I started with a recipe from Taste of Home at this site, and made a number of changes, including cutting down the ingredient amounts. These are just delicious and truly scream Happy Valentine's Day!
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup butter, cut into slices
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 egg
* 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour (or a combination of whole wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour)
* 1/4 cup baking cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
* extra cocoa for rolling out dough*
Topping:
* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 tablespoon coconut oil*
* 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
Directions:
* In a large saucepan, combine butter, espresso powder, and brown sugar. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool for 15 minutes. Whisk in egg.
* Combine the flour, cocoa, salt, and walnuts; add to butter mixture. Cover and chill for 30 minutes or until easy to handle.
* On a surface lightly coated with cocoa powder, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a 3-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter, or any size you prefer. Place 1 in. apart on baking sheets. ( I always use unbleached parchment paper on my cookie sheets.)
* Bake at 350° for 9-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheets.
* For topping, in a microwave, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil; stir until smooth. Dip half of each heart into chocolate mixture; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper. If desired, decorate with sprinkles before chocolate sets up; let stand until set. Yield: about 4 dozen, depending on the size of your cookie cutter.
***Notes:
1. I use coconut oil in place of shortening. It's solid at room temp., so has very similar properties to shortening, but without the horrible ingredients of shortening. In fact coconut oil is very good for you - look it up!
2. Using cocoa powder to roll out chocolate dough helps keep from having white flour spoil the look of your finished cookies, plus it adds yet another layer of chocolate flavor!
