Valentine's Day: Celebrating Our Love (...of Chocolate)

I can't say I've ever totally bought into all the Valentine's Day hoopla.  
In fact, I pretty much despise the notion of any holiday that sets "requirements".  New Years Eve is a prime example of a high pressure holiday with obligations.   You have to have big plans.  What fun is "fun" when you're under duress?  


Valentines Day?  It's all expected... and, therefore, completely meaningless.
Romantic dinner?  Blah.  
Flowers?  Overpriced.  (And dead in a week.)
Presents?  Unless it's 3-carats, you can have it.
Chocolates?  Well.... there's a Valentines tradition I can embrace!
The only silver lining of this Hallmark holiday is that it provides an excuse for everyone to rally around the beautiful cacao bean...
Here are three V-Day dessert recipes.... More to come. After all, the 14th is still four days away!  :)


Chocolate Cherry Cobbler

Never say never.  I used to swear that fruit ruined any dessert.  In my mind, dessert had to be chocolate-centric.  But they say that your palate changes every few years....and lately, I've really learned to embrace fruit desserts.  But chocolate is still my favorite.  Chocolate Cherry Cobbler combines the best of both worlds. 

 Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter
Cut with pastry blender....

....until crumbs are the size of large peas.

Dump the can of cherries into a 9x13" baking pan.

Melting the chocolate and allow to cool.
Add the egg and milk
and mix until completely combined.
Add to flour mixture.

mmmm....chocolate....

Combine chocolate with flour mixture.

Drop chocolate dough randomly over the cherries

I used walnuts in my cobbler.
Chopped pecans, almonds or any other nut
would work well too. 

Sprinkle nuts all over.

Chocolate Pizza

 Nutella, Dark, Milk & White Chocolate and Toasted Macadamia nuts....

If you wanted to get really cheesy,
make the pizza heart-shaped!

The Richest Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Red velvet does have cocoa!

To make the whoopie pies, make a batch of red velvet gooey butter cookies and cream cheese frosting (recipes for both below).  Once cookies have cooled to room temperature, spread a tablespoon of frosting on the flat side of one cookie.  Place the flat side of another cookie on top.