Making heart-shaped cookies is one of the ways I like to celebrate Valentine's Day with my family. We love peanut butter and chocolate! I used my favourite peanut butter cookie recipe which was adapted from my Mom's regular recipe. Here is a link to the recipe if you'd like to try it. Use your family's favourite cookie recipe and cut into heart shapes.

Now I normally just roll the dough into balls, but because I was going to roll the dough out and cut into shapes I added 2 tablespoons of extra gluten-free flour, so that the dough would hold its shape better. After making the cookie dough put it in the fridge for about an hour to harden. It will be easier to rollout. Then take out and roll on parchment paper dusted with gluten-free flour. I made mine around 1/4 inch (1 cm) thick. Cut your shapes and put on an ungreased baking tray. I then put the tray in the fridge for about 20 minutes to harden the dough. I find this step helps the cookies keep their shape. Bake as per recipe instructions.

Cool your cookies completely before decorating.

Melting chocolate to decorate cookies is easy. I use Hershey's milk chocolate chips. They are gluten-free and their small size makes them ideal for melting in the microwave. Put the chocolate chips in a bowl and microwave 30 seconds at a time. You will need to stir after each 30 second interval. Don't overcook! Remove when you still have a few unmelted chips and give it a good stir, the remaining heat in the mixture will melt any lumps. Now have fun decorating.

It is very important that your bowl and utensils are bone-dry. You never want to mix even a tiny bit of water with chocolate. If water does get into melted chocolate the mixture will seize. It will become hard and gritty. If this does happen, don't throw it away. You will need to start over again to make melted chocolate to decorate, but you can use the seized chocolate as a great topping for ice cream. If your melted chocolate has seized you can reheat it slowly in a double boiler or in a glass bowl inside a pot of hot water. Add a little cream, about 1 tablespoon at a time and whisk or stir until the chocolate melts again and becomes smooth. Add just enough cream to make a thick syrup-like mixture. This mixture will not harden, but is great on ice cream.

Gluten-Free Melted Chocolate for Decorating or Dipping

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk chocolate chips (I like to use Hershey's Chipits)
• Extra chocolate, butterscotch or milk chocolate chips for decorating

Directions

1. You will need a glass heatproof bowl, spoon, whisk (optional), small ziplock bag and scissors or a decorating bag with tip. Of course, chocolate chips or cut up chocolate.
2. Make sure your bowl and utensils are completely dry.
3. Put your chocolate into the bowl and place in the microwave.
4. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time. Stir the chocolate after each time. The chips keep their shape as they melt, so do stir after each 30 second burst.
5. Don't overcook. As soon as the chocolate is almost melted remove and stir until smooth. Don't worry if there are some unmelted chips or lumps, the heat from the melted chocolate will melt any lumps as you stir.
6. You are ready to decorate. You can dip your cookies or use a spoon to drizzle or spread the chocolate. Another way is to put the melted chocolate in a small ziplock bag, cut a small corner of the bag off and use it as a DIY piping bag.

The present heart-shape used for decorating on Valentine's Day seems to have come from a 14th Century Italian didactic poem, Documenti d’amore by Francesco Barberino according to a Times article I found on their website. Here is a link to the article. I find it interesting to try and understand why we use certain shapes for different occasions.

Why do we eat chocolate on Valentines? I'm not sure anyone knows for certain, but looks like it was a marketing tool used by the British company, Cadbury in 1861 to sell chocolates. If you are interested in learning more about chocolate and Valentine's day here is an interesting link.

I love melted chocolate. It has a lovely luscious and creamy taste. How about you?

Note: These are my personal experiences and opinions. Always seek out a medical opinion for medical concerns.