My 12 year old son Ken wants to bring in treats for his friends for Valentine’s Day. Personally, I think this is subterfuge so he can give a treat to whatever girl he happens to like this week. Nonetheless, when I suggested iced sugar cookie hearts, he totally dismissed the idea; however, a few days later I suggested CHOCOLATE heart-shaped cookies and he said that was a great idea. Go figure. I want to test a Rocky Road recipe, too. Of course, I’ll also make some of those cheesy Wilton melt candies (I really don’t like the taste of the candy melts, but they are cute)– perhaps something on a stick!
The cookie recipe I’m using is from a fellow blogger. Her blog is called the Domestic Diva, MD. I love reading her posts; she intertwines stories of her current love life with recipes from her mom, a self-proclaimed better-than-Martha-Stewart. I honestly don’t know how she blogs and manages her residency training (in anesthesiology), but she’s young (as in young enough to be my daughter). Check out her blog and recipe, here.
The recipe for these cookies is based on the creaming method, so it’s fairly easy to mix the dough. The only thing I did differently with the ingredients was to double the vanilla. For technique, I mixed the flour by hand with a wooden spoon instead of the hand mixer. I’m just paranoid about the dough toughening up from an electric mixer, even on low speed. After chilling my dough, I let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes so it will be a little easier to roll; I recently invested in rolling pin rings, so I don’t have to bother with a ruler. As always, I bake all my cookies on my thin silicone baking sheet liners.
Here’s how I did it:
Mix the dry stuff in one bowl; in a second bowl, place the butter and sugars together. Before creaming, I break up the brown sugar with my fingers to make sure there are no big lumps.
The triumvirate of cookie dough: 1) butter/sugar, 2) dry stuff, 3) wet stuff
Cream the butter and sugar, scraping down the sides occasionally, then add the vanilla and beat briefly.
Wet stuff, part A
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Wet stuff, part B
Add the flour mixture in two batches. I used a wooden spoon to mix in the flour (it will stiffen as you progress):
Add the flour in two batches if doing by hand (it’s easier) and rotate the bowl with one hand while mixing with the other.
Once the flour mixture has been fully incorporated, scrape down the sides, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at at least 1 hour, til dough is firm.
When read to cut and bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Generously flour your rolling surface and pin.
Remove the dough from the fridge, place it on the board and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out your cookies.
My re-usable thin silicone baking sheet liners! LOVE them!
Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 9 minutes. Cool cookies for one minute on the sheet,
Let cool on sheets for about a minute to set.
then remove to racks to finish cooling.
These are giant hearts, about 4 inches wide!
They are very good, similar in taste to chocolate wafer cookies, but with better texture. I’ll probably freeze them and decorate them with royal icing the day before Valentine’s day for Ken to take to school…but we do have some peppermint cane and vanilla ice cream in the freezer so ice cream sandwiches may win out!
a cougar in the kitchen 
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