Are you thinking what I'm thinking Love Bird Valentine Cookies

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

If your thinking these cookies are kinda cute then you totally are.

And if your thinking they will be easy to make - it's like you're some kind of mind reader.

However if your thinking more birds!!! What is with the birds, will she ever stop.......Where is that recipe for the peanut butter chocolate cheesecake that she posted the picture on facebook off - I need it now! Why is she toying with us. Then no we are not thinking the same thing at all, although if I was you I might be :) I am pretty sure I will have the cheesecake recipe fine tuned and typed up for next weekend.

 Disclaimer - the statement in the picture is not true - I pretty much always want to be right :)

Anyhoo back to the cookies, they didn't go quite to plan, I had originally wanted the hearts to come out of the birdies into one big heart in the middle but I just don't think it worked, it made the cookie look a bit weird and unbalanced so I kinda tipped the top idea over.

Yup I'm thinking it looks much better now.

So then I made some extra filler cookies with plain red hearts that look super sweet, and 'cause y'know waaaay less fiddly making plain hearts so you can double up your cookies for about a 10th of the time.

and then I wrapped them up with plain parchment (baking) paper, pink twine and press out hearts I made myself with a Martha Stewart heart cutter/punch.

I'm thinking it worked out pretty sweet in the end.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking Cookies

Square Sugar Cookies (around 6cm or 2 1/2 ") I used the recipe from my book details and link below or you can use this recipe here
Ready Roll Fondant *(or marshmallow fondant)
Blue, pink and red food color - gel type like Wilton or Americolor
Black edible pen - I like the Americolor Gourmet Writers
Square cookie cutter (around 6cm or 2 1/2 ")
tear shaped fondant cutter (around 3.2cm or 1 3/8")
3 different shaped fondant heart cutters/ ejectors (1.5 cm, 1cm & 0.7cm) or (9/16" 3/8" and 1/4")
brush and water
small rolling pin
Corn flour (corn starch for dusting)
* Fondant dries out fast, work quickly and when not in use pop it into a ziplock bag or air tight container. Knead before use to make more pliable before each use.

Color small amounts of the fondant light blue, light pink and red by kneading the fondant until pliable and then working in the gel color until evenly distributed. It is preferable to color the red fondant a day before use to allow time for the color to develop. Pop each color into a separate bag until needed.

Dust the workbench with a little cornflour, roll out the white fondant until around a couple of mm thin (1/16") and even and using the square cookie cutter cut out shapes. Brush the cookie lightly with a little water and using the small rolling pin adhere the fondant to the cookie pressing down lightly with the roller. If necessary I carfully roll the fondant to the edges of each cookie. Cover each cookie with white fondant.

Roll out the pink fondant on a lightly dusted workbench. Using the teardrop shaped cutter press out a shape for each cookie. Using your fingers pinch the pointed end of the teardrop and pull it up slightly upwards to make the 'tail' curve upwards (like in the pictures).

 
Place the tear shape onto the bottom of the square fondant covered cookie with the large rounded end pointing inwards to the center of the cookie and the pointed curved tails pointing outwards (don't stick it on yet). Make sure this shape is less than halfway across the cookie as you will need to pop another one on the other side. Lift the shape up and using an edible black pen draw 2 small lines in a V shape to make a beak (see picture for example) and some lines for the legs and then adhere the pink fondant shape to the cookie with a small amount of water. Repeat for all the cookies.

Roll out the blue fondant and follow the same steps as for the pink fondant but make sure when you are pinching the tail upwards that the tear drop shapes are reversed to the opposite direction so that the blue bird will be facing inwards.

Roll out the pink and blue colors again and cut out a small heart in each color for each cookie. Adhere the hearts to each tear shaped bird with the pointed edge facing inwards to represent wings.

(I actually just roll out both colors and working quickly cut out about 10 or so of each tear drop and heart shape I need, pinch them into shape and adhere them to the cookies. Once you have the hang of what you are doing and if you work quickly you should be able to do this without the fondant drying out.)

Dust the workbench with a little cornflour, roll out the red fondant until around a couple of mm thin (1/16") and even. Get the 3 different heart shaped cutters ready and cut 1 small heart, 2 medium hearts and 2 larger hearts. Starting in the top outside corners adhere one large heart into each corner. Make sure you only use a small amount of water to do this otherwise the color may bleed. Then adhere the one small heart directly above the middle of the pink and blue birds. Finally add the medium hearts spacing it evenly between the small and larger hearts so that they make a V shape (see picture for example.)

Finally finish by adding a dot to each of the birdies for an eye.

I used the vanilla sugar cookie recipe from my book Sweets on a Stick to make the square cookies.

I know I have said it before but the book is a US Release however there is a conversion chart in the back to the book for metric.

Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)