Chocolate Drop Cookies Recipe

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  1                cup  sugar
     1/2           cup  butter or margarine -- softened
     1/3           cup  buttermilk
  1           teaspoon  vanilla
  2             ounces  unsweetened baking chocolate -- melted and cooled
  1                     egg
  1 3/4           cups  all-purpose flour
     1/2      teaspoon  baking soda
     1/2      teaspoon  salt
  1                cup  chopped nuts
                        Chocolate Frosting -- (recipe follows)
                       
                        CHOCOLATE FROSTING
  2             ounces  unsweetened baking chocolate
  2        tablespoons  butter or margarine
  2               cups  powdered sugar
  3        tablespoons  hot water

Heat oven to 375º. Grease cookie sheet. Beat sugar, butter, buttermilk, vanilla, chocolate and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in nuts.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched in center. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost with Chocolate Frosting.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING:

Melt chocolate and butter in 2-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring
occasionally; remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and hot water until smooth and spreadable. (If frosting is too thick, add more water. If frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar.)

Chocolate Linzer Hearts

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  1                cup  butter or margarine -- softened
     1/2           cup  sugar
  1           teaspoon  vanilla
  2                     eggs
  1                cup  hazelnuts -- toasted (see Notes), skinned and ground
     1/2         ounce  semisweet baking chocolate -- finely chopped
  2 1/2           cups  all-purpose flour
  1 1/2      teaspoons  ground cinnamon
     1/2      teaspoon  ground nutmeg
     1/2           cup  raspberry jam
  1              ounce  semisweet baking chocolate -- melted

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, or mix with spoon. Beat in vanilla and eggs until smooth. Add remaining ingredients except jam and melted chocolate. Beat until well blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour (dough will be sticky).

Heat oven to 375º. Roll one fourth of dough at a time between pieces of waxed paper until 1/8 inch thick. (Keep remaining dough refrigerated until ready to roll.) Cut with 2-inch heart-shape cookie cutter. Cut small heart shape from center of half of the 2-inch hearts, if desired. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Spread about 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam on bottom of whole heart cookies; top with cut-out heart cookie. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Let stand until chocolate is firm.