email this pageValentine’s Day is for kids or at least the kid in all of us. From candy hearts proclaiming “Be Mine” and foil-wrapped chocolate hearts to heart-shaped cookies, Valentine’s Day is sure to bring a smile, especially to Leslie Mackie. She’s the master baker/owner of Macrina Bakery & Café with locations in the Belltown and Queen Anne neighborhoods of Seattle, and she adores Valentine’s Day. “The joy of having a bakery is in all the holidays,” she says. “Customers love our frosted cookies in whimsical shapes for each season, and at Valentine’s Day, they want anything chocolate or heart-shaped. We write messages like those on the candy hearts on our cookies, and they fly out the door.”
Even though filling Macrina’s bakery cases is an all-consuming passion for Leslie, she finds time to bake treats at home with her daughter, Olivia. “It’s a family tradition my mother started,” she says. “There’s heartfelt pleasure in making and receiving something that’s homemade and simple. Every year after Thanksgiving, my mother, sister and I would start baking for Christmas presents, and I’ve continued the tradition with Olivia. She’s the official taster, and since she also loves to paint, she always does the egg or water wash for pastry. She’s also mastering the use of cookie cutters and learning not to press too enthusiastically.”
A special Valentine’s Day project that Leslie and Olivia share is making cutout shortbread hearts to give to Olivia’s classmates. Dusted with snowy powdered sugar, tucked in pairs into cello bags with a Valentine’s Day card and tied with a bright red ribbon, these cookies are far better than paper cards according to Olivia’s friends. Why? “Because you can eat them!” is the joyous response of her classmates. “And they’re fascinated by the shapes, the frosting and the colored sprinkles on top,” says Leslie.
Bittersweet, extra chocolatey brownies and chewy ginger-molasses cookies are other favorites from Macrina Bakery that you’ll find easy to make with your kids for Valentine’s Day treats.
Freelance writer Judith H. Dern lives in Seattle where she writes about food, textiles and Scandinavia.
Bittersweet Chocolate Brownies
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Ingredients
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 eggs
2. Preheat oven to 325F. Lightly oil an 8-by-9-inch or 9-inch-square baking pan.
3. Place sugar and flour in a mixer bowl and mix 30 seconds on low speed. Increase speed to medium and add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.
4. With mixer on low speed, drizzle in the cooled, melted chocolate mixture. Increase speed to medium and mix about 1 minute or until the batter is mousse-like in texture.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake on center rack of oven 30 to 35 minutes or until the center is just set. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 12 brownies.
By Macrina Bakery & Cafe, "Relish Cooking with Kids," February 2006.
Sour Cherry Shortbread
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Ingredients
½ cup cornstarch
3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ¼-inch pieces
¾ cup coarsely chopped dried tart cherries
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar
2. Scrape half of dough from bowl onto a sheet of parchment paper and roll the dough out ¼ inch thick. Lift parchment paper onto a rimmed baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining piece of dough. Chill both baking sheets in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 325F. Remove baking sheets from the refrigerator. Using a sharp knife or cookie cutter, cut the dough into 2-inch diamond or heart shapes. Place cookies on baking sheets. Each sheet of cookie dough should yield about 16 cookies. Place one sheet of cookies in the refrigerator while baking the other.
4. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, on center rack of oven for 20 to 25 minutes each. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 20 minutes, then dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Yield: 32 cookies.
By Macrina Bakery & Cafe, "Relish Cooking with Kids," February 2006.
Ginger and Molasses Cookies
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Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons peeled and grated ginger
1/3 cup dark molasses
1 cup granulated sugar
2. Combine shortening, butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and pale in color. Add eggs one at a time, and mix well. Add ginger and molasses and mix on low speed for 1 minute.
3. Using a rubber spatula, fold half of the flour mixture into the dough. After the flour is fully incorporated, fold in the rest of the flour mixture and continue folding until all the flour has been absorbed. Chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Shape dough into 2-inch balls. Toss each in granulated sugar until evenly coated; place on baking sheets 3 inches apart and flatten each slightly.
7. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes each. Cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Yield: 32 cookies.
By Macrina Bakery & Cafe, "Relish Cooking with Kids," February 2006.
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