Valentines Treats

Sadly, I have no valentine. But luckily, my girlfriends and I had a MUCH better night.

I threw a little party at my house including dinner, and I of course supplied the desserts!

I made Dorie Greenspans chocolate cupcakes, and I also made Red velvet cupcakes as well.

Those got DEVOURED quite fast.

I also whipped up a batch of Martha Stewart's Oreo cookies from her Cookie book.

I tinted the creme filling pink in honor of Valentines Day !

These were a BIG hit. Whenever I make them, they always go FAST. And they definitely did.

Cream-filled Chocolate Sandwiches

from Martha Stewarts Cookie book

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for flattening cookies

10 tblsp butter, room temp

1 large egg. room temp

Vanilla creme(recipe follows)

1. preheat oven to 375 F. Into a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Add egg; beat to combine. with mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture; continue beating until dough it well combined.

3.using a 1 1/4inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart. dip bottom of a glass in sugar; press to flatten cookies about 1/8 inch thick.

4. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are firm, 10-12 minutes. rotating sheets halfway through. transfer baking sheets to wire rack to cool completely.

5. Place cream filling in a pastry bag. Place 1 tblsp filling onto flat side of half the cookies. place remaining cookies on top, and gently press on each to squeeze filling to edges.

Vanilla cream filling

1/2 cup butter, room temp

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, room temp.

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tblsp vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, cream butter and shortening until well combined. on low speed, gradually add confectioners sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 min. add vanilla and beat to combine. set aside at room temp until ready to use.

Hope everyone had a great Valentines day!