Decadent Brownie Cookies with Peanut Butter Butter Cream

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I thought I would create a special cookie in honor of this auspicious day.    There really was a saint named Valentine (maybe even two) who died on the 14th of February.  He was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for administering communion to imprisoned Christians while he himself was incarcerated.  It's said that he was infatuated with the daughter of his jailer and before he was executed he wrote a simple note to her that said, "from your Valentine" as a farewell--sound familiar!!

During the Middle Ages, in the time of Geoffrey Chaucer, courtly love flourished and Valentine's Day was recognized as a day to give gifts to someone special.  I will be making my grandparent's sugar cookie recipe to send to my loved ones, but today, I was thinking Chocolate!

Here are some more facts about Valentine's Day:

• Casanova ate chocolate to make himself more virile.
• Richard Cadbury produced the first chocolate for eating in the late 1800s.
• Over 35 million heart-shaped boxes are sold.
• $1 billion is spent on chocolate, just in the United States.
• 73% men buy flowers; 27% women, and 15% women send themselves flowers!
• Red roses was the favorite flower of the Roman Goddess, Venus--approx 110 million roses will be sold, mostly red.
• California produces 60% of the roses sold in the United States.
• The day is also celebrated in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Australia, Denmark and Italy.
• Verona, Italy, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet on this day.

Decadent Brownie Cookies with Peanut Butter butter cream
2 1/2 T unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate bits

2 large eggs
2/3 cup superfine granulated sugar (if you can't find it in your grocery story, place sugar in a food processor and pulse several times to make a finer granule)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup King Arthur all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup bittersweet chips

Preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a double boiler (or a glass bowl over 1" water in a saucepan) melt the 1 1/2 cups of bittersweet chocolate bits and butter.  Set aside.

In a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together for 15 minutes until pale and "ribbons" of batter occur from the whisk.

Sift the flour and baking powder.  Stir in the melted chocolate and butter, sifted dry ingredients, and the additional 1/2 cup of bittersweet chocolate bits.

Use a 1 or 2 tablespoon size scoop to drop cookies on the parchment paper, allowing about 2" of spacing between the cookies for spreading.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes (I baked mine for 9 minutes).  The tops should be shiny and cracked.

Peanut Butter butter cream
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-2 T heavy cream

In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment or use a hand mixer, cream the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract together.  Scrape down the sides and add the heavy cream to make a fluffy butter cream.

Once cookies have cooled completely, frost the bottom of one cookie and top with another of like-size.

The Beatles sang, "All You Need is Love" and I agree.  These cookies are full of love and a great flavor combination.

I'm sending out love and warm hugs to all my friends and family who were in the path of the storm, Nemo.  Enjoy!