Make it…

Valentine’s Day Treats

Valentine's Day Cookie in a Pan

To make this beautiful large cookie (for sharing), use Carolyn's Double Chocolate Sea Salt cookie dough. Place four dough balls in a 7" diameter cast iron “Skookie” pan. After defrosting for 10 minutes, squish the dough balls together to cover the pan. For those chocoholics, add a few more chocolate chips. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool. To make the heart shape, find a piece of paper about the size of the pan. Draw a heart the size you want. Fold in half and cut out the shape. Once cookie is cooled, place the heart-shaped paper on top of cookie. Sift powder sugar over the cut out. Carefully remove paper.

Valentine's Day Indulgence

For a decadent (and easy) Valentine’s Day dessert, pair ice cream and cookies together! Use Double Chocolate Sea Salt cookie dough and bake as directed. After cooling, use a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to create chocolate heart cookies. The left-over edges can be frozen and used over ice cream at a later date (or just eaten). When ready to serve, first add your favorite pink ice cream to the serving dish – glass dishes are fun to use – then arrange the cookie hearts in and around the ice cream. Enjoy!

Heart-shaped Snickerdoodle 

To make these cute and easy heart shape cookies, use Carolyn’s Snickerdoodle flavored cookie dough. Bake as directed. When cooled, use a heart-shaped cookie cutter and voila! Feel free to snack on the left over edges! (Yum!) Pick your favorite icing flavor and color to drizzle over the cookies. Festive and fun!

Double Chocolate Sea Salt Cookie with Candy Cane Cream Cheese Frosting

Bake cookies:

Bake one dozen Double Chocolate Sea Salt cookies as directed on package. Let cool. While cookies are baking, make the cream cheese frosting. I recommend Ina Garten’s recipe, below.

Ingredients:

• One 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature

• One 4 oz. stick unsalted butter, room temperature

• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract

• 8 oz. powdered sugar, sifted

• Four 4” peppermint candy canes, crushed*

Mix frosting:

Mix the first 4 ingredients on low speed with an electric mixer. Add the powdered sugar slowly until just smooth. When cookies are cool, spread 1 tablespoon of frosting on top of each. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of crushed candy cane on top of frosting.

* To crush candy canes, place unwrapped candy in a zip lock baggie. (Freezer baggies are a little thicker and work best.) Use mallet or rolling pin to crush.

A Winter Treat: 

Get in the spirit with this wintery treat! Start with our Double Chocolate Sea Salt cookie and add a cream cheese frosting, topped with crushed candy cane! Yum!

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Treats

Bake cookies:

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Melt chocolate:

Put approximately 1 cup of Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips or your choice of chocolate into a glass dish or 2 cup glass measuring cup. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir partially melted chips and continue microwaving for another 15 seconds. Remove and stir again. Repeat for 15 more seconds. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate chips. At this point, if the chocolate is warm and most of the chips are melted, stir until remaining lumps are melted. 

Dunk cookies: 

Take the cooled cookies and dunk one at a time into the melted chocolate. Use a spoon the help cover the cookie as needed. Cool dipped cookies on parchment or wax paper until dry. Enjoy!

Carolyn’s Snickerdoodle Fruit Pie

Ingredients:

7 Carolyn’s Snickerdoodle dough balls

4-6 ripe nectarines or peaches

1 fuji apple

¼ cup unbleached cane sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tbsp. fresh lime juice

¼ cup unbleached flour (optional: mix in with fruit only if fruit is very juicy)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 410°F and take out seven Snickerdoodle dough balls to defrost (hint-defrost them in the pie pan). While dough is defrosting cut all the fruit into thin slices. Place into a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle sugar, spices, flour and lime juice on top of fruit; stir to combine and set aside.

Flatten dough balls into a 9” glass pie pan. Using your thumbs push down on the dough balls and maneuver dough to form a medium-thick crust. Dough needs to go up the sides of the pie pan. Pour the fruit mixture into pie pan, spreading the fruit out evenly.

Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down heat to 375°F degrees and bake for another 25 minutes.  If edge of crust is getting too brown, cover edge with 3" strip of aluminum foil (or pie crust protector ring); remove foil or ring during the last 15 minutes of baking. Remove pie from oven and let cool.