Valentine's Day Maple Walnut Spritz Cookie Hearts

Continuing my walnut purge with this month's theme, here's another nutty option. These would have used even more walnuts if I'd sprinkled them on top as the original recipe directed, but that wasn't very festive.  I made only half the recipe, which produced 45 small cookies, but here's the whole recipe:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract*
1¹/₂ cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup finely ground walnuts
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Coarse sugar
2/3 cup walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350°. In a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, maple syrup and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, ground walnuts, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture (dough will be soft). Using a cookie press fitted with desired disc, press dough 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes (see discussion below) or until bottoms are light brown. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Decorate as desired before or after baking.

*For extra maple flavor, use half vanilla and half maple extract

These turned out very well, even though I overbaked the first batch. Perhaps my cookies were smaller than anticipated. (I used the "1" notch on the press -- the "2" produced a blob.)  I checked them at 10 minutes and they were already overbrowned. (My oven had also gotten a little too hot.) The next batch I baked for only 8 minutes and looked much better, although they could likely go for only 7, particularly if you didn't want any color. 

I probably didn't use the correct amount of nuts because I measured the pieces out first and then ground them. Another baker advised packing the ground nuts into the measuring cup, as it was important to the consistency of the batter -- this confirms the measurement was for ground nuts. The lesser quantity didn't seem to hurt them any, although more nuts would have given a mealier texture and nuttier flavor.

My plan had been to drizzle them with dark chocolate, but the melted chocolate chips I used had the consistency of pudding, even after adding butter, oil, and milk. I tried two different brands; Ghirardelli was only marginally more fluid than Trader Joes'. I was able to scrape some threads on a few of the cookies, although when it came to the ones with powdered sugar, the chocolate was having none of it. I don't know why this was a problem -- I've done it before without an issue. (Perhaps my heart wasn't in it!)  Just as well -- the chocolate overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the cookies.

Conclusion:  Delicious! Crisp and very buttery, like shortbread. Even the overbaked ones tasted good. The batter was easy to work with and stamped out nicely. They might be even tastier with browned butter!

Recipe:  Maple-Walnut Spritz Cookies via Taste of Home.