minutes – check to make sure it’s not too stiff and not too gritty. If necessary add 1 or 2 tbsp fresh cream or milk to adjust consistency.

 

ADAPTED FROM RECIPE HERE

Cookies created by kathleen here