Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies

I know. I'm a few days late with this recipe, but I have a good reason. I was trying to develop a cookie recipe that incorporated popular Valentine's flavors and hit a brick wall. There was nary a cinnamon heart candy to find in Manhattan! Just when I was about to give up, Jon suggested that we try a few more places. And guess what...it was Walgreens to the rescue, ah-ooh!

I didn't find cinnamon hearts, but I did find Red Hots candies. They're the same thing but round. Considering I had been planning on chopping up these little guys all long, what difference would the shape really make? Not much.

I'm really not a sugar cookie fan, but I have to admit that my oatmeal version is pretty darn good. I cut my cookies in the shape of hearts, thanks to a cookie cutter that my blog buddy Alicia sent me. For the full Valentine's effect, I dipped these cookie hearts in chocolate and then topped them with the chopped Red Hots candies.

Yum: heart shapes, chocolate, and spicy cinnamon. I think I nailed it, but I'm already planning some tasty variations for next Valentine's Day. (NB: No jewelry will be involved.)

Makes 2 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies.)

Creamables	1 stick butter 1 cup white sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg 2 teaspoons vanilla
Dry Ingredients	1 1/4 cups finely ground oatmeal 1 1/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping	6 ounces milk chocolate, melted 1 1/2 cups Red Hots candies, roughly chopped

1. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
2. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Whisk together until smooth.
3. Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.
4. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
6. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 20-30 mintutes.
7. Preheat oven to 350º.
8. Roll the cookie dough into a sheet about 1/8" thick. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the individual cookies.
   
9. Place the cookie cutouts about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
10. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.
11. While the cookies are baking, roughly chop the Red Hots candies in a food processor and place the pieces in a shallow bowl or on a plate.
    
12. Melt 6 ounces of milk chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. Dip the tops of the cooled cookies into the chocolate and then into the roughly chopped Red Hots.
    
13. Return the cookies to the baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes so that the chocolate cools and solidifies.
    

Comments

[Katrina]

Those look really good and I'm sad V-day is gone. Now really, those could be cut any shape and I'm sure still be tasty. I'll be trying this one sometime. Great job.