Sugarless Heart Cookies

These rolled cookies skip granulated sugar entirely and lean on a packet of sugar-free fruit gelatin to provide both sweetness and flavor. The gelatin gets creamed with margarine until smooth, which distributes the powder evenly through the fat instead of leaving gritty pockets in the dough. An egg, vanilla, flour and a half teaspoon of baking powder finish the mix. Chilling for an hour is the step you can’t skip. Cold dough rolls cleaner, holds its shape under the cutter, and produces sharper edges in the finished cookie. Roll to a quarter inch, cut with a 1¼ inch heart cutter, and bake at a hot 400°F (200°C) for just 6 to 7 minutes. The cookies are done when the bottoms are lightly browned and the centers look set, not glossy. They keep their pale color on top, which makes them ideal for icing or sprinkles.

Pro Tips

• Pick a brightly flavored sugar-free gelatin (cherry, raspberry, lime). The packet is doing all the seasoning, so a vivid flavor pays off.
• Roll between two sheets of parchment to skip the extra flour and keep the dough from drying out.
• Re-chill scraps before re-rolling. Warm dough turns tough on the second pass.
• Pull at the early end of the bake window. These cookies firm up significantly as they cool on the rack.

Variations

• Swap margarine for unsalted butter for a richer, more shortbread-like flavor.
• Use cookie cutters in seasonal shapes and match the gelatin flavor to the holiday: lime for St. Patrick’s, cherry for Valentine’s.
• Sandwich two cookies with a thin layer of sugar-free jam or whipped cream cheese for a filled version.