Soft Valentine Cookie

Please bear with the somewhat long question. I am looking for a recipe for a very soft chocolate cookie that I can make heart-shaped. Think extra soft whoopie pie cakey texture.
My little girl was in a bad sledding accident last week and is on soft foods. I would like to make a special Valentine dessert for her and her brother, but after a week of only being allowed to eat puddings, yogurt, ice cream etc things like chocolate mousse or pudding would NOT be special for her. She is able to eat muffins in small pieces, so I thought of whoopie pies.
BUT, to add to my requirements list: she has a vision impairment, so to make it truly special for her I'd like to make it heart-shaped so she can FEEL that the treat is heart-shaped.
However, my (pretty limited) experience making whoopie pies or other cakey cookies is that the don't hold any real shape other than round. Ordinarily I'd just do a sugar cookie or shortbread recipe with heart shaped cookie cutters, but those would bee too hard for her to eat.
Any ideas for me? (Oh, and in case it wasn't clear - chocolate is very important for this one!)
Many thanks!

Posted by: TobiT
February 13, 2016

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13 Comments

13 Comments

TobiT February 14, 2016

Mission accomplished! Used the approach Queen Sashy suggested - followed the link that used red velvet cake mix, subbing chocolate cake mix for the RV, and cut the cookie halves into heart shapes before filling with the cream cheese frosting that I doctored by adding red food coloring and mint flavor.
I have to confess they look better than they taste. But of course that's to be expected when:
Using commercial cake mix as a base (bland!)
Adding creme de menthe to provide the mint flavor to the frosting - didn't have peppermint schnapps, which I think would have been better AND honestly nothing was really going to overcome the cream cheese flavor of the frosting.
That said,deliciousness wasn't really the point of this. The cookies were SOFT enough to for my daughter to eat, recognizably heart shaped, and super pretty with the pink frosted filling. And when it comes to cookies, my kids aren't exactly picky, flavor-wise!
Thanks everyone for your ideas!

QueenSashy February 14, 2016

TobiT -- I am so glad it worked out. And wishing your little girl a speedy recovery.

Stephanie February 15, 2016

This is the F52 community at it's best. Proud to be associated with @QueenSashy and you all. And best wishes to your daughter @TobiT.

TobiT February 15, 2016

I totally agree, Stephanie. I knew that if I asked the question here I'd get not only great food solutions but responses from kind people who "get it."

Stephanie February 15, 2016

Dang it, "its best". Need more coffee!

QueenSashy February 13, 2016

So I've been googling around a little bit, because it would be really nice to give your little girl a soft heart-shaped treat. Take a look at this http://asmallsnippet.com/2011/02/heartbreakers.html . I have not done it, but it looks like the technique might work with any similarly soft cookie. So perhaps you can make soft round cakey cookies and then cut them after they are baked.

TobiT February 13, 2016

Thanks! I think I'm going to try this by subbing in chocolate cake mix for the red velvet. Will do the cream cheese frosting filling, colored pink with a little food coloring. Because it seems so easy, I'll enlist the kids' help and make it a Sunday morning project.

QueenSashy February 13, 2016

TobiT -- do you by any chance have heart shaped silicon molds? I think that it would work if you poured the whoopie pie batter in it and baked in molds.

TobiT February 13, 2016

Unfortunately, we don't have those. But I did see a Martha Stewart recipe online that says you can make heart shaped whoopie pies by basically piping the batter in a v formation. So I may try that one, though I'm a little worried it may be too loose.

QueenSashy February 13, 2016

I am a little bit concerned that the cookies might lose shape while baking. Making chocolate cake or brownies and then cutting into hearts is probably more reliable, it's just that the cakes will be not quite super soft.

TobiT February 13, 2016

Thanks. For a lot of reasons I've been leaning toward brownies. You confirmed it!

fitzie February 13, 2016

Make brownies and cut to heart shapes with a cookie cutter

TobiT February 13, 2016

Of course! Why didn't I think of that??? Thanks!

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