Chocolate-Cherry Heart Cookies

I wanted to make something that had chocolate and cherries in it for Valentines Day. So, I took my low-fat Valentine cookie recipe and added cocoa powder to make a chocolate sugar cookie sandwich with a dark chocolate and cherry jam filling. This cookie is so decadent and just sweet enough with the cherry jam. If you have children, this would be a fun recipe to make cut-out hearts and to mix-up the filling for the cookies and to put them together like little sandwiches. Have a Happy Valentines Day!


Ingredients for cookie dough:

5 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners sugar, sifted for work surface
2 ounces dark chocolate chips, very finely chopped (I used a food processor)
3 tablespoons cherry jam
1 egg white, beaten with 1/2 teaspoon water
Sugar for sprinkling
Equipment: 2 1/2-inch heart- shaped cookie cutter


Directions:

Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and almond extract, mixing well.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture into butter mixture until dough forms. The dough may seem a little crumbly at first, but it will come together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and shape into a disk. Chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Stir the chopped chocolate and cherry jam together in a small bowl until combined.

Sprinkle work surface and rolling pin with confectioners sugar. Roll out dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Use heart-shaped cookie cutter dipped in confectioners sugar to make 38 cut-outs. Gather scraps and re-roll until all the dough is used. Place half of the hearts at least 1-inch apart on cookie sheets.

Evenly spread about 1 level teaspoon of the chocolate/jam mixture over each heart, leaving a 1/4-inch border around the edges. Brush the outer edge of the hearts lightly with egg-white wash. Place another dough heart over the filling and gently press the edges to seal. Continue with remaining dough cut-outs. Lightly brush the surface of the cookies with egg-white wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 12-14 minutes until set. Let cool on the pan slightly before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Enjoy!