Cinnamon and Apple Sauce Hearts

We actually made these cute and wonderfully smelling Cinnamon and Apple Sauce hearts during the holidays. I was thinking ahead though and had Shane use heart shape cutters. Then I strung some pretty red string through them. Now they are hanging around our house making it smell yummy and festive for Valentine's Day.

Wanna make some of your own! Here's how what you will need:

2 cups of apple sauce
2 cups of cinnamon
Straw (to make a hole in the top for the string)
Cookie Cutters
Ribbon

• Mix together cinnamon and apple sauce. If the mixture is too saucy add more cinnamon. Or if it is to hard add more apple sauce. It will be messy!

• Sprinkle cinnamon on your counter tops to prevent them from sticking.

• Knead "dough" until you have a firm, pasty consistency.

• Roll dough out to 3/4-1 inch thick. From my past experience thicker is better. It may take longer to dry, but when it is to thin they crack and crumble and don't turn out well.

• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.

• With a straw, poke a hole at the top of each shape, so you can string it with ribbon later.

• Bake on a baking sheet at 175 to 200 degree oven for a LONG time. Some where between 3-6 hours depending on the thickness of your shapes. Flipping them every hour or so will help with the drying. 

• I turned my oven off when I went to bed (after about 4 hours of baking) and let them sit in there over night. Then I pulled them out and let them sit on the counter in the sun for most of the day. You can tell they are dry when they are hard and change color from dark (moist) to light (dry). 

They truly smell so good, especially while baking!