Valentine’s Day is synonymous with bon bons - chocolate and candy. So why not combine both chocolate and candy in a fantastic cookie that can be given as gifts or served at a fancy valentine dinner with ice cream or chocolate mousse. Chocolate Raspberry Bon Bons make good use of the seasonal Hershey’s Raspberry Hugs®, that come out during the Valentine season most years. These luscious cookies consist of a rich chocolate cookie dough shaped around the raspberry hug and baked. The cookies can be placed in Valentine baking liners to make them even more festive.

While the Bon Bons are absolutely decadent freshly baked (since the candy is still liquid in the middle), they are equally good made up to a week ahead (the raspberry flavor has time to permeate the entire cookie), so there’s no need to stay up late on Valentine’s eve baking. The problem with making them ahead is that they must be hidden or they will disappear quickly. The Hancock tasters agreed that these should be an annual Valentine’s Day treat.

Incidentally, even though these are cookies and not candy, they can be considered true Bon Bons. According to WiseGeek “Bon bon typically refers to a chocolate or a truffle confection. The term bon bon comes from the French and is actually simply a repetition of the word good. The bon bon to the French is a chocolate covered candy or truffle, often with a butter cream or fondant center. Sometimes bon bon merely refers to any candy, not necessarily covered with chocolate. The fictional idle housewife so often portrayed with a box of bon bons would probably have been eating the French style bon bon.”

5 dozen Bon Bons

2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt

60 Hershey's Raspberry Hugs, (1 10 ounce bag)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
   
2. Line three baking sheets with parchment or spray with non-stick spray.


3. Cream powdered sugar and butter until fluffy.


4. Beat in the eggs and vanilla; mix well.


5. Measure the flour, cocoa, and salt into a fine strainer; shake over the butter mixture (or sift); mix well.


6. Divide the dough into quarters and cut each quarter into 15 pieces.


7. Shape each piece into a disk and wrap around an unwrapped Hershey's Raspberry Hug.


8. Place on the prepared baking sheets.


9. Bake 10 minutes or until just set.


10. Remove from the oven.


11. Mix the 1/4 cup cocoa with the 1/4 cup powdered sugar; sift over the warm cookies.


12. Store in an airtight container.

Note: For smaller cookies, divide each quarter of the dough into 20 pieces rather than 15. You will need a second package of hugs for the extra cookies.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 121 Calories from Fat 57
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 47% Protein 6% Carb. 47%

Nutrient Amount per Serving
Total Fat 6 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Cholesterol 21 mg
Sodium 83 mg
Total Carbohydrate 14 g
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Sugars 2 g
Protein 2 g

Vitamin A 4% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% Iron 2%