Eat Your Veggies: (Healthier) cut-out cookies

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For Valentine’s Day, my little guy wanted to make something special.

He’d already devoured my deconstructed chocolate-covered fruit salad (turns out he likes white chocolate?), so we decided to make something else from scratch.

Ever since Christmas, he’s been constantly asking to make cut-out cookies, but we just hadn’t done it, mostly because I don’t want him to think it’s OK to eat Grandma’s sugar cookies all year long. I mean, they’re delicious, but they’re not the healthiest dessert imaginable.

So, I found a recipe on one of my favorite sites that is for a cookie with a base of almond flour and honey. I find these ingredients to be far healthier than flour and white sugar and butter. Add in a healthier version of icing, and we were off to the races.

Thus, we had a win-win-win: Kiddo gets his special cut-out cookies, Mom gets her nutritional preferences met and we both get to eat the heck out of a special holiday treat.

Of course, Valentine’s Day has passed, but there’s no reason you couldn’t make these for your sweetheart for another occasion

Almond Flour Frosted Sugar Cookies

For the cookies

2 cups blanched almond flour

1/4 cup coconut oil, softened (or use butter instead)

1/4 cup raw honey

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the frosting

2 tablespoons coconut oil, softened

2 tablespoons raw honey

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Pinch of fine sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cookie ingredients until a thick, creamy batter is formed. If the dough seems dry, add a little bit of maple syrup to make it creamier.

Chill the dough for 30 minutes in the fridge

Using a cookie scoop, drop the batter by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet, lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Press each bit of dough flat and then cut into desired shape with cookie cutters.

Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown.

Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, simply cream together the coconut oil, honey, almond extract and salt until well combined. If the coconut oil starts to melt (it melts at temperatures above 76 degrees), briefly place the mixture in the fridge to help it set.

Frost the cooled cookies, and let them set in the fridge for a more solid-frosting.

Yields 24.

• Recipe adapted from www.detoxinista.com