HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!Chocolate-Dipped Fortune Cookies

I hope everyone is having a fun, romantic, silly, corny, sappy day today. I love this holiday, as I'm sure many women do, but I'm the biggest cornball around on this day. I couldn't bear to show up to work without something cute to share with my co-workers. It's a sickness, I recognize it, and hey - that's the first step toward healing, right? Ok, I'll probably never NOT be a cornball - it's just the facts, people.

So, my Valentine's gift to my co-workers (and YOU!) are these cute little chocolate-dipped fortune cookies. Of course, I had to dye them red for the occasion! Instead of traditional fortunes, they instead contained quotes about love by various famous people. Here are a couple of examples:

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix

Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave. - Martin Luther

Ok, everyone now... "Aaaaawwwwwwwwwwww".

These little cookies are also going to be the dessert portion of a very special meal I'm cooking up for my man this Saturday. I'll start sharing the rest of that meal with you on Sunday - it's gonna be a doozy!

So, even if you think today is a stupid, goofy, non-holiday, take some time out today and think about someone you love. Maybe it's someone you're just starting out with and everything is exciting and new. Maybe it's someone you've been in love with for years and that love grows into something even better each year.

Or MAYBE it's your little orange kitty that doesn't want you to get this post done and instead play fetch with him with his favorite plastic milk ring!
Am I the only one with a food blog mascot? I swear, he sits behind my monitor like this every single time I post. So I guess I should introduce him as the FOODIE mascot! haha... I tell ya, if any cat in this world is a foodie, it's my cat. He LOVES all the different foods we make and tastes almost all of it. He's got his favorites and he's always there watching me cook in the kitchen, hoping for something good to be dropped into his little "tasting" bowl on the kitchen floor. He's so spoiled...

Ok, so hey, do you wanna know how I made these things or what? Here we go!

Start by beating the egg whites, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff. I didn't have any almond extract on hand, so I just doubled the vanilla extract and it tasted just like a fortune cookie to me, so that works too.

Next, sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Stir the water into the flour mixture.

Add the flour into the egg white mixture

and mix until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.

I decided to add some red food coloring to my batter.

Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a circle 4 inches in diameter.

Pop them into a 300 degree oven for about 13 minutes - just until the very outer edge of the cookies start to brown.

I apologize, but I don't have pictures of the actual forming of the cookies. You have to move so fast when you do this that I didn't have time to pause and snap a picture.

But basically, as SOON as the cookies come out of the oven, they'll still be a little soft and pliable. You just remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Quickly place a fortune in the middle of the cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies.



Now, you can be done with the cookies at this point, or you can deck them out with tasty little chocolate shawls. I just melted down some Mally's chocolate bars I had laying around and dipped the backs of the cookies from end to end in the chocolate. Then I rolled them in colorful sprinkles for an extra pop of color.



HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!


Fortune Cookies

By Rhonda Parkinson, About.com

Ingredients:
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons water

Preparation:
1. Write fortunes on pieces of paper that are 3 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 9-X-13 inch baking sheets.

2. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff.

3. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Stir the water into the flour mixture.

4. Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.

5. Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a circle 4 inches in diameter.

6. Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (14 - 15 minutes).

7. Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies.


Each serving includes (based on a total yield of 9 cookies):
Calories 93, 11 g Carbohydrates, 1 g Protein, 5 g total Fat, 1 g Saturated Fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, trace Fiber, 72 mg Sodium, 18 mg Potassium.