3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Red or orange sour ball candies, crushed
Royal Frosting (recipe follows)
Red and green food coloring
Sift flour, baking powder and salt onto wax paper. Beat butter or margarine with sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually stir in flour mixture at low speed or with wooden spoon until dough is very stiff. If needed, stir in more all-purpose flour. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; chill overnight.
Roll out dough, one quarter at a time, between a lightly floured sheet of foil and a sheet of wax paper, to 1/8 inch thick rectangle, lifting paper frequently to dust with flour and turning dough over for even rolling. Remove wax paper. Cut dough with a pastry wheel or knife into a 5 x 7-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle crosswise in half if a small folding card is desired. Cut out heart shapes with floured cutter in various sizes within the rectangle or in dough around the rectangle. Remove dough trimmings from foil.
Place foil with cut-out dough on cookie sheet. Sprinkle cut-out heart shapes with candies. For a cookie heart within a candy heart; cut a large heart, then a smaller heart in the center of that heart. Remove dough around small heart.; sprinkle with candies.
If an imprinted or pressed design is desired, use a fork or a mallet and press into dough to obtain a textured or waffled effect. If you want to tie cookie cards together, make 2 small holes with plastic drinking straw along edges.
Bake in a moderate oven, 375 deg., for 7 to 9 minutes, longer for larger cookies, or until cookies are light brown and candy has melted. Remove cookies on foil to wire rack; cool completely. Gently loosen cookies from foil; store in airtight container until ready to decorate.
Prepare Royal frosting. Remove some frosting into two small custard cups; tint one pink and the other green with food coloring. Spoon frosting into wax paper cone fitted with a plain writing or small star tip. Pipe decorative borders with white or colored frosting as desired, or write a special message on outside and inside of cards or hearts. Or set smaller cookie hearts on top of larger ones with frosting in between to hold in place before decorating. When frosting is dry, tie cards with ribbon or wrap in plastic wrap for giving.
Royal Frosting
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3-1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla until foamy in small bowl with electric mixer at high speed. Gradually beat in sugar until frosting stands in firm peaks and is stiff enough to hold a sharp line when cut through with a knife. Keep frosting covered with damp paper toweling to keep from drying.
Makes 6 5x7-inch cookie cards and about 12 1- to 4-inch cookie hearts.
