With the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, cream the butter, salt, vanilla and sugar on the low/medium until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Zest the lemon and grated the nutmeg directly onto the batter. Mix.
Add the eggs to the above one at a time until incorporated. Scrape bowl.
Slowly add the milk and mix until blended. Scrape the bowl.
Sift and add the flours to the above and mix until just incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer and scrape the bowl, ensuring all ingredients are well blended.
Prepare a large piping bag with a #6 star tip. Pipe cookies onto lined baking trays. The batter should fill 4 -5 baking trays depending on size. To ensure cookies bake evenly, pipe cookies that are similar in size onto one sheet. Leave enough space between each cookie (approx. 1.5”) for expansion and to allow even heat distribution.
Bake at 375ºF for approximately 10 minutes until light brown in color. Let the cookies cool.
To decorate cookies:
sandwich the smaller cookies together with raspberry jam, dip half the hearts in melted chocolate and sprinkle with vermicelli, or drizzle with chocolate.
Notes
The original recipe called for a combination of 320g shortening and 330g butter. The shortening makes the batter easier to pipe and prevents the cookies from spreading too much while baking. I try to avoid shortening, so opted for all butter. Ensure the piped batter is chilled prior to baking, to prevent extra spread.