Heart Windowpane Cookies - Gluten-free and Vegan

You could make a simple jam thumbprint cookie and call it day, but why would you do that when you could make painfully adorable heart windowpane cookies instead? Assuming you're not too sick of Valentine's Day mush yet, I think these cookies would make a perfect gift for anyone on any day. That is, if you don't eat them all before they make it out your door, which tends to be my problem.

Heart Windowpane Cookies

Vegan, gluten-free, soy-free

Makes a dozen cookies

Ingredients:

3 teaspoons Ener-G egg substitute powder

1/4 cup warm water

3/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour

1/2 cup blanched almond flour

1/2 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup soy-free Earth Balance, softened

1/3 cup cane sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup berry preserves (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, etc.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.

Whisk Ener-G and warm water, set aside.

Stir together the flour and salt, set aside.

Beat butter for 30 seconds, add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add Ener-G water mixture and vanilla, mix well. 

Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture, beating until well combined. If mixture seems too soft and does not hold it's shape when formed, add another 2-4 tablespoons of all-purpose gluten-free flour. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Divide the dough in half. On a well-floured surface, roll out both halves to rectangles of the same size and about 1/4-inch thickness. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter evenly stamp out hearts in one of the  rectangles, far enough apart to fit into your circle cookie cutter (a thin-rimmed drinking glass works well too). Place the heart-stamped rectangle on top of the whole rectangle. Using your circle cookie cutter, cut out circles around each of the hearts, going through both rectangles. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

With the stamped out hearts, you can either bake them like I did, or combine and roll them out to make more windowpane cookies.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the bottoms just begin to brown. Cool on a wire rack. Before serving,  fill the heart-shaped centers with preserves.