1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Mix together in a small bowl. Set aside.

1/2 cup butter/margarine
1/2 cup Sugar Twin (or sugar substitute – I’ve had great results with baking with Sugar Twin)
1/2 cup dextrose
1/4 tsp. EACH of salt, baking powder, baking soda
Beat butter in large mixing bowl for 30 seconds until fluffy. Add Sugar Twin, dextrose, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Add to butter mix and blend well. Gradually beat in the dry flour mix.
Shape into 1 inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press down center of cookie with thumb.

FROSTING:
1 cup (6 oz.) Hershey’s Sugar Free Chocolate Chips (in the baking section – last I checked they did not have sorbitol in them)
2 T. soy milk (do not make too runny) — sidenote from Jill– I wonder if unsweetened almond milk would taste better.
1 T. (or less) maraschino cherry juice (contributes an insignificant amount of sugar – less than 5 grams for the entire tablespoon)
Melt in a saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly. Spoon onto about a tsp. or less into each thumbprint on the cookies.

Bake cookies 350 for about 10 minutes – until edges of cookie become “crusty” or “slightly firm” to touch. Remove from baking pan and cool on wire racks.

Another neat trick from Stephanie…  For any remaining chocolate frosting, cover pretzels with the chocolate and freeze to harden. That woman is brilliant!

Ingredients:

1/2 c. unsalted butter (margarine works well too)

1 c. Splenda

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Beat butter at medium speed with mixer until creamy. Gradually add splenda, beating well. Add egg- mix well. Stir in vanilla.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to splenda, beating until blended. Do not overmix.

Place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a circle and wrap with plastic wrap (or put in a bowl) and chill for 1 hour, or until slightly firm.

Roll cookies out on a slightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutter and place on a lightly greased pan.  (I used a baking stone so I wouldn’t add more grease, it worked VERY well, but I had to increase the time by a few minutes.)

Bake at 325 for 8-10 minutes.

IMPORTANT SPLENDA COOKING TIP: Things baked with Splenda will not “brown” to let you know that they’re done.

Frosting

Disclaimer: I can’t remember actually using this frosting recipe, but it’s on the same scrap of paper that I wrote out the “splenda cookies” on, so hopefully it’s as good.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Splenda

1/4 cup cornstarch (Is it just me, or does it feel wasteful cooking with this stuff?)

5 tsp. water

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Place splenda and corn starch in blender and blend until a fine powder. Pour into small bowl. Add water and vanilla extract. Stir well- makes 5 servings.

For those of you sending these to school, I like to put the frosting in little ziploc baggies. Then you can just cut a hole in one of the bottom corners of the bag, and it’s ready to push out and decorate.

Happy Valentine’s Day! And try not to have a heart-attack at the party when the other students try to “share” their special treats. 

2 ½ c flour

2/3 c Splenda

1 ½ t. baking powder

½ t. salt

2 eggs

1 c water

½ c canola oil

Just mix it all together and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. The batter is not like normal cake batter, almost gluey. But hey, if it tastes good I guess it doesn’t matter, right?