Vegan Love Cookies (gluten free)

A few weeks back, it was Valentine's Day.

When I first met my love, I baked him chocolate chip cookies on our third date and after eating two in the car on our way to dinner, he was smitten. He took the leftovers to his parents' house. When I first met the family, I was recognized with, 'so you're the girl who made those amazing cookies!' Needless to say, baking can really be the way to someone's heart and in my experience, make a very lasting impression.

Naturally on Valentine's Day, I recreate my cookies to give as a sweet treat to my love, as a gift and a little reminder of one of the reasons he keeps me around...

Love Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of almond meal
• 1/4 cup of vanilla protein powder (I use a vegan rice blend)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of Natvia stevia sweetener
• 1/4 cup of desiccated coconut 
• 2 tablespoon of peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil
• One (or two if you want that extra chocolate hit) small milk chocolate Lindt bars*not vegan OR vegan-friendly chocolate bar, I like Pana Chocolate
• Candy for decorations: I used pink love hearts and edible gold glitter

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (moderately hot) fan forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
2. Combine the dry ingredients together (almond meal, protein powder, baking powder, coconut, stevia and cinnamon). Add in the peanut butter, coconut oil and vanilla essence and mix until just combined, and then add your chocolate. Carefully mix the chocolate in, taking care not to break up the chocolate too much. If the mixture isn't coming together, add a little water until the mix forms a dough. 
3. Once the dough is formed, take out a tablespoon of the mixture and roll into a ball. Flatten onto the cookie tray. Repeat until you have run out of mixture. Don't worry if the cookies are quite close together, they won't spread like regular cookies containing flour and butter.
4. Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Watch them after 10 minutes to make sure they don't burn as I find all ovens are so different, it can be quite hard to set an exact time and I don't want your cookies to be char-grilled!
5. When they come out of the oven, dust them with your decorations. I used edible glitter and love hearts that I found at the grocery store. Gently press the decorations down onto the cookie to help them stick. Leave the cookies to cool slightly and set on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
6. Store in an airtight container for up to five days.