Iced Almond Coconut Valentine Cookies

This morning, we signed up our 4-year old daughter, Madilyn, for preschool in the fall. Damn. I really can’t believe it. Last night, I watched her so meticulously help me press down the heart shaped cookie cutter in our Valentine’s Day cookie dough after she begged me to stay up past her bedtime. I caved and let her. It feels like yesterday she was waddling around our house in diapers.
Motherhood is about breaking the rules sometimes. It’s about letting your little one stay up late, bake cookies past her bedtime, share a cup of tea, laugh and have fun. Someday she will rather go out with her boyfriend or play on the computer. Someday she will have lots of homework to do instead.
How can it feel like time is flying but standing still at the same time? The saying, “The days are long but the years are short” is dead on if you ask me.
In a few short months, our days are going to be different. Now, Madilyn sneaks into our room and cuddles with me for a few hours before Juliana, my 1 year old, wakes up. In a few months, I will have to set our alarm for school and we will have to get up much earlier than we do now. Wow. Our days of morning cuddling may be less and less. This makes me kinda sad but at the same time, I am embracing how we are moving into a new stage.
Every few months, I feel like I turn a corner and motherhood of two kiddos gets a bit easier. I am really having fun these days.
I am loving the now. Despite the messes, the tantrums, the fussing, the constant demand for attention, the getting two kids dressed in zero degree weather and dealing with carseats and wet, dripping snow boots… I am loving the now. I am loving how Juliana says “Mum Mum Mum Mum” and prefers me over anyone else. I am loving that Madilyn can go into the play room for herself for 20 minutes and come out with a Valentine card for me with her name on it. I am loving that I get to stay home with my babies each and every day despite the craziness. I am also loving these cookies Madilyn and I made to celebrate love this week. Try them.
Oh, Spots still open for Mama Sanity Bootcamp in March. Free program for mamas who need a little sanity in their lives! Check it out and tell your friends.
Iced Almond Coconut Valentine Cookies
Cookie Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups almond flour
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons coconut oil
4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon hazelnut extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3/4 cup coconut sugar
Icing Ingredients:
4 tablespoons coconut oil
3/4 cup powered sugar
1 teaspoon beet juice
Directions:
For cookies, place all ingredients in food processor and blend together for a few minutes. Stop. Mix with a spatula and blend again. After mixed together, but dough in a bowl and put in the refrigerator for an hour. When ready to bake, turn oven on to 350F. Roll dough in between two pieces of wax paper. Use heart cut out cookie cutters. For icing, you need about a teaspoon of beet juice. I buy frozen beets. Thaw out a slice of one on the stove top with a tablespoon of water. A beautiful red juice appears. Magic. Mix with coconut oil and sugar in food processor.
The icing for these cookies is not perfectly healthy but it is what I came up with based on what I had in my house! I need to play around and come up with a healthier alternative to powdered sugar…