valentines party.

we had our valentines party at grandmothers today!
there were plenty of valentines to go around,
including a new pair of elmo pj's.
bentley will forever love this holiday due to all the little gifts + candy he receives.
i guess that is partially my reasoning for loving valentines day too...

{what bentley brought}

cherry chocolate kisses adapted from The Curvy Carrot

Servings: approximately 36 cookies

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened, but still cool
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons maraschino cherry “juice”
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, chopped
Granulated sugar, for sprinkling the cookies
36 milk chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Beat the butter at medium speed until creamy.
3. Reduce the speed to the lowest setting and slowly add the powdered sugar and salt.
4. Add the cherry juice and the almond extract until combined.
5. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Increase the mixer speed to medium and add the cherries.
7. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls, and place the balls on a baking sheet, approximately 2 inches apart.
8.  Dip the bottom of a glass (i used my 1/4 measuring cup) in sugar & gently press each cookie in its center until the cookie is about 1/2-inch thick.
9.  Bake the cookies until the bottoms are lightly browned, about 14 minutes.
10. Once removed from the oven, immediately press a chocolate kiss into each cookie’s center.
11.  Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. warning: the chocolate takes a VERY long time to cool. just a heads up.

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