These gorgeous shortbread cookies are covered with melted dark chocolate and then decorated with beautiful handmade royal icing flowers, made using a Russian piping tip. For an easier-to-make version, you can forgo the royal icing flowers and decorate these miniature shortbread cookies with sprinkles, candy hearts, or any festive holiday candies.

While Valentine’s Day may have officially come to an end, that doesn’t mean that we need to put away all of the flowers, chocolate, and gushy sentiments. Why not keep them around a little longer and piss off everyone with an excessive lustful passion for all things pink, red, and covered in copious amounts of uncalled-for flowers? This month’s “Chocolate-Covered Treat” themed Fantastical Food Fight seems like a great way to help make that happen. I mean, come on, chocolate-covered anything just about screams romance, love, passion, and maybe just a hint of, “I need this chocolate to get over my crappy day and be able to wake up tomorrow and face yet another one.”

So, today’s recipe is all about sharing some of my favorite new products that help me get through some of those craptastic days that make me think that perhaps it’s not worthwhile to be a part of society on an everyday basis. I’m always on the lookout for anything that will make my life easier in the kitchen or a gadget that just looks like it could be fun to play around with, and certainly, any product that can brighten my day and help me forget that having a full-time job is kind of a necessity of life that must be endured in order to pay for Brenna’s need to be fashionable and always sport a holiday-themed collar.

I stumbled across Ghirardelli Chocolate Dark Melting Wafers several months ago and immediately threw two bags of them into my buggy. I really detest the other versions that are on the market because they taste cheap, weird, and basically aren’t worth eating. When it comes to chocolate, it should always be worth eating. I’m going to have to admit that these melt beautifully, have a resealable bag, and taste so much better than any other type of melting wafer I have tried so far. They are also available pretty much everywhere, which is an added bonus.

When it comes to decorating bottles, I’m going to be totally honest with you and tell you that you should throw them all out your front door right now and replace them with the amazing Wilton Candy Melt-N-Decorate Bottle. Usually, when working with plastic decorating bottles you will most likely suffer from burnt hands and pressure blow-outs that lead to half of your kitchen being covered in chocolate. While having a chocolate-covered kitchen sounds delicious, it’s really just a pain in the tuckus. This silicone bottle puts an end to both blow-outs and burnt hands at the same time. It’s pretty much my favorite product of the year so far and I only wish it had come into my life sooner.

Now for the frivolous product; the one you save for an afternoon when you have a little extra time and just feel like being creative, and sewing a butterfly costume for the cat just isn’t on your list of things to do. PALOTOP Russian Piping Tips make being creative both uncomplicated and enjoyable at the same time. They are fairly inexpensive and really create some gorgeous icing flowers with very little effort involved. The company that sells them will also send you a recipe for the perfect buttercream icing to use with these tips, as well as links to videos, which show you just how easy these tips are to use. With these tips, you can create some seriously gorgeous cupcakes covered in buttercream icing flowers.

Honesty time y’all. Total, brutal, not even gonna hold anything back from y’all. The chocolate wafers and the decorating bottle are essential for these cookies. Buy them. Buy them now. The decorating tips are not so essential. Not that the royal icing flowers on these cookies aren’t beautiful, but because if you’re a girl like me, you’ll most likely end up ripping the flower off and throwing it away before you even think about eating the little chocolate-covered cookie lying in wait underneath. Also, these tips aren’t the greatest with royal icing; they are really meant to be used with buttercream. Unfortunately, buttercream-decorated cookies are kind of a pain in the ass to store, while royal icing-decorated ones aren’t. Save these Russian tips for the next time you decorate a bunch of cupcakes.

So there you have it. My way to keep love, happiness, and annoying gushy feelings alive without having to endure the experience of wiping melted chocolate from every surface in your kitchen or off of a slightly annoyed cat. Added bonus, you’ll get to have some fun while doing it and get to play around with a few new products that you will totally fall in love with, while also ending up with lots of these little itty bitty shortbread cookies covered in chocolate. They’re like little hugs to make even the worst day better. After one little bite, you might almost forget that you have to wake up the next morning and suffer through yet another day of hellish work. Almost.

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
• 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 (10-oz.) Bag Ghirardelli Chocolate Dark Melting Wafers
• Sprinkles

Royal Icing:

• 1 (1-lb.) Box Powdered Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Meringue Powder
• 4 to 5 Tablespoons Warm Water

Directions:

Cookies:

1. Cream the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla together on low speed until just combined.
2. Increase the speed to medium and mix for an additional 3 minutes.
3. On low speed, slowly add the flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough just comes together.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured pastry mat or countertop.
5. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out evenly to a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch.
6. Use a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter to cut out cookies and then place them onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, or just until the bottom of each cookie starts to turn golden brown.
8. Allow the cookies to cool for 3 minutes before removing them to a baking rack to finish cooling completely.
9. Place the candy melts into a medium bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave for an additional 15 seconds. Keep repeating this process until all of the wafers are melted and the chocolate is smooth.
10. Pour the melted chocolate into a decorating bottle and pipe a circle of chocolate on the top of each cookie.

Royal Icing:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a mixer on low speed until everything is mixed together.
2. Increase the speed to medium and mix for an additional 7 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, add a bit of pink or red food coloring to approximately 1/3 of the royal icing.
4. Use this process to make two-toned roses. Pipe a rose onto each chocolate-covered cookie and then add sprinkles.
5. Allow the cookies to sit for three hours before storing them in an air-tight container between layers of waxed paper.

Suggestions:

• Baking times may vary, depending on how large or thick each cookie is.
• Make sure to add all cookie decorations before the chocolate hardens.
• Keep each bowl of royal icing covered with a damp paper towel to prevent it from drying out.
• You can also use a thick buttercream in place of royal icing in this recipe, however, you will not be able to stack the cookies without damaging them.

Improvements:

• Sprinkle the top of each cookie with Fleur de Sel.
• Drizzle the chocolate-covered cookies with thick caramel.
• The Wilton Candy Melt-N-Decorate Bottle is one of the best purchases I have ever made. You won’t burn your hands while working with the chocolate, and it keeps the chocolate warm enough to work with longer than most other decorating bottles. Added bonus; no lid blow-offs due to pressure.
• Purchase the PALOTOP Russian Piping Tips. They are fun to play around with and are fairly inexpensive. You can use buttercream instead of royal icing, however, you will need to make sure the cookies don’t touch or else the flowers will become smooshed.
• Instead of using royal icing flowers to decorate these little cookies, add a bit of red or pink food coloring to melted Ghirardelli Chocolate White Candy Making Wafers and then drizzle the red chocolate over the dark chocolate-covered cookies.
• CLICK HERE to check out all of our past cookie recipes. Don’t forget to check out our Valentine’s Day cookies section.

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Whether you’re looking for a rich and decadent chocolate treat, a buttery shortbread cookie, or something with a hint of fruity sweetness, we’ve got you covered with our list of “14 Valentine’s Day Cookies You’ll Love at First Bite.” From classic favorites to unique and easy-to-make recipes, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. So grab your apron and get ready to whip up some love-filled treats that will have your Valentine falling head over heels at first bite. CLICK HERE for the recipes.