happy valentine's <3

Ohhhh, V-day...what a perfect excuse to bake something cutesy for the special people in your life (if your single) or your hunny (if you're not). In my case, I've got five super duper housemates that deserved something sweet in their life............me.

Gah, just kidding, people. What they needed were heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies, of course. So I decided to put my perfected bar cookie recipe to good use and jazz it up a bit for the special day.

Ohhhh, and can you find the heart in the cookie above?? Kinda like "Where's Waldo", huh? :)

Ummm, so I am....ashamed? Proud? Yes. I am proud that I concocted these puppies between the hours of 4 and 5am on a Thursday night...errr, morning. Granted, I did not have class the next day, thank God, or else I would've been one heck of a sorry soul. For that reason, these V-day surprises needed to be concocted sans mixer, in order to prevent wakage of those unsuspecting housemates.

Muahaha. How sneaky.

Mmmmm, I love love cookie dough. I don't know where that came from, exactly. Maybe from the fact that Valentine's Day is the time to express your undying love for someone. Or....something. :D

You know what else I love? As in a lot? When Meijer has sales on cake mixes and cans of frosting for only A DOLLAR each! Heck, what a bargain. Yeah, yeah, I know homemade frosting is so much deliciouser than the canned stuff. But really, when you're in a crunch, and it's 5am, and you're finally getting a tinsy bit sleepy, this stuff really does the trick...a life saver, really.

Ohhhhhh yeeeahhhh. Look at that shiny gleam. Those seductive creamy curves. Those candy sprinkles of deliciousness just waiting to be crunched and nom nom nomed into. So good, so good. And even better when smoothered a top a freshly baked HEART-shaped cookie.

Look how cute they are!!! I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of my free-hand cutting of these hearts. They came out nicely whimsical. The key to a clean cut heart is to freeze the tray of cookies almost immediately after they're finished baking for about a half hour. You don't want these guys too frozen, though, or else it'll be just as difficult to cut them into shapes as when they first popped out all warm and gooey from the oven. It's a delicate balance, really, between partial frozen-ness and rock-hard-I-could-use-this-puppy-as-a-weapon hardness.

See? Ta-DA! So cute. And even cuter when frosted and chocolate chipped. This can be done as you please and with whatever ingredients are begging to be used that day. Some other ideas besides frosting and chocolate chips?

Melted peanut butter
Hot fudge
Chocolate shavings
Sprinkles
Chopped up candy bars
Chopped up malt balls
Chopped peanuts, almonds, walnuts, etc.

Use your imaganation, I believe in you :)

V-day Lovers Cookies

One recipe Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
1 can frosting, your choice...I chose rainbow chip, just for those happy sprinkles
Chocolate chips

Prepare Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars as directed in link above. Cool finished baked product in freezer for 30 minutes. With a sharp knife, cut heart-shaped cookies out of the cookie bars. Reserve scraps for another use...or eat them now. Or save them for your friends. Or put some peanut butter on them already, gosh dangit.

Take your heart cut-outs and frost 'em up. Decorate as you will with chocolate chips.

Nom nom nom. <3