Gluten-Free Heart Cookies

Gluten-free Heart Cookies are the perfect sweet treat for Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day, or any celebration of love, such as weddings, anniversaries, and engagement parties!

There's nothing that says love like creating a gift your Valentine can safely eat! These cookies are completely gluten-free, but you'd never guess. I made them for a group of my daughter's gluten-eating friends and they disappeared. Every. Last. Cookie.

These easy cookies start with my go-to Soft Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies and then sprinkle in a little Valentine's Day fun.

Ingredients

The ingredients for the cookie base are all staples in my gluten-free kitchen. The chocolate coating, however, is not. Chocolate morsels would not last long in my house!

• Gluten-free flour: My personal preference is King Arthur Measure for Measure. Find out why it's my favorite in this comparison of popular gluten-free baking flours. Choose your favorite gluten-free flour, as long as it contains xanthan gum.
• Sugar
• Butter
• Butter-flavor shortening
• Egg
• Vanilla extract
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Chocolate morsels:   Nestle Chocolate Morsels are labeled gluten-free. You can substitute your favorite chocolate flavor, like dark chocolate or white chocolate.
• Valentine's sprinkles: most Betty Crocker sprinkles are labeled gluten-free. Always check the label, as there are a few that are not.

Instructions

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer on medium speed to cream sugar, ½ cup of the butter (the extra 1 tablespoon of butter will be used later in the chocolate coating), and shortening until fully blended.

Mix in the egg and vanilla until the mixture is smooth, like buttercream frosting.

Add gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt. and mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed, approximately one minute. The dough will be crumbly at this stage.

Press the dough together to form a ball, then cut it in half.

Wrap each half in plastic wrap, or place in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least one hour. My large mixing bowl comes with a lid, so I just put the lid on and pop it in the fridge.

The dough can be made in advance and chilled in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 375℉.

Prepare the baking sheets. For easy cleanup, even baking, and no burnt cookie bottoms, cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

Work with half of the dough at a time, leaving the rest in the fridge to stay cold until you roll it. This allows the butter to stay firm, so the cookies maintain their shape during baking.

Roll out the dough to ¼-inch thick.

The dough will be slightly sticky. To prevent it from sticking, roll the dough between two sheets of wax paper or parchment paper. It's so easy to roll out and then later peel the cut-out cookies off the parchment paper.

Or use a light dusting of gluten-free flour on your rolling pin and work surface. The most inexpensive gluten-free flour you own is fine for this purpose.

Use a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes. Gather extra dough pieces to reroll and cut out cookie hearts until all the dough is used up.

Place the cookie hearts about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies at 375℉ until the edges are barely golden, approximately 7-8 minutes.

The cookies are delicate at this stage. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for two minutes.

After two minutes, use a turner spatula to carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack until completely cool, approximately 12 minutes.

Chocolate Coating

While the heart cookies are cooling, place chocolate morsels and 1 tablespoon of butter in a microwave-safe container. I typically use a large mug, small cereal bowl, or small Pyrex storage container. Make sure the container is wide enough to fit the heart-shaped cookies for dipping at an angle.

Microwave the chocolate and butter for 30 seconds. Stir. Continue melting the chocolate in the microwave in additional 15-20 second increments, stirring each time.

Do not go longer than 15-20 second intervals, as melted chocolate can quickly turn from smooth to irrevocably clumpy in the microwave. The final pieces of chocolate will melt as you stir.

Pour the Valentine sprinkles into a small condiment bowl. Set up an assembly line. Undecorated cookies, chocolate dip, sprinkles, and wire rack for drying.

Dip each cookie into the melted chocolate, approximately 1 inch deep, and then immediately dip in the Valentine's sprinkles.

You can opt to mix and match while decorating, dipping some cookies in chocolate only and some in chocolate and sprinkles. Or even use a combination of white and milk chocolate.

Place the decorated cookies on a wire rack to fully dry, which takes approximately 30 minutes. Once fully dry, they are ready to serve or gift!

Gluten-free heart cookies are the perfect addition to a Gluten-Free Valentine's Day Dessert Charcuterie Board.

Can't get enough chocolate-dipped goodies? Try these simple Valentine's Day Chocolate Covered Strawberries.

Then fill your day with Gluten-Free Valentine's Candy and heart-shaped meals from Valentine's Egg-in-a-Hole to Gluten-Free Heart-Shaped Pizza and Gluten-Free Heart-Shaped SOFT Pretzels.