Valentine Crayons

Last year I came across this great website for school Valentine's ideas.  We decided to make the crayons, because I had A LOT of broken crayons and this was a fun way to use them up!  The kids loved helping with this project and it worked out really well.  The only bummer is that my heart molds are now ruined for anything else.  But I think I found them in the dollar spot at Target, so I suppose it was worth it. :o)

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Um, hello! Why did I never think to make CHOCOLATE sugar cookies?! This recipe has changed my life. I frosted them with strawberry cream cheese frosting. The only complaint is how small of a yield. I doubled the recipe, but next time I will definitely quadruple, at least!  You can find the original recipe here.  I did not make the marble royal icing.  I actually used some leftover strawberry cream cheese fruit dip I had left over and told everyone it was frosting.  It was really yummy!!  I made these last year for a Valentine's Day treat, hence the heart shapes.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

6 tbsp. (3 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup confectioners' sugar

1 large egg

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated and no streaks remain.  Form the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness.  Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters and place cut outs on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes, just until set.  Let cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Decorate as desired.