I’m here! In gorgeous Puerto de Mogan in Gran Canaria! It’s nice and sunny outside, I’m wearing shorts and flip-flops and the ocean is spectacular! Yesterday, after a short but tiring flight – my alarm went off at 5 in the morning – me and my mom landed in Las Palmas and a short bus ride later we arrived at our all-inclusive resort!
Oh, did I forget to mention that I my last post? Yes, I took my mom with me on this trip. The Rocking Rebel couldn’t come with me because he had to work, but my mom – who is her own boss – cleared her schedule at the last minute to join me! How cool is that? It’s also about 10 years since she took me to New York, so that makes this trip even more special.
Jeez, I feel old!
Anyway, the hotel looks picture-perfect, but unfortunately it serves really crappy food – as in: are these French fries even cooked? Why is this fish served cold? Why are the prawns gritty? – but the sun, our room and the fact that there is a supermarket only 5 minutes down the road absolutely make up for that! We’ve already stocked up on Nutella…
And hey, I’m in Gran Canaria! My life is perfect!
I mean, just look at the view from our room!
We’re here until next Saturday, shopping at cute little shops, swimming in the ocean and working on our tans, reading by the pool.
Now, I can just hear you think: what about Valentine’s Day? Well, obviously, since the Rocking Rebel isn’t here, the two of us can’t celebrate it on the 14th. Instead, we’re celebrating on the 15th or the 16th. Hey, we’ve been together for almost 7 years now; we can wait a day or two.
Besides, with the Rocking Rebel, every day feels like Valentine’s Day. He may not look like it, but he really is very romantic! Always leaving me cute little notes and bringing me flowers and such…
But just because the Rocking Rebel and I are postponing Valentine’s Day and the fact that I’m typing this in the lounge of a hotel in Gran Canaria doesn’t mean that I forgot about my trusty readers!
I made you cookies!
And no ordinary cookies either, but gorgeous, cute, heart shaped, cherry vanilla cookies with a dark chocolate drizzle. Perfect to share with your friends, family and lover!
Although, come to think of it, I would never make these for the Rocking Rebel. These cookies just aren’t manly enough… He did love these cookies though! He first helped me take these photo’s, holding a reflector until his arms hurt and I thanked him with these cookies, which he wolfed down like a caveman!
See, even guys who know everything about V8 engines and guitar amplifiers can appreciate cutesy little cookies like these!
These cookies are basically vanilla sugar cookies, studded with maraschino cherries. The maraschino cherries do not add a lot of flavor, but they look pretty cute in the cookies! Paired with the chocolate, these cookies just make the perfect little Valentine’s Day treat! Simple, but elegant.
And hey, they do scream Valentine’s Day…
Anyway, I’m off! I’ve got summery stuff to do, such as swimming in the ocean, trying not to panic thinking that a hungry shark is going to take a bite out of me, and lying on the beach doing nothing but gossiping about the other guests with my mom. We’ve already made friends with a cute couple with a newborn baby!
Back on Tuesday with a delicious spicy chocolate fondue for two!
Enjoy these cookies. They’re the best!
- 100g (or 7 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened and at room temperature
- 100g (or ½ cup) granulated sugar
- ½ egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 200g (1½ cup + 5 teaspoons) all-purpose flour
- a pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 55g (or about ¼ cup) maraschino cherries, chopped
- 30g (or 1 ounce) dark chocolate
- Cream together the butter and sugar with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix in the egg and vanilla until fully incorporated, then switch the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment or dough hooks. Add the flour, salt, baking powder and cherries and mix until the dough comes together in large chunks.
- Using your hands, form the dough into a large dough ball. Place it onto a sheet of baking parchment, place another sheet on top and roll the dough out to a thickness of about 4-mm or one-sixth of an inch. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out little hearts. My cookie cutter could just fit inside a 9-cm (or 3½ -inch) round cookie cutter.
- Place the cookies onto another sheet of baking parchment, slide the whole thing onto a cutting board and allow to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F (standard oven setting).
- Slide the cookies, baking parchment and everything, onto a baking sheet and bake the cookies until they are beautifully golden around the edges, about 13 to 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool. In the meantime, melt the chocolate in the bowl of a double boiler. Transfer the melted chocolate to a plastic, disposable piping bag or a plastic Ziploc bag, snip off a tiny piece of the end of the piping bag or a tiny corner of the Ziploc bag and drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. Allow the chocolate to cool and harden. Enjoy!
i love cherry cookies. they are so pretty!
Thanks Dina 🙂