Since I have a toddler now, instead of a romantic dinner for Valentine’s Day, I also need to think about goodies for him. He loves chocolate. I swear, I think this boy would eat chocolate all day if I let him. I came across a Valentine Cookie recipe that I think he will love and I wanted to share it with other moms who may be looking for ideas.
Your shopping list (if you don’t already have all this stuff) will be sugar, butter, milk, vanilla, eggs, flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, powdered sugar, maraschino cherry juice, and red food coloring. You will also need some heart shaped cookie cutters if you do not already have some.
In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of butter. When it is light and fluffy, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/4 cup of milk, and 1 egg. Mix well. Into that mixture, add 2 3/4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa, 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Mix again and then allow your cookie mixture to chill for 1 hour.
While that is chilling, you can make your frosting. In a small bowl, combine 2 cups of powdered sugar and ½ cup of softened butter. Once that is mixed well, add a little red food coloring until it is the color you want. You can add 1 or 2 tablespoon of cherry juice as desired to make it easier to spread.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. On a surface lightly sprinkled with flour, roll out the dough (using a third at a time) to 1/8 of an inch thickness. Use your cookie cutter to cut out hearts and place them about an inch apart on a cookie sheet (that does not need to be greased). Let them cook for 9 – 11 minutes. Once they are done, remove the cookies from the sheet onto a rack to cool. Repeat the process and when all the cookies have been cooked and had time to cool down, frost the top. Then spend the next hour trying to keep your kids from ruining dinner. Enjoy!