Cookie Dough - The way to anyone's heart!

Can you believe that January is almost over? As cold as it's been and as anxious as I am for warmer weather to come, I can't believe we're already planning for Valentine's Day! It'll be here before we know it, so let the planning begin. What treats should you make for family/friends, are you going to be buying or making all those special valentine's day cards, what will you be getting that special someone, are you getting a sitter and going out for the night, have you made reservations? So many questions, so much planning, why do we do this to ourselves? I'm determined to not stress over this holiday!

One of our favorite treats are chocolate chip cookie dough balls. I've made them multiple times and people always LOVE them, so I'm sharing the recipe and adding a fun twist for Valentine's day. 

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 sticks butter (softened)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 cup mini chocolate chips
 
Beat the softened butter and the sugars until its light and fluffy. Add the milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until everything is well blended. Then stir in the mini chocolate chips. 

To make the hearts, first pat out the dough in a pan lined with wax paper. It doesn't matter if it doesn't go all the way to the sides because you'll be using a cookie dough cutter anyway. Once it's about 1/4" thick throughout, put it in the fridge for an hour or freezer for 20 minutes. Once it's hardened a bit, you can use the cookie cutter to make the shapes. Place the shapes on another piece of wax paper. The remainder of the dough you can just roll into balls. 

Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips (I prefer the milk chocolate, but feel free to use whatever you like best) and about 3 teaspoons of crisco (this will just make the chocolate nice and smooth). Be sure to stir the mixture until all the lumps are out. Then use a plastic bag and pour the melted chocolate into it (I put the bag in a cup so it sits upright when I pour it). Using a pair of scissors just cut a small piece off the corner of the bag. Squeeze the chocolate over the cookie dough hearts and balls. Feel free to add sprinkles or candy hearts to make them even more festive. 

Once you're done, put them back in the fridge for at least an hour. Then you can store them in tubberware, layering with wax paper, or you can put them on fun valentine's straws for the kids.  Just be sure to keep them in the fridge, otherwise they get really gooey.