Valentine's Day is a special day where couples get to show one another just how much they care. This can mean buying an expensive piece of jewelry or cooking your partner's favorite dish. Double-Chocolate Sandwich Cookies from the Food Network is a recipe that can actually be used whenever you want to prepare a delicious chocolate treat. You can also customize the recipe in a variety of ways so you can make your own Valentine's Day creation.
The ingredients you choose will make the recipe stand out. Using quality ingredients will make the dough easier to work with. You can also switch things up just a bit to make the flavor of the cookies more to your liking. For example, you can use salted butter and eliminate the extra "pinch" it calls for in the recipe. Avoid using imitation vanilla extract. Pure vanilla extract will always provide you with the richest flavor and the best texture.
Before mixing anything together, make sure you have all of the ingredients close at hand. This will make the entire process go much smoother and will help you keep the mess to a minimum. Start with the dry ingredients. This will give the butter time to soften and will give you more time to make sure everything is sufficiently mixed together. Once the dry ingredients are thoroughly blended, start putting the moist ingredients together. Blend them well and set them aside.
Make sure the racks are correctly positioned in the oven. You will want the cookies to look a certain way when you pull them out of the oven, so use parchment paper to line the cookie sheets. Roll the cookies out to a 1/8-inch thickness. For Valentine's Day, use a heart-shaped cookie cutter and place the hearts about an inch apart. If you want to use the recipe for other holidays, you can use a cookie cutter of any shape. Follow the directions within the recipe when it comes to the baking time and temperature.
The filling is also easy to make and can be altered to suit your taste. Since you are using white chocolate, a few drops of food coloring can change it to almost any color you choose. A few drops of red can be swirled to make a decorative filling or completely blended to create a shade of pink. Add a few drops of flavor for taste variation. Peppermint and cherry are good choices, especially for Valentine's Day. You can make butterscotch or caramel flavored filling by using cake icing mixed with a little confectioner's sugar.
Once you have made the sandwich cookies, you can go a step further and decorate them in various ways. Dip the cookie sandwiches halfway in melted chocolate (white or dark). Add a few sprinkles or use a pastry tube and draw a design or two. Put a letter on each half to personalize the cookies. Place the cookies in a decorative tin or box and add a hand-made card for a personal touch. The final touches will be the key to making a gift that literally comes straight from the heart.
Thinking of your loved one on Valentine's Day does more than just show you care. It allows you to be creative and come up with something that is as unique and special as they are. Our team at Reata Insurance Group wishes you a very "Happy Valentine's Day!"
