Chocolate Shortbread Hearts
For a Valentine's Day treat, we suggest presenting a plate of these yummy cookies to your loved one. Of course you can use any kind of unsweetened cocoa, but these are extra delicious made with a high quality dark cocoa. We use Valrhona, a premium French brand.
For chocolate hearts:
½ pound butter
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup fancy dark cocoa
1 ¾ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
To make chocolate hearts, preheat oven to 325 degrees. In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract. Add the cocoa, flour, and salt and mix until everything is combined. Remove the dough to a floured board and roll out to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut with heart shaped cookie cutters. Place cookies about 1 inch apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake about 10 minutes or until done, but watch carefully so bottoms don't burn. Allow cookies to cool.
For icing:
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
¼ cup hot water
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
red food coloring
To make icing, mix powdered sugar, hot water, corn syrup and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Add more water if icing is too thick; add more powdered sugar if icing is too thin. Add as much red food coloring as desired. Use a small pastry bag to pipe icing on the cookies.
