Chocolate Heart Cookies

Chocolate Heart Cookies

Conversation Hearts

I found this recipe via the Smitten Kitchen blog (link below) and made them for Valentine's Day. This cookie has a great texture that is chewy and not too sweet. Chocolate lovers will be delighted eating these cookies. See recipe below.

Yield: 4 to 4 1/2 Dozen Cookies (depending on cutter size)

Conversation Hearts

Ingredients
3 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Coarse Salt

2/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I use Ghirardelli)

1 cup, 2 sticks Lightly Salted Butter (or 1 stick Unsalted and 1 stick Salted), softened

2 Large Eggs

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Chocolate Valentine's Cookies. These were all for my hubster!

Directions
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment on low; 1-2 minutes. Do not overmix.

Scrape sides of bowl with spatula and mix for 10 seconds.

Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 5 seconds.

Add vanilla extract, and mix on low until incorporated, about 20-25 seconds.

Add cocoa powder and mix until incorporated.

Chocolate Cookies

With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture and incorporate. The dough is ready when it begins to clump around paddle attachment.

Roll dough into 2 balls, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1-2 hours or overnight.

Take half of the dough leaving unused dough covered with plastic wrap in fridge until ready to use.

Heat oven to 350°F.

Use two sheets of parchment paper with dough in between and roll with rolling pin until desired thickness is reached.

If needed, dip cutters in flour, shake off excess, and make shapes.

Place onto cookies sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 15 minutes. The cookies hold their shape when you do this.

Bake 8-11 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned. My cookies baked in 10 minutes.

Wait 5 minutes before transferring cookies on cooling racks to complete cooling.

Decorate once cookies have cooled completely.

Chocolate Heart Cookies

Large Batch Royal Icing
Ingredients
8 Egg Whites

8 teaspoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

12 cups Powdered/Confectioners' Sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract

2-4 tablespoons Water, as needed

Chocolate Cookies

Directions
In a large bowl, sift powdered sugar, set aside.

In a bowl, add egg whites.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites and lemon juice.

Transfer to stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment and mix on high for 1-2 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and mix for 5-10 seconds.

With mixer speed on low, slowly add sifted sugar and beat on low until smooth.

If needed, you may add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until you reach the right consistency. Watch the Joy of Baking (link at the end) video for both Flooding Consistency and Piping Consistency Royal Icing. If you prefer a recipe using Meringue Powder, it is also available at this link.

Heart Cookies

Separate the icing in plastic containers with lids according to how many different colors needed for tinting.

I used AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Super Red, Fuchsia, and Pink. Use 1-2 drops at a time until you have the color you need.

Keep the containers covered until you are ready to color.

Transfer the icing immediately into squeeze bottles.

I outlined the cookies, and waited 1/2 hour and then filled them.

Use a paintbrush or cookie stick to reach edges, and use tip of cookie stick or a toothpick to pop any air bubbles.

Add colored sugar, nonpareils, sprinkles, confetti, sugar pearls, dragees, etc... over wet icing.

Mini Chocolate Hearts

I used AmeriColor Gourmet Writer Food Decorating Pens (Certified U.S. food grade) for the Conversation Hearts.

Let cookies dry overnight. This is essential so the icing does not stick together when you stack them or place in cookie tins for gifts.

If you are baking and it is humid, you may need more time for the cookies to dry.

Please visit, Smitten Kitchen for the Brownie Roll Out Cookies Recipe:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/brownie-roll-out-cookies/

Please visit, Joy of Baking for the Royal Icing Recipe and Video Tutorial:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/RoyalIcing.html

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys