These are so good with milk or a cup of coffee. Definitely a “grown-up” version of sugar cookies.

Ingredients

4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
12 ounces high-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 Tbsp shortening
4 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp Shortening

Directions:

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt at medium speed in your mixer just until smooth. Add flour and mix at low speed until combined. Divide dough in thirds and shape into 3 disks. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

Cutting out the dough

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange racks in top and bottom third of oven. Line 4 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

On lightly floured work surface (or on floured wax paper) roll out 1 piece of dough to 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Using heart shaped cookie cutter, cut into shapes. Transfer cookies to baking sheets, spacing 1/2 inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough. Refrigerate each cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Prick each cookie with a toothpick several times.

Cook only two sheets at a time in oven. Bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly browned on edges. Cool on pan for one minute, remove to wire rack. Cool Completely.

To decorate: Line baking sheet with clean parchment or wax paper. In medium microwave safe bowl, melt half of semisweet chocolate with 2 tbsp shortening on low heat setting, stirring frequently until smooth. Add remaining chocolate and stir occasionally until smooth. Pour into small bowl.

Dip each cookie halfway into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on baking sheet. Let stand until chocolate is set, about 1 hour.

Melt white chocolate with 1/2 tbsp shortening on low heat in microwave. Stir until smooth. Transfer to a small pastry bag with a very fine tip (I use a sandwich baggie with the tip of one corner barely cut off). Drizzle over chocolate side of cookies. Let set until hard, about 30 minutes.

Store in airtight container at room temperature (Do not refrigerate). Then see if you can keep from eating them!

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