Chocolate Heart Cookies with Strawberry Icing

Ingredients

Making the Chocolate Cookie

• 1 cup Butter unsalted 
• 1 cup Sugar white
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1 Egg
• 2 ½ cups All-purpose flour
• ½ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoon Baking powder
• ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt

What You Need For Strawberry Icing

Fresh Strawberry Puree

• 1 cup Fresh strawberries

Strawberry Frosting

• ½ cup Butter unsalted
• 2 cups Powdered sugar
• ¾ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3 teaspoons Milk whole or 2%
• ¼ cup Strawberry puree
• ⅛ teaspoon No sugar strawberry gelatin power

Building You Valentine's Day Cookie

This cookie is very versatile. You can have chocolate as the prominent flavor or the strawberry. If you want to taste more of the strawberries, add more icing to the top of the cookie. Either way, it will be a GREAT cookie!

Strawberry Puree

Take a good cup of fresh strawberries (8-10) and clean and hull them. If you are unsure how to hull a strawberry, here is an easy guide from The Spruce Eats.

You can add the hulled strawberries to a food processor, use a stick blender, or a high-speed blender, and blend or pulse till you have a puree. Add to a glass bowl and cover. I make mine the day before and store it in the refrigerator until I am ready to use.

Chocolate Cookie Dough

To prep, I weigh out the sugar and set it aside. Next, weigh or measure the flour, salt, baking powder, cocoa powder into a bowl and run a whisk through to blend.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand or hand-held mixer until light and fluffy. I do this for a good 2-3 minutes. Next, add the vanilla extract and then the egg. Mix for a minute. Scrape down the sides, turn the mixer on a low speed, and gradually add the flour mixture.

Place the cookie dough onto a pastry mat and bring it all together into a ball. Split the ball in half. Flatten them into two round flat disks and wrap them in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Taking one of the disks, I break it in half and roll the cookie dough out on a floured pastry mat. I used three different heart sizes (de Buyer Cookie Cutters Set, Heart), out of the middle sizes in the set. Next, move the cut-out cookies to a parchment-lined cookie sheet pan.

Bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 7-9 minutes. I leave them on the pan for a minute after taking them out of the oven. Next, move them to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before making your icing.

Strawberry Icing

Add your softened butter to a mixer bowl and beat it for a minute or two. You want it smooth. Scrape down the sides and add the powdered sugar. Start on a low speed!!! I say this from experience. 🙂

Once the powdered sugar is blended with the butter, gradually increase the mixer speed. Mix for a good 3 minutes. Next, scrape down the sides and add the vanilla extract, strawberry puree, gelatin, and milk. Now, on a medium to medium-high mixer speed, beat until thickened, about 5 minutes.

You have options at this point. You can add the icing to a piping bag (I used a Wilton tip #14) and pipe pretty decorations on top of the chocolate cookie, or take a knife and spread the icing over half the heart or all the heart. I then added tiny white pearls on top of the icing.

I found chocolate roses (covered in red foil) and a small bottle of champagne. A night just for us!