Chocolate-Covered Cherry Valentines - Roll-out Chocolate

Method

• In a small [microwavable] bowl, mix Cointreau and vanilla together; chop cherries into small pieces and place in bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds (or allow cherries to absorb liquid overnight).
• Sift flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a medium bowl, set aside.
• Melt chocolate by doing the following: place in small microwavable bowl and cook for 45 seconds, then stir, then cook at 20 second intervals - stirring after each - until smooth. You can also melt your chocolate in a double boiler over boiling water. Allow to cool until comfortable to touch but still very pliable.
• Cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer; add eggs and mix thoroughly. Add melted chocolate and mix until color is uniform.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add cherries and mix to incorporate.
• Place dough between 2 long sheets of wax paper; roll with a rolling pin until almost the size of a standard cookie sheet.
• Chill dough for at least 45 minutes; if you are impatient and have the room stick it in the freezer.
• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove top wax paper, cut the thin slab into two equal pieces and wrap one and put it back in the fridge. Roll the other half between wax paper until double the size, about 1/4 inch thick, maybe thinner.
• Using a cookie cutter, or a little round drinking glass, cut out cookies (or cut rolled dough into 2" squares or diamonds, etc. with a knife) and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. bunch up scraps and re-roll; if dough gets too sticky put it in the freezer for a few minutes.
• Bake for 9-12 minutes; times will vary according to size of cutouts. Cool cookies on sheet for five minutes.
• In a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the shortening. Drop the cooled cookies upside-down into the chocolate, and fish out with a fork and place on a rack to set. When the coated cookies lose their gloss, decorate with white pearl sugar or melted white chocolate dots if desired.
• * I did not have "couverture" chocolate, the type used for dipping chocolate; it has extra cocoa butter, which is why I added the palm oil. I used the Trader Joe's Belgian Dark, the type that is sold in packages of three small bars. To me this type is smoother than the huge one-pound bar that TJ's sells. ** I'm not really a fan of white chocolate, but I happened to have some Valrhona white chocolate feves. I put about 10 in a tiny bowl and nuked for 15 seconds, stirred, then another 15. It worked, and being impatient I dropped dots and swirls from a teaspoon. . .