Valentine's Day Cookies

My little one and I decided we wanted to bake heart cookies for daddy and for Valentine's Day.
Of course I love baking sugar cookies and they are pretty simple.  They also roll out nicely so we could roll them and cut them out into hearts. And then I remembered that I can't eat gluten so I would have to make something that I could also enjoy.  And thus started my internet / pinterest search for gluten free sugar cookies.

So we made two batches of cookies: the gluten ones that would chill in the fridge for a couple of hours and the gluten free (and dairy free) ones.  And we baked them and then we got the fondue pot going and dipped them in chocolate.  It was a wonderful afternoon and here are our recipes:



Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Using an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter until fluffy and pale.  Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating on low speed for 2 minutes after each addition.
2. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended.
3, Sift the flour and salt together and add to the butter mixture in batches.  Mix on low speed just until blended.
4. Divide the dough into four parts.  Shape into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours.
5. Remove the disks from the fridge and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.
6. Roll out the dough on floured wax paper to a thickness of about 1/4".  Cut into your shapes using cookie cutters.  Gather up the scraps and re-roll them.  If they become sticky, refrigerate them for 10 minutes before re-rolling.
7. Bake the cookies until they are lightly golden on the bottom, about 12-15 minutes.  Let the cookies cool briefly on the pans on wire racks before transferring them to the racks to cool completely.

Makes about 30 cookies


Gluten (and Dairy) Free "Sugar" Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup almonds (I mixed about half and half with hazelnuts)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tbsp tapioca flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/4 cup honey

Directions:
1. Do not preheat your oven! Grind the nuts into a flour in a blender or food processor (I used my Vitamix).
2. Mix together the nut flour with coconut flour, salt, baking soda and tapioca flour until well combined.
3. Next add the coconut oil, vanilla, egg and honey.  Beat together until it forms a cookie dough.
4. Roll out the dough on floured wax paper and cut with cookie cutters.  Place them on a piece of parchment paper and place them in the oven.
5. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Cool in pan for a few minutes before transferring them to wire racks to continue cooling.

Makes about 20 cookies.