Low Fat Valentine Cookies

Total Time: 3 hrs 8 mins Preparation Time: 3 hrs Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted for work surface
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon juice, from defrosted dark sweet cherry
• pink sugar, for decorating if desired

Recipe

• 1 for cookie: using a mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. add egg and almond extract, mixing well.
• 2 in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
• 3 gradually add flour mixture into butter and sugar until dough forms. the dough may seem a little crumbly at first; but it will come together.
• 4 wrap dough in plastic and shape into a disk. chill for two hours in the refrigerator.
• 5 preheat oven to 350 degrees f. line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• 6 sprinkle work surface and rolling pin with confectioners sugar. turn out one half of dough it.
• 7 roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness.
• 8 use heart-shaped cookie cutters dipped in confectioners sugar to make cutouts.
• 9 gather scraps and re-roll until all the dough is used. while the first batch are baking is a good time to repeat the rolling and cutting process with the second half of the dough.
• 10 place cookies 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. bake 8-9 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. transfer to wire rack after 1 minute to cool.
• 11 for glaze: in a small bowl, mix together confectioners sugar, almond extract, and milk. put 2 tablespoons of this glaze in a small resealable bag and set aside.
• 12 add cherry juice to the remaining glaze mixture and if you want to make a darker pink add another teaspoon of juice.
• 13 when cookies are fully cooled, frost and decorate as desired.
• 14 makes about 30 cookies, depending on the size of cookie cutters used. enjoy!