Chocolate Heart Sandwich Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day!   These little cookies are chocked full of deep chocolate flavor with just the right amount of fresh raspberry filling to melt your heart...And, the hearts of those you love.  

Ahhhh...

Super easy dough.  Super easy filling.  You can make your own raspberry puree like I did when I made these cupcakes.  Or, you can just use raspberry jam.  You can do this!  

I found this recipe in this month's issue of Martha Stewart Living.  Not a magazine I really enjoy but am receiving because Martha canned my favorite food magazine, Everyday Food.  That was the BEST food magazine ever created...Simple recipes...Recipes that worked every single time.  

Alas...I am so grieving the loss of my Everyday Food mag...Almost bereft, even.

And, yes, chocolate heart sandwich cookies do help...

These cutie little cookies were a big hit at work this week.  And, hey, who doesn't like heart cookies with sprinkles?

Enjoy a few of these with those you love...Or, with those you'd really, really like to love...

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Luck O' The Irish Cupcakes

GO IRISH!!

St. Patrick's Day will soon be here and these chocolate and mint cupcakes would do him proud!  Light and full of flavor.  And, okay, I admit it: there is no Irish whiskey in these, but the GREEN is amazing and so are the mints in these babies.  Andes mints are hiding in there and on top.  I brought these into work and all 12 were gone by 9am.  I had 3 of these cupcakes consumed without even leaving my cubicle by 3 VERY hungry men! 

Unabashed consumption of breakfast cupcakes--a sight to warm my heart.   

These cupcakes are based on the Grasshopper cocktail, which my parents drank when I was little, like when I was 4 and 5 years old.  I remember these, even as a very young kid.  Obviously.  :)  Probably the first cocktail I ever knew about.  They are legend in my family stories of our time at Picatinny Arsenel in New Jersey.  Yes, I'm sorta an Army brat and believe it or not, my dad was a REAL rocket scientist.  Those were back in the lazy days of playing outside all day and watching the tar bubble up in the roads on a hot summer day.  Not wearing shoes and learning the phrase, "It's either: IN or OUT!"

I used Jacqueline's famous Mint Julep Cupcake recipe as the basis for this cupcake.  I am truly amazed by this recipe.  This are the BEST recipe so far as they achieve the crumb and moisture I've been searching for since we started this blog.  Give them a try and you won't be disappointed. 

And, look, can't you just smell the mint and see how luscious these are?  No delayed gratification this time!

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Kahlua Man Fudge Cookie Sandwich

It's been one hell of a week for me.  I made these last Saturday, in a "stir-crazy" frenzy (not really) attempt to do something that would keep me busy for a while.  I had gum surgery on the previous Thursday, and I couldn't do yard work, go to the gym, or do anything like heavy chores.  Sitting around on a beautiful and sunny day?  Just couldn't embrace that concept.

So, I got all excited about making these cookies, measured out the dry ingredients, went to Sur La Table to buy just the right size cookie scoop.  It was like Goldie Locks: I have a scoop that was too big and one that was too small.  Now, I have one "just right."  Get home, mix these bad boys up, place perfectly-sized scoops on the lined cookie sheets and turn on the oven. 

Notice the oven wasn't heating up, seemed to be gasping for fuel.  Prayers folks and I generally don't pray unless it's really, really important.  Who to call to borrow their oven?  How to transport the sheets?  I tried the oven one more time...Thank god!  This was the last batch that oven will ever see.  It's being replaced as soon as is possible!  Kinda sad because it's made a lot of really great meals and made a lot of folks really happy over its 8 year life.

I found this recipe at one of my new favorite blogs, Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.  I have a few of her recipes in the baking queue, so keep an eye out.  :)  The cookies I made were a version of this recipe for her Homemade Fudge Rounds, hence the name change of my own.

And you wonder, why "Kahlua Man"...well, let's take a quick look...

He looks pretty proud!  Got this bottle years and years ago from a good teacher friend, Cheryl.  Notice the customs tag as it's from the source: Mexico! 

Of course, in keeping with our theme, I made modifications to the recipe for the incorporation of booze, both in the cookie and in the frosting.  For the cookies, I added 1 tsp creme de cocoa for part of the vanilla.  For the frosting, I substituted 2 Tbsp Kahlua and 2 Tbsp coffee for the water.  Next time it'll be ALL Kahlua in that frosting!!  I also rolled them in "jimmies" the technical term for those little colored chubs of sugar.  Found a new and very, very cool baking supply website.