Love Heart Sugar Cookies

These sugar cookies lean on a back-of-the-recipe-box technique that bakers used for generations: lard for the fat, sour milk for the lift, and a whisper of nutmeg for that homey warmth. The result is a heart-shaped cookie with a tender, slightly flaky bite that holds its edges crisp through baking, exactly what you want for cut-outs.

Sour milk works double duty here. The acid reacts with baking soda to give the cookies their puffy lift, and it tenderizes the gluten in the flour for a softer crumb. No sour milk on hand? A teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice stirred into regular milk and rested for 5 minutes does the same job.

Roll the chilled dough about ⅛ inch thick on a floured surface, then go to town with heart cutters or whatever shape suits the occasion. Bake just until the edges turn pale gold, the centers should still look matte. Cool completely before icing, otherwise the royal icing slides right off.

Pro Tips

• Refrigerate the dough at least 30 minutes before rolling, warm dough sticks to everything and spreads in the oven.
• Re-flour the rolling pin and surface lightly between rerolls, but don’t pile on more or the second batch turns tough.
• Place cookies on parchment-lined sheets, lard-rich dough browns fast on bare metal.
• Pull the cookies at 9 minutes if your oven runs hot, sugar cookies go from done to overdone in 30 seconds.

Variations

• Swap lard for butter for a richer, more buttery flavor with slightly less flake.
• Add a teaspoon of almond extract along with the egg for floral depth.
• Tint half the dough pink with a few drops of beet powder or food coloring for marbled hearts.