Valentine’s Day Cookies

Why not transform chocolate covered strawberries into the perfect valentine cookie? These chocolatey thumbprint cookies make for an excellent baking venture, especially with the kids’ involvement. Plenty of tasks are suited for little hands, from rolling the dough to creating the thumbprints.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Thumbprints

Yield: About 40 cookies

Ingredients:

For the Cookies

3/4 cup/102 grams all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

5 tablespoons/71 grams unsalted butter,

cut into pieces

8 ounces/226 grams semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (about 1-1/3 cups)

2/3 cup/132 grams granulated sugar

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)

2 cold large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sanding or granulated sugar, for coating

(about 1/3 cup)

For the Filling

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup good quality strawberry or raspberry preserves (such as Bonne Maman)

Preparation:

• Whisk flour and salt in a small bowl.

• Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water; remove, whisk in sugar, espresso powder, and eggs one at a time.

• Stir in vanilla. Using a spatula, add flour in three additions. Cover the dough with plastic wrap ensuring the plastic is in contact with the dough.

• Refrigerate for 2 hours to 4 days.

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough into tablespoon size balls, roll into balls with your hands and then coat balls in sugar. Place on baking sheets make indentations with the end of a wooden spoon.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating sheets midway. Place the sheet pans on cooling racks and allow to cool completely.

• Spoon jam into each cookie’s center. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water and spoon over jam.

Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan/New York Times Cooking.