Iced Heart Cookies With Coffee Nougat Filling - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 medium eggs, beaten
4 cups all-purpose flour
None None Red food coloring
1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp strong black coffee
7 oz hazelnut or other nougat, chopped

Preparation

Sift the confectioners' sugar and combine 1 cup of the sifted sugar with the butter and beat until smooth, then add the eggs. Sift in the flour and mix to a rough dough then knead lightly until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400\u00b0F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 2-3 mm thickness. Use a heart shaped cutter about 2 1/2-inches wide to cut out 32 hearts, re-rolling the dough as necessary. Place on the baking sheets. Bake in the oven for 10-12 mins until pale golden. Cool for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.
Combine remaining sifted confectioners' sugar in a bowl with 3 tsp water and whisk to make smooth icing. Remove about 2 tbsp of the icing and reserve. Add a little red food coloring to the bowl of icing and beat well. Spread the red icing over half the cookies. Spoon the white icing into a paper piping bag. Snip off the end of the bag and pipe zig-zag lines over the iced cookies. Leave to set.
Gently heat the coffee and nougat in a small saucepan until the nougat has melted, whisking until blended. Cool then chill in the fridge for 1 hour. Spread each un-iced cookie with some of the coffee nougat and top with an iced cookie, pressing down gently.