Happy Valentine's Day!!...Last Minute Valentine Cookies

As I was passing through some new blogs I found very early this morning, I came across a blog titled Necessary Quotation Marks. The post for today was this:

This was a quote by Judy Garland. This, to me, is the quintessential quote for all romantics. If you know what this quote means when it says that "It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul".....friend, we shall count ourselves among the few that have found true love. It is a rare treasure...
 
 
OK, ok, off of cupid's soapbox. Yes, I realize I am a food blogger...not a life blogger or a romance blogger....but  my coffee has not yet kicked in and I lost my train of thought..Ok, yes.. I found it again....Valentine's Cookies. Yes, I realize my last post was also about Valentine's cookies, but I had to make Princess Runwild's preschool teacher a little valentine gift and cookies travel well in her little monkey backpack..cupcakes do not, just in case you didn't know :)
 
This cookie is very easy. You could use the recipe I'm posting, but you could also use refrigerated cookie dough if you need a quick valentine's gift. (Shame on you if you forgot :) No one will care, its really the decoration on this one that makes it so special. For that matter, you could run down to the local bakery and pick up a few cookies to use and really save some time (this would be option c for those that don't realize they needed a valentine's gift until this afternoon. Bad Valentine, bad, bad valentine :(  In a nutshell, you melt some chocolate, confectionery coating (almond bark) or those little colored candy making disks. Dip the edge or up to half of the cookie into the chocolate and immediately sprinkle with sprinkles, coconut, chopped nuts, or anything that will stick to the melted chocolate....Voile, instant valentine goody!! Be extra sweet to your Valentine today!! Enjoy!

 







Dipped Valentine Cookies
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Chocolate, almond bark or candy coating (melted)
Sprinkles or topping of choice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Cream together the shortening and the sugar. Stir in the egg, buttermilk and vanilla.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir to combine. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Drop mixture by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. If desired sprinkle tops of cookies with white sugar before baking. Cool completely. Dip up to half of cookie into chocolate and immediately sprinkle with topping of your choice. Let cool completely to let chocolate set.


“We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly”
~Sam Keen