Low Fat Valentine Cookies

These cookies are made with half the butter of most sugar cookies and instead of granulated sugar use coconut palm sugar to prevent a spike in blood sugar levels. The frosting is spread thin and I used the juice from defrosted dark sweet cherries that gave the glaze a little pink color and topped with a few sprinkles and a dusting of confectioners sugar. So, treat yourself to one of these low fat Valentine cookies without feeling too guilty!


Ingredients:

5 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar or granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners sugar, sifted for work surface

Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and almond extract, mixing well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. 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. Wrap dough in plastic and shape into a disk. Chill for two hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Sprinkle work surface and rolling pin with confectioners sugar. Turn out one half of dough onto it. Roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use heart-shaped cookie cutters dipped in confectioners sugar to make cutouts. 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.

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.

I used two sizes of hearts and the red plastic one worked just as well as the metal one.


Glaze Ingredients:

1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon juice from defrosted dark sweet cherries
Pink sprinkles for decorating, if desired

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together confectioners sugar, almond extract, and milk. In a small resealable bag put 2 tablespoons of white glaze and set aside. Add cherry juice to the sugar mixture and if you want to make a darker pink add another teaspoon of juice. When cookies are fully cooled, frost and decorate as desired. Makes about 30 cookies, depending on the size of cookie cutters used. Enjoy!