Valentine’s Day Chocolate Chip Cookies
Turning your favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies into Valentine’s Day Chocolate Chip Cookies will make your heart happy. Who wouldn’t love a soft and thick cookie full of chocolate chips that is made even better with the addition of heart sprinkles and heart shaped candy?
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Why this Recipe Works
I love a good holiday cookie and Valentine’s Day is no exception. The awesome part about this Valentine’s Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is that you don’t have to worry about getting it into a heart shape.
There are hearts in the cookie in the form of adorable sprinkles and the milk chocolate candy nestled on top of each thick chocolate chip cookie.
The cookie recipe itself is a keeper because it is based off of this Thick Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Cold butter is used, so you don’t have to waste time waiting for it to soften.
The chill from the butter also helps keep the cookies thick and perfect to hold the heart shaped chocolate in the middle of each soft cookie.
These Valentine’s Day Cookies are perfect for an after school snack, after dinner treat, gift for those you love or even to serve at a Valentine’s party.
What Goes Into this Recipe
- Butter: Added cold, the butter will give the cookies great flavor and allows you to skip the chilling process.
- Brown Sugar: Using more brown sugar than granulated sugar helps keep the cookies thick and chewy.
- Cornstarch: Adding a bit of cornstarch to cookie dough will give you a more tender cookie.
- Chocolate Chips: Mini semi sweet chocolate chips are used in this recipe instead of regular sized to help balance the chocolate flavor with the heart candy added.
- Valentine Sprinkles: I am in love with these mini heart sprinkles but you can use any kind of valentine sprinkles for the same effect.
- Heart Shaped Chocolate Candy: Hershey’s milk chocolate hearts work beautifully in this recipe but there are other brands with all chocolate heart shaped candy that can be used.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Valentine’s Day Chocolate Chip Cookies
1. Begin by cutting your cold butter into cubes and placing them into your mixing bowl. Using a stand mixer add both the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the cubed butter and mix for about 4 minutes on medium speed.
2. Then add each egg to the mixture one at a time. Mix until they are completely incorporated into the dough. Add the dry ingredients {flour, baking soda and salt} at one time and mix until just combined. Finally add the mini chocolate chips and Valentine sprinkles to the dough. Mix them into the dough by hand so that the sprinkles don’t break up into the dough.
3. Scoop mounds of dough using a large cookie scoop {or about 3 tablespoons} onto a silicone mat {or parchment} lined baking sheet.
4. Go back and add a few additional sprinkles to the top of each cookie dough mound. This will ensure that every cookie will look gorgeous on top and bake up perfectly.
5. Bake in a 410 degree oven for 9-11 minutes or until the cookies are set and starting to turn golden brown. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.
6. After 5 minutes place an unwrapped chocolate heart into the middle of each cookie and press down slightly. Allow the cookies to cool for an additional 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet and then move to a cooling rack.
Expert Tips
- Always cut the butter into cubes before using it. This step helps it to cream into the sugars much easier.
- Use a stand mixer! This dough is thick and super hard to mix. You may be able to do this by hand but a hand mixer will not be able to do the job.
- Add a few extra heart sprinkles to the top of each cookie. There are sprinkles inside the dough but that doesn’t mean they can be seen. This simple step elevates each cookie and makes sure that the tops look festive and fun.
- Do not over mix the dough after adding the dry ingredients. Doing so will warm up the butter and add air to the cookie dough. Both of which can result in a flat cookie.
- Don’t over bake the cookies. Bake until they are just starting to turn golden brown and set. Then remove them from the oven.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before adding the heart shaped chocolate. If you add the chocolate to the middle of the cookie too soon it will melt and not hold its shape.
- Give the heart shaped candy time to set up on top of the cookie before stacking. Once you put the heart on top of the cookie the heat will slightly melt it. Give the chocolate time to set back up before stacking them on top of each other.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can make this Valentine’s Day Chocolate Chip Cookies dough into bars. Pat the dough into a greased 9×13 baking pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes {or until they are light brown and slightly firm to the touch}. For super chewy bars, don’t over bake.
There are a couple of benefits. First of all, it speeds up the cookie baking process because you don’t have to wait for butter to soften. That allows you to be able to bake cookies anytime because you don’t have to plan ahead.
The cold butter also keeps the cookie dough chilled, so it helps eliminate that step from the baking process. Chilling the dough is great when you want a thick cookie. Using cold butter gives you that awesome thick and gooey texture without refrigerating the dough.
Store these cookies in an airtight container. Keep at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Yes, these cookies freeze wonderfully for up to 3 months as long as they are in a good airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap.
Do you love Chocolate Chip Cookies? Try one of these awesome recipes…
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Valentine’s Day Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter {cold and cut into cubes}
- 1 cup brown sugar {packed}
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teapsoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teapoon salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup valentine sprinkles
- 24 chocolate hearts {unwrapped}
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 410°.
- In the large bowl of your stand mixer, combine the cold cubed butter and both sugars. Fitted with the paddle attachment, mix ingredients on a medium speed for about 4 minutes or until creamy.
- Add eggs, one at a time. Be sure to mix well after adding each one.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Whisk ingredients together and then add to the butter, sugar and egg mixture all at once. Mix until just combined. You do not want to over mix {this will heat up your butter}. Add your chocolate chips and sprinkles, mix by hand until evenly distributed.
- Use a large cookie scoop {or about 3 tablespoons of dough} to scoop mounds of cookie dough onto a silicone mat {or parchment} lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of each cookie dough mound with a few additional heart sprinkles. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are set and starting to turn golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Add an unwrapped chocolate heart to the middle of each cookie and allow the cookies to cool for an additional 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet. After that, move them to a cooling rack to cool completely and allow the chocolate hearts to set back up.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Always cut the butter into cubes before using it. This step helps it to cream into the sugars much easier.
- Use a stand mixer! This dough is thick and super hard to mix. You may be able to do this by hand but a hand mixer will not be able to do the job.
- Add a few extra heart sprinkles to the top of each cookie. There are sprinkles inside the dough but that doesn’t mean they can be seen.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before adding the heart shaped chocolate. If you add the chocolate to the middle of the cookie too soon it will melt and not hold its shape.
- Give the heart shaped candy time to set up on top of the cookie before stacking. Once you put the heart on top of the cookie the heat will slightly melt it. Give the chocolate time to set back up before stacking them on top of each other.
- To make into bars: Pat the dough into an even layer in a 9×13 baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees until set and golden brown. Allow the cookie bars to cool for 15 minutes and then place a chocolate heart in the middle of each bar.
