Chocolate Sweet Heart Cookies

These little nuggets of joy are only 50 calories apiece. Melted chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder provide the cookies with a rich chocolate taste. I doubled the batch to give to my students on Valentine's Day and to have plenty left over to share with family and friends.

Makes about 70 2 inch cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
8 ounces semisweet chocolate pieces
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
granulated sugar for decorating

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the flour, baking soda and cocoa together in a medium bowl and set aside. Line baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper. In a double boiler set over simmering water, melt together the chocolate, brown sugar and butter. Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl of a standing mixer and let cool slightly. With the mixer running, add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla. Mix until just combined. Turn the mixer down to low and add the flour mixture. The dough will come together in a ball. Scoop out 1/4 of the dough at a time and mound it together on a piece of parchment. Pat the dough into a disc, place another piece of parchment on top and roll to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out 2 inch hearts and place them onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with a small amount of white sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes.