Oh Mr. Darcy, I’ve made chocolate hearts as a symbol of my love…

I know, it’s a fantasy. But who doesn’t want to be part of the greatest love story of all time? What can I say, I’m a hopeless romantic who loves Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t matter that Mr. Darcy does not really exist, or that my two valentines happen to be a nine-year-old boy and his four-legged side-kick. I love the idea of finding that one person you were destined to be with – kismet!

That leads me to my latest kitchen escapade which started with left-over cream cheese frosting that I couldn’t bear to waste.  After eating several spoonfuls, the guilt set in – no, not because of the calories, but it didn’t seem right to enjoy it by myself. That’s when it came to me… light, fluffy cream cheese icing sandwiched between two chocolate cookies. I ran with that idea and found a great brownie-like chocolate cookie recipe at Smitten Kitchen. The texture was just what I’d hoped, sturdy, but tender  inside. The dough rolled out beautifully. However, they tasted different than I thought they would, flavorful, but not overly sweet like a brownie.

During my official taste-test, I had another epiphany, these hearts were perfect for ice cream sandwiches. They were destined to join together.  In the end, it was a Pride and Prejudice love story - Chocolate heart gets set-up with cream cheese frosting, likes it, but doesn’t LOVE it.  Over time chocolate heart discovers  its real true love…vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Heart Cookies (Recipe by, Smitten Kitchen)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup lightly salted butter, softened (Deb note: I don’t really see “lightly salted” much these days, so I used one stick salted, one stick unsalted)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used the “good” stuff–Droste or Galler–but I can assure you that my mother only used Hershey’s growing up, so your choice) 

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Whisk dry flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour. 

Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. (It does disappear once baked, though, so don’t overly fret if they go into the oven looking white.) Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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