These Dark Chocolate Cookie Dough Hearts are made with homemade, edible chocolate chip cookie dough dipped in rich, semi-sweet melted chocolate and finished with sprinkles! They are easy to make, budget-friendly, and a perfect Valentine's Day gift for your sweetie, friends, neighbors, or coworkers!

Chocolate covered cookie dough hearts topped with red, pink, and white sprinkles placed on a white parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

Homemade and from the heart. Just like my Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Hearts, these chocolate chip cookie dough hearts make lovely Valentine's Day gifts for people you care about. Showing someone you made them something special goes a long way!
The taste. This chocolate chip cookie dough is edible (and eggless!) and has just the right amount of mini chocolate chips. It tastes great straight from the freezer, too!
Simple and straightforward. This cookie dough is easy to prepare and needs only 30 minutes to an hour of chilling before you dip the hearts into melted chocolate, which is simple and fun! Get the kids involved on sprinkle duty as you set the chocolate hearts on the tray.
The ingredients. You probably already have everything you need in your pantry, or you can easily pick it up at your local grocery store.

And probably the biggest reason they are the best? They are CHOCOLATE!

A stack of four chocolate covered cookie dough hearts topped with red, pink, and white sprinkles surrounded by other cookie dough hearts with a white background.

What You Will Need

The ingredients in the image below go into these chocolate-dipped cookie dough hearts. Items in the bulleted list are key ingredients that need a bit more explanation. Substitutions are noted below as well.

Ingredients in various size bowls labeled as all mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, salt, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, vanilla extract, heat treated all purpose flour, unsalted butter, whole milk, semi-sweet chocolate chips, vegetable shortening, and valentine's day themed sprinkles on a white marbled background.

All-Purpose Flour. You must heat treat the all-purpose flour before adding it to the cookie dough (more on how to do that below).
Vegetable Shortening. You can also use coconut oil or paraffin wax. All three options thin the chocolate, which makes dipping the cookie dough hearts easier. Paraffin adds a nice shine and lets the chocolate-covered hearts sit out at room temperature without melting.
Valentine’s Day-themed Sprinkles. Non pareils work as well.

Recommended Baking Tools

You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for this cookie dough. Other baking tools you will need are:

Wax Paper
Rolling Pin
Baking Sheets
Spatula(s)
Double Boiler or Large Microwave Safe Bowl. For melting the chocolate. I have used my double boiler (for chocolate and paraffin wax), as well as a large glass mixing bowl (for chocolate and coconut oil or vegetable shortening).
Small Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter(s). You can go a little bigger, but you will get fewer cookie dough hearts.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here is a brief overview of how to make these easy chocolate-covered cookie dough hearts. The full printable recipe, in US customary or metric measurements, is in the recipe card below.

Heat-Treated Flour

Quick Tip: We have all sampled raw cookie dough at least once, maybe several times (and hey, we are still here!), but the FDA warns that harmful strains of E. Coli can be found in raw flour, which is why this first step matters. You must heat-treat your all-purpose flour before starting this recipe.

Heat treating all purpose flour, stirring with a fork to avoid clumping, on a white parchment paper lined vintage baking sheet on a white marbled background.

Step 1. Heat treat the all-purpose flour. Spread the all-purpose flour on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 300ºF, stirring the flour every 2-3 minutes so it does not clump (Image 1). Let the heat-treated flour cool completely (about 25 minutes) (Image 2), then store it in an airtight container if you are not using it right away.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Mixing the butter and sugars together, then adding in the milk and vanilla extract in a glass bowl on a white marbled background.

Step 1. Mix the butter and sugars together. Cream the butter and sugars first (Images 1 and 2). Then add the milk and vanilla extract (Image 3). The mixture should look light in color and fluffy in texture (Image 4).

Adding heat treated flour, salt, and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to the edible cookie dough mixture in a glass bowl on a white marbled background.

Step 2. Add the heat-treated flour and salt (Images 5 and 6). Once combined, the dough will be thick and slightly sticky. Last, fold in the mini chocolate chips (Images 7 and 8).

Rolled out edible chocolate chip cookie dough with hearts cut out using a heart shaped cookie cutter and placed on a wax paper lined baking sheet to freeze.

Quick Tip: Roll the edible cookie dough between sheets of wax paper. It sticks less than parchment paper or plastic wrap. This also works well for layering several rolled-out doughs, like my Super Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookies or Homemade Peppermint Patties. To keep the wax paper from sliding while you roll, put a kitchen towel underneath it.

Step 3. Roll out the cookie dough. Roll the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch between two sheets of wax paper (Images 9 and 10), then freeze for 15-20 minutes to make cutting easier. Cut out the hearts with your favorite heart-shaped cookie cutter (Images 11 and 12), then refreeze for 30 minutes to an hour, or overnight if you prefer!

Assembling

Melting chocolate and vegetable shortening together in a large glass bowl until smooth.

Step 1. Melt the chocolate. Put the semi-sweet chocolate chips and vegetable shortening (or coconut oil or paraffin wax) in a large microwave-safe bowl (Image 13). Microwave in 30-45 second bursts at 50-60% power until the chocolate is melted and smooth (Image 14).

Dipping the chocolate chip cookie dough hearts into melted chocolate, topping with red, pink, and white sprinkles, then placing them on a wax paper lined baking sheet.

Quick Tip: Have a wax paper-lined baking sheet and your Valentine's Day sprinkles ready before this step, which helps a lot! You can use candy dipping tools or two forks from the utensil drawer.

Step 5. Dip the cookie dough hearts in melted chocolate (Images 15 and 16). Coat all sides of each heart, then lift it up. Gently tap or run the bottom of your dipping tool along the edge of the bowl to shake off extra chocolate. Set the coated hearts on the wax paper-lined baking sheet, then right away add Valentine's Day sprinkles or nonpareils (Images 17 and 18). Chill the hearts in the fridge so the chocolate sets. Trim any excess chocolate, if you like.

Chocolate covered cookie dough hearts topped with red, pink, and white sprinkles placed on a white parchment paper lined baking sheet with center heart cut in half to see the cookie dough inside.

Recipe FAQs

What’s the best way to store chocolate-covered cookie dough hearts?

Store any leftover cookie dough hearts in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer, separated by sheets of wax paper so they do not stick together.

Can I buy heat-treated flour?

Yes, you can buy it, but most grocery stores do not carry it, so online is your best bet. Heat-treating the all-purpose flour yourself at home is far easier and easier on the wallet!

Can I use milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate?

Yes, absolutely!

If you make these Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough Hearts or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!