Are you a procrastinator like me? Do you want to make something fun and easy for Valentine’s Day tomorrow that you probably already have all the ingredients for and can whip up in just a few minutes?
These delicious, cute little cookies are the perfect last-minute V-day treat! I whipped up two batches yesterday in practically no time and the kids had so much fun helping me with these.
If you’re not a huge almond fan, you can substitute pure vanilla extract, but I absolutely adore almond flavoring. I have never met an almond treat I didn’t like!
I especially love that these cut-out cookies don’t require any chilling time and keep their shape beautifully. I pretty much despise most roll-out sugar cookies for their finickiness (is that even a word?!) and these have none of that frustration.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, cold
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure almond extract
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment-paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and almond until smooth and fluffy.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed butter a little bit at a time until the dough is well mixed and just starts to clump together and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a round, flat disk. Roll the dough out with a lightly floured rolling pin to about 1/4" thick and cut into hearts with a 3" or bigger heart-shaped cookie cutter.
Place the cut out hearts onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, about an inch apart, re-roll the dough scraps and cut a few more hearts.
Bake for 20 minutes, until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges. Cool completely before frosting.
In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate chips and oil together, stirring well every 30 seconds until smooth. Spread the melted chocolate on one half of each heart cookie and let cool completely before storing.
https://sweetannas.com/2013/02/dark-chocolate-almond-shortbread-hearts.html
