Sugarless Heart Cookies

Valentine week and we did our not-restaurant dinner again — this year a proper at-home meal that I planned weeks out. I made the cacio e pepe, the way I said I would when we were on the balcony on our first wedding anniversary anniversary and I said I would make it every year because it is our dish. Our engagement dish. I made it exactly the same as the night we got engaged: spaghetti, eggs, Pecorino Romano, black pepper, nothing else. Ryan opened the same kind of cheap wine we had that night because he remembered, which I did not expect.

We ate at the kitchen table in the warm ivory kitchen and talked about the year. Where we were a year ago, where we are now, what we are building. We talked about the house we want to find, maybe this year or next. We talked about the school year and his promotion track at the CFD, which he has been working toward and which I am very proud of him for but do not say often enough. I said it tonight. He looked at me and said thank you, and then said he had been meaning to say the same thing to me about the blog. The blog, he said, has become something real. I said I know. He said: I see it. It matters. I said thank you. We ate our cacio e pepe in the warm ivory kitchen and then did the dishes together and that was the Valentine Day I will remember.

Steve birthday is Saturday. I called and sang happy birthday, which he does not enjoy and which I do anyway because I am his youngest and I earned this. He said thank you, which he says without inflection in the way he says most things. I asked what Patty was making for dinner. He said ham. I said is it special birthday ham. He said it is the same ham. I said that sounds perfect. He said it is good ham. This is the highest compliment Steve Kowalczyk gives anything. Good ham. I love this man so much.

We finished the cacio e pepe and did the dishes together and I thought: that should have been enough, and it was, but I also wanted something sweet to put a bow on the night — something I could set on the table while the kitchen was still warm and we were still talking. I had made these sugarless heart cookies earlier in the week, partly because Ryan is watching his sugar intake and partly because the heart shape felt almost too on-the-nose and I did it anyway. They are simple and honest, which is exactly the kind of dessert that belongs after a simple and honest dinner.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 32 min | Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar substitute (such as Splenda or equivalent)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Cream butter and sweetener. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar substitute together until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
Add wet ingredients. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fully combined, then add the milk and mix until smooth.
Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms.
Chill the dough. Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 10 minutes to make rolling easier.
Roll and cut. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out cookies and place them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are just set and the bottoms are lightly golden. Do not overbake — they will firm up as they cool.
Cool. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sugarless Heart Cookies — The Sweet We Made After Our Cacio e Pepe Night