I have pretty much always been a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. Not so much for the overblown romantic love aspect of it (far too much pressure, I think!), but the fun of reveling in pink, red, hearts, chocolate, doilies and glitter in the dead of winter (well, here in SF it is the beginning of spring, but never mind). I haven’t gone as overboard this year as I sometimes do, but I made wee mailable Valentine treats out of Dover sampler holiday images and opaque inkjet shrink plastic (which I’m still working out how best to use– I think it needs to be varnished).
I packaged them up in tiny Muji envelopes closed with glittery red heart stickers
and hopefully they will make it through the regular mail (tucked in regulation envelopes) with regular postage ok!
And for you, my lovely blog friends, I offer a yummy chocolate chunk cookie recipe. Just FYI if your sweetie happens to be male– I brought these to a Super Bowl party and they seemed to be a particularly big hit with the males in the room. The women liked them, but the men kind of freaked out.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies (adapted from my favorite Fannie Farmer recipe)
1/4 lb butter, softened (or just left on the counter for a few hours)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/8 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup oatmeal
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, cut into 1/2inch ish chunks with a sharp knife (Don’t stress about the size, just chop up the chocolate as best you can, and keep it all, tiny bits and all, on the cutting board until you dump it in the mixing bowl. I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet from Trader Joe’s, and guesstimated on the 6 ounces– I used most of a half-pound block)
Pre-heat the oven to 375 and either grease or line a cookie sheet or two with parchment paper. Cream the
butter, and gradually add in the two sugars, beating until the mix is light and smooth. Beat in the egg
and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda, whisking to make sure it is
well-blended. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet, just until well combined. By hand (with a wooden spoon or spatula), stir in the chocolate chunks and oatmeal until evenly distributed. Drop in rounded teaspoons onto the cookie sheets (I use a small ice cream scoop to make it easier), and bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from the cookie sheet (they will not be totally set until they are cool). In the meantime, give someone you like the beaters and bowl to lick, as the dough is super yummy uncooked (though, y’know, not for the pregnant or tiny since there’s raw egg in it).
However you feel about Valentine’s Day, I hope you’ll treat yourself tomorrow!