Martha's heart in hand cookies

Method

• 1
  Sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
• 2
  Using an electric mixer, beat butter and caster sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add egg. Beat for 1 minute or until smooth and combined.
• 3
  Add the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until mixture is just combined. Beat in vanilla. Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until firm.
• 4
  While dough is chilling, make a heart stencil. Cut out a small heart shape from a piece of baking paper. Discard heart.
• 5
  Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan-forced. Line two large baking trays with baking paper. Roll out chilled dough on a well-floured surface until 3mm thick. Trace around your child’s hand with a wooden skewer. Cut out the hand shape with a small knife. Re-roll any dough scraps to make more cookies.
• 6
  Transfer hand shapes to the prepared baking trays. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.
• 7
  In a small bowl, whisk egg white with 1 teaspoon of cold water to make an egg wash.
• 8
  Lay the heart stencil over one of the chilled hand shapes. Use a pastry brush to paint egg wash inside the heart shape. Sprinkle with white sugar. Carefully lift stencil away. Repeat with remaining cookies and white sugar. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating trays halfway through cooking, until cookies just start to brown. Cool on trays for 3 minutes. Using a spatula, carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.