Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies

Ingredients

COOKIES

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• bamboo skewers, soaked and cut down to 6 inch lengths
• (Makes 3 1/2 dozen 2 inch cookies)

Directions

1. Cut the bamboo skewers to about 6 inch lengths, soak in water and set aside.
2. Mix the butter, sugar, cream cheese egg and vanilla together in a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer on low to medium speed. Beat until it is nice and creamy.
3. Add the flour a little at a time and mix in. When the dough is well mixed, stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.
4. Put a plastic wrap over the bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours.
5. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Line 1 or 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, whatever you have. You will need to work in batches to make use all the cookie dough.
8. Lightly flour a clean, flat working surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/8 inch in thickness.
9. Using a 2 inch heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out the hearts.
10. Place a bamboo skewer onto the cookie sheet and center a heart over the stick making sure the stick goes at least 3/4 of the way the length of the heart. Press down lightly with your fingers or a spatula to embed the stick into the cookie at the back. Maximize the space on your cookie sheet the best you can.
11. Repeat the process, cutting cookies and placing onto the baking sheet. Leave 1-inch between the cookies.
12. Place into the oven and bake for 7 to 10 minutes, watch you don't burn them. You want the edges to just be lightly browned.
13. Remove from the oven and let the pan of cookies sit a few minutes, then using a flipper, gently lift the cookies off the baking sheet and onto cooling racks. Let cool completely to set firm before you try to lift them.
14. Make as many batches as necessary until you have used all the cookie dough.