Bakin' My Way to His Heart

I'm not afraid to admit it: I love Valentine's Day.

I spent the better part of my insanely awkward teenage years wishing I had a Valentine, and yet still celebrating the holiday with my equally awkward girlfriends. We embraced our glasses-wearing, brace-faced, frizzy-haired selves, and reveled in V-Day slumber parties that involved lots of raw cookie dough, prank phone calls, and late-night viewings of "Loveline with Dr. Drew."

I was the classic dorky teenager.

Today, I'm fortunate enough to have secured a somewhat permanent, and exceptionally stellar Valentine in my life. This guy draws me pictures of stick figures, cleans off my KitchenAid stand mixer, and warms up my car every morning. He also puts up with my hideous singing voice, my resistance to putting clean dishes back in the cabinet, and my minor obsession with Coldstone Creamery's Cake Batter ice cream.

To thank my sweet dude for all the ways he shows he cares, I baked my way to his heart. This year, it came in the form of Chocolate-Dipped Cherry Shortbread Cookies.

Buttery. Flaky. Pink. And chock full o' love.

These little cookies are subtly sweet and just plain precious. Semi-sweet chocolate was a perfect match, but I imagine that white chocolate or dark chocolate would go equally as well.

So, whether your Valentine is your significant other or your best friend, your mom or your favorite co-worker--there's always someone out there who could use a little lovin' from you.

Bake up some Cherry Heart Cookies for them this weekend. And be grateful you don't have braces anymore.

Chocolate-Dipped Cherry Shortbread Hearts
(recipe from Taste of Home)

These cookies look like the essence of Valentine's Day. Pink + Chocolate + Hearts. Bonus: They taste awesome and buttery!

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 3 TBSP sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
  
• 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
• 1 TBSP cold water
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 TBSP butter

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees and coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2) In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and sugar. Cut in butter and mix with a fork until crumbly. Gently add in cherries, water, and extract--be gentle! Shortbread can be tricky :) Feel free to add a dash more of water to hold the dough together if you need to.

3) On a lightly floured surface, gently roll/pat the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut using small heart cookie cutters and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

4) In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips and 1 TBSP butter. Dip half of each cookie in the chocolate and place on wax paper to cool. Give to your Valentine.

Dough-Lovers Anonymous

I love vegan cookie dough.

Although the risk of salmonella poisoning never stops me from devouring regular cookie dough, I hold back nothing when it comes to consuming vegan cookie dough. Is there a 12-step program for dough-loving fools like myself? I fear I'll one day reach a point where I simply turn off the oven, grab a spoon, and call it quits on baking altogether.

Okay, probably not. But I'm close.

This weekend I made some vegan dough and (reluctantly) baked them into chewy, yummy Chocolate-Cherry-Almond Cookies. Think Black Forest Cake meets Sugar Cookie. I love taking the flavors of decadent desserts and baking them into bite-size cookie form.

These cookies are adapted from a recipe I found in my favorite dessert cookbook: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. This cookbook has taught me the basics of vegan baking, and I've learned that flaxseed and canola oil are truly the best friends of stellar vegan cookie.

And friends, this is one seriously stellar cookie.

Do you have any favorite vegan dessert recipes? Share your link below!

Chocolate-Cherry-Almond Cookies

(recipe adapted from one found in Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar)

For me, the essence of a good cookie is in its chewy-ness factor. Do NOT give me a cake-like cookie. A cake-like cookie is just what it is: a miniature cake that simply doesn't fit in the cookie category. These cookies are definitely rocking a perfect chewy factor.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 6 TBSP vanilla almond milk (unsweetened)
• 2 heaping tablespoons of ground flaxseed
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 - 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup oat flour (whir one cup of oats in your food processor)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or white chocolate chips (or a rockin' mixture of both!)
• 3/4 cup chopped, toasted almonds
• 1/2 cup chopped dried cherries

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugars, milk, flaxseed, and extracts until thoroughly combined. Stir in the flours, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the almonds, chocolate chips, and cherries.

3) Drop dough by spoonfuls onto the baking sheets and bake for 10 - 11 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Eat up!