Dark Chocolate Heart Cookies [Vegan]

“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.”  ~ Judy Garland

Cookies for you, Valentine!

Valentine’s Day can bring up a huge range of emotions, which is why dark chocolate is the perfect accompaniment to the day, don’t you think?

Actually, Valentine’s Day holds a very special place in my heart. My husband and I had our first date on Valentine’s Day… ahhemm 13 years ago!

It’s a day I’ll never forget. We went and watched a terrible movie at our college campus theatre. In fact, the movie was one of the worst we have ever seen, but that only added to the magic of the day. Every time we look back on it, we laugh.

I remember returning to my dorm room that night totally giddy and on cloud 9. I think somewhere in me I knew divine force was working in my life, and that a very special star had aligned when I met him. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

Now I am happy to say, we have a couple of more beautiful souls that have joined us to celebrate Valentine’s Day and they love cookies, and chocolate!

I hope these chocolate hearts add to your day! Share them with your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, or anyone you think could use a little extra love in their day. Couldn’t we all?

Know that you are special, you are loved, and you deserve a life of joy!

Dark Chocolate Heart Cookies

Yields: approximately 21 large hearts

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (12 tbsp.) Earth Balance, vegan butter substitute
• ½ cup cane sugar
• ¼ cup soy milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ cup coconut flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Topping

¾ cup semi-sweet non-dairy chocolate chips, divided ½ cup + ¼ cup

Directions

In a large bowl, cream earth balance until light and fluffy. Add sugar and continue to mix. Beat in soymilk and vanilla.

In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients: salt, coconut flour, cocoa powder, and all-purpose flour. Whisk gently to sift.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the earth balance mixture, stirring until combined.

Form dough into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

When the dough is done chilling allow to rest at room temperature for a few minutes to make it easier to roll out.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat, to prevent sticking.

Roll dough onto a lightly floured surface, about ¼ inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes with a cookie cutter or knife. Carefully place onto the baking sheet.

Bake for approximately 8 – 11 minutes depending on size.

Allow cookies to cool completely before adding chocolate topping.

For the Chocolate Topping-

In a microwave safe bowl add ½ cup chocolate chips. Microwave for 20 seconds, and then stir well.

Repeat until chocolate chips are melted. Approximately 1 minute in total.

Add remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips to melted chocolate, and stir well until melted in order to temper the chocolate.

Using a butter knife apply melted chocolate, covering half of the cookie.

Place on parchment paper and refrigerate until chocolate topping has hardened and set.

Store in an airtight container.

To Print, Email, or Text Recipe click here.

To Gift: Line a box with red tissue paper and gently stack cookies.

~ Baked with Love

Bonus:

Add a favorite quote, or a few touching words.

“Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.”  ~ Author Unknown

With love, gratitude, and a whole lot of heart,
Wendy Irene