Chocolate Valentine's Day Cookie

Chocolate Valentine's Day Cookie

Happy Valentine's Day!!  Although the main star of my Valentine table this year is a delicious red cherry pie, I couldn't let the day go by without baking at least something that is chocolate.  This is a recipe that I have been wanting to share for awhile since it is a definite family favorite and so much fun to make.  It is originally from a web site that my husband's first cousin works on, although I have changed a few things around in the recipe and made three other versions of it as well. I have always wondered how to make a giant cookie that would bake evenly and this treat definitely solves that problem.  While slightly more like pizza dough than cookie dough, this tastes amazing while being high in fiber and low in sugar and fat.  It is really fun to work with and can be made into any shape you want. The double chocolate version is my favorite, but I have also made plain chocolate chip, peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin versions. The recipes for those and a few extra photos are included below.  xoxoxo

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Normally on Valentine's Day I would make a decadent dark chocolate dessert of some kind since chocolate is my favorite food group and Valentine's Day is usually all about chocolate.  But this year I also wanted to make something red, and the most naturally red things I could think of are cherries.  I had been wanting to try out a recipe for a pie crust using coconut oil, so I thought this would be the perfect day to give it a go.  And since I want to spend Valentine's evening enjoying the company of the people I love and not working in the kitchen, I figured I could make the pie the centerpiece of dinner (it does have fruit in it!) and serve it with a small selection of cheeses on the side.

The Coconut Oil Pie Crust came out perfectly and since it is made with 100 % organic whole wheat pastry flour it has health benefits as well.  A bit hearty if you are used to white flour pastry, but the coconut flavor is perfect, especially when paired with the cherry filling (would be great with a chocolate pie too!).  I did cheat and use a premade cherry pie filling because I found one at my local store that was very basic and had no corn syrup or anything artificial.  I decided to mix in some dried cherries and frozen cherries as well to add a bit of texture and it worked perfectly.  Not too sweet, not too tart and perfect for an evening meal with my Valentine.