Happy Valentine’s Day

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, I’m adding another recipe to the files – in case you’re still scrambling to come up with some gluten-free sweets for your sweetie.

Or, you didn’t see the Chocolate Truffles recipe I shared earlier this week.

My good friend Janelle Holden, posted this recipe during the recent holidays, in her blog Mind Body Love – and it’s a perfect cut-out cookie, regardless of the occasion.

In fact, I think that’s the best part about this recipe!

The dough lends itself well to rolling out, and cutting into decorative shapes with your choice of cookie cutter.

I also like that the recipe uses garbanzo bean flour  –  a common ingredient in Middle Eastern baking.

(Ethnic cuisines are often a fabulous source for new ideas).

Not everyone loves bean flours, insisting there’s an underlying taste that they just don’t care for.

But with the right amount of sweetener and spices, you might not even notice.

I’ll leave that for you to decide.

For several weeks, I had in mind to tweak the recipe a bit – not that it needed any tweaking.

But I thought a little cocoa powder added to the flours would be a perfect addition, for anyone out there who’s a chocolate fanatic.

And then one thing led to another, and before I knew it I was baking Valentine Hearts.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

HEART-SHAPED VALENTINE COOKIES with (Optional) CHOCOLATE GLAZE

Adapted from Janelle Holden’s Persian Christmas Cookies

½ cup coconut oil, melted

½ cup olive oil

1 cup maple syrup

1 ½ tsp ground Cardamom

2 cups Chickpea/Garfava Flour (Bob’s Red Mill)

3/4 cup Coconut Flour

½ cup Tapioca Flour

4 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Salt

 

Combine the flours and salt in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the coconut oil, olive oil, maple syrup and cardamom, and blend for a few seconds until creamy.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the bowl, and pulse several times until thoroughly combined. The dough will be a bit sticky. Knead into a ball, and place between two sheets of parchment paper. Flatten slightly, then chill dough for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Roll the dough out to ½ inch thickness (you could complete this step before refrigeration, if you prefer) and cut out with heart-shaped cookie cutters. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet (I use a Silpat) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until slightly golden.

Allow to cool completely before adding the glaze.

Speaking of which, the cookies are delicious plain, but you could add a Chocolate Glaze to dress them up for your sweetheart.

 

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

½ cup gluten-free Chocolate Chips  (look for Enjoy Life )

This the easiest glaze I know of.

Simply melt some gluten-free chocolate chips, or a small bar of chocolate  –  then either dip, or spread ,the melted chocolate on the cookies. Allow the glaze to set until hardened.

Or – with a little extra effort, you could  make this sugar-free version from scratch.

(You’ll need to scroll about halfway down the page, and of course omit the apricots. And just for the record, these Brownie Bites are totally awesome!)

 

NOTES:

• These cookies are wonderful plain, or flavored with cocoa powder.
• I accidentally omitted the cardamom in the chocolate version & they were still good – so that’s another option
• You could also easily cut the recipe in half, which I often do – it still makes plenty for a small household.