A chocolate-lover’s dream: hot chocolate and
chocolate truffles. Photo courtesy Woodhouse
Chocolate, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

Cocoa is made from cocoa powder; hot chocolate is made from bits of chocolate—it’s richer because of the higher percentage of cocoa butter in the chocolate.

We love hot chocolate tastings, and have them regularly as a treat in THE NIBBLE offices.

• Get inspired by the history of hot chocolate, health benefits and more background.
• Read our review of more than 65 cocoa and hot chocolate brands to get an idea of what’s out there, and how to select the ones you want to serve.
• Check out our 25 hot chocolate tips to see how to glam up your hot chocolate.
• Give a prize to whomever gets all the questions right in our Hot Chocolate Trivia Quiz.

February is National Cherry Month. Even though fresh cherry season is in July, you can guess that National Cherry Month honors George Washington, born February 22, 1732 and immortalized for his honesty in the legend of the cherry tree (he ‘fessed up to his father that he cut down the precious tree).

This chocolate chip cookie recipe uses delicious dried cherries, made from last summer’s harvest.

And don’t stop with cookies: Enjoy the dried cherries in everything from breakfast yogurt, cereal and pancakes; to luncheon salads; to sauces for meats and poultry at dinner. For snacks, make cherry caramel corn by tossing hot popcorn with sweet butter and adding dried cherries and honey-roasted pecans; then drizzle with caramel. Or, make a cherry trail mix.

Cherry chocolate chip cookies: a yummy twist. Photo courtesy Cherry Marketing Institute.

• Get fun cherry facts and the history of cherries. (By the way, George Washington did not cut down a cherry tree—his biographer made up the story!)

[1] Shortbread Hearts from The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins (photo © Workman Publishing Company).

[2] Orange zest gives “just a scent” of flavor and aroma (photo © Eva Elijas | Pexels).

[3] Different heart-shaped cookie cutters add to the fun (photo © Diane Helentjari | Unsplash).

Show how much you love them by baking Valentine’s Day cookies. Here’s a recipe from Tracy Anderson of Woodhouse Chocolate, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week and producer of magnificent Valentine’s Day chocolate boxes.

Of course, you don’t have to cut the cookies in heart shapes. You can make them any shape you like.

Shortbread has three simple ingredients—flour, sugar, and butter. In addition to using a quality brand of flour, the secret to great shortbread is in the butter.

Tracy prefers salted Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter (it’s imported from Ireland). We use Cabot unsalted butter (winner of the World Cheese Championships in the Unsalted Butter category) or Finlandia. Try using a different brand of butter each time you make the recipe to see which you prefer.

> More shortbread recipes.

> The history of shortbread.

> The history of cookies.
 
 
RECIPE: ORANGE-SCENTED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

This recipe bakes the cookies at a lower temperature for a longer time.

You can decorate the baked cookies and/or dip them in chocolate, as shown in photo #1. Or, you can add garnishes alone, or serve the cookies plain. They’ll be delicious in any form.

If you don’t want orange zest, substitute 1 teaspoon almond extract.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 250°F with the rack in the middle.

2. CREAM the butter, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, for about 1 minute. Add the orange zest, mix well, then add the flour. Mix until completely incorporated (about 2 minutes).

3. TURN the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form a ball. Flatten it out slightly with your hands, then roll to 1/2-inch thick. This is much thicker than other cookies you may have made.

4. CUT out the hearts with a metal cookie cutter (or you can just cut them into squares with a knife). Put on a heavy-bottomed parchment- (or foil-) lined cookie sheet and bake for about 90 minutes, until just turning brown on the bottom.

5. TO GARNISH: Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes and top with your sprinkled garnish of choice. To embed a Kiss, allow 10 minutes and press the chocolate into the cookie top.

6. TO DIP the shortbread instead: Dip one side of the cookies in the melted chocolate; allow the excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set.

Shortbread will stay fresh in an airtight container for about a week, or it can be frozen for several months.