Happy Valentines Day - Double Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookie Sandwiches

Valentine's Day is not a holiday Hubs and I make a big to-do about. I usually cook him something nice for dinner (or we go out to eat if I screw up said dinner) and he gets me a 4 piece box of Godiva truffles with a card. The 4-piece box has been the rule since we started dating. I always felt fat guilty after eating a big box of chocolate in one day (chocolate doesn't make it long around here), so I figured 4 outta do it. What can I say? I'm a cheap date.

Godiva stopped making the 4 piece truffle box, so I got 8 instead. Let me upgrade ya!

I went to fill out the cards I purchased for Hubs from Nugget and me only to realize I had lost them. Really? Who loses cards? There was a bbq potato chip chocolate bar in there too! 

I was going to make him a card on my Silhouette, but it's decided to take a crap on me. I went out and bought another card and had Nugget "make" a card. Hubs got a homemade card from Nugget last year too, and I think that's just what we're going to keep doing from here on out. It's messy, but fun to do. Last year I made the card with his feet stamped on the paper in red paint to form a heart. 

It was ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE easier to paint his feet last year.

This year he laughed and kicked because it tickled and grabbed his painted foot with his hand, which he then put in and around his mouth. He was a huge mess afterwards, but it was totally worth it. Hubs loves penguins, so I did a penguin theme for the card. I painted his toes orange and his foot black and stamped it upside down. I added the white belly, face, and hair afterwards. I painted Nugget's thumb red and stamped it to make the heart on the penguin. Nugget put penguin stickers on the card to spruce it up a bit. I love how it turned out and Hubs loved it too!

He likes to snack while he crafts - takes after his mama. Penguin love!

I sorta forgot about V-day when I did meal planning this week. When I was getting a new card, I also picked up a steak and some ravioli for dinner tonight. I usually go all out on dessert. This year, although not fancy, I've made a pretty awesome dessert. I used a basic cookie recipe and altered it for what I wanted and to make it a little healthier.

Whole wheat double dark chocolate coconut cookie sandwiches.

Need I say more?

These were fairly easy to make and Hubs response when he got home and tried it was "om nom nom". Him and Nugget had already eaten almost two of them an hour after he got home! Two cookie monsters don't make a right.

Whole Wheat Double Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookie Sandwiches

Cookie Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat (or whole grain) pastry flour (I used Arrowhead Mills)

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) room temp unsalted butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

10 oz bag unsweetened dark chocolate chips (I used the Ghiradelli 60% cacao ones)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Cream butter with brown sugar and coconut in mixer. Add egg and vanilla.

3. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into bowl. Slowly add to butter mixture with mixer on low speed (so it doesn't blow everywhere).

4. Mix in chocolate chips with wooden spoon or spatula.

5. I took 1 1/2" balls of dough and pushed them into heart-shaped cookie cutters. If hearts aren't your thing, just use the 1 1/2" balls.

6. Put cookies on lined cookie sheet (parchment paper or foil) and bake for 12 or so minutes. My cookies were really thick so I had to cook them a bit longer, but regular round cookies may not need the extra few minutes. 

7. Let the cookies cool.

Icing Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) room temp unsalted butter

1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. milk

1. Mix butter in mixer for a few minutes.

2. On low speed, add sugar (again, do it slowly so it doesn't blow everywhere)

3. Add vanilla and milk and mix for a few minutes on medium speed

4. Try not to eat it before icing cookies :)

I put the icing into a Ziploc bag, cut off a small portion of one of the bottom corners of the bag, and piped the icing onto half of the cookies.

 Put the top on the cookie and viola - Cookie sandwiches are ready to go!

Om nom nom

You don't have to make these cookies into sandwiches, I imagine there's around 2 1/2 - 3dz cookies in this mix, but I made mine into large hearts and ended up with 9. The cookies turned out really soft and slightly chewy (probably because of the coconut). All of us really enjoyed them.