Celebrate Valentine’s Day with these Spiced Almond & Rum Cookies that make a wonderful edible way of saying “I love you”. We look forward to Valentine’s Day, not for what we will receive but for what we can give. That’s what inspired me to create this particular recipe. So, skip the store-bought cookies and bake these cute heart-shaped delights with those you cherish in mind.
My Spiced Almond & Rum Cookies have a mild almond flavor with an added kick of spiced dark rum and a hint of fragrant cardamom & cloves. Being ever health-conscious, I tend to use less sugar. This results in a more spiced flavor and earthy texture. The frosting will compensate by adding an essential sweetness for your Valentine.
Ingredients substitutes/additions
Spiciness is a matter of personal taste so you can omit the ground cloves & cardamom or add extra. For spice lovers consider using 1 tsp. of each instead of ½ tsp.
If you don’t have ground almonds, add an extra ½ cup flour.
Substitute Whisky, Cognac or Grand Marnier for Rum when making the frosting. If you prefer non-alcoholic frosting then use lemon juice or water.
Consider adding dark red juice (cherry, pomegranate, beets, etc.) to the frosting instead of food coloring. Or omit adding color completely for a white frosting.
Would you like a different spice combination?
Check this Gingersnap Cookies with Fresh Ginger recipe that can be easily transformed into a Valentine’s Day special by simply changing the cookies’ shape.
Spiced Almond & Rum Cookies
Course: DessertsDifficulty: Medium60
cookies25
minutes35
minutes73
kcal14
minutes15
minutes1
hour
Seasoned with fragrant cardamom & cloves, these Spiced Almond & Rum Cookies make a scrumptious treat for your Valentine.
Ingredients
- Cookies
1 cup 1 butter (2 sticks)
½ cup sugar
3 tbsp 3 honey
3 cup 3 all-purpose flour
1/2 cup 1/2 ground almonds
2/3 cup 2/3 milk
1/2 tsp 1/2 ground cardamom
1/2 tsp 1/2 ground cloves
1 tsp 1 vanilla extract
- Frosting and decoration
1 cup 1 icing sugar
3 tbsp 3 Rum
2 drop 2 red or pink food coloring
1/2 cup 1/2 toasted blanched almonds
Directions
- Toast blanched almonds
- Toast at 350°F for 3-4 minutes until edges are golden-brown.
- Make cookies
- Prepare the ingredients.
- In a large bowl, combine softened butter and sugar by hand, or using an electric mixer on medium speed, until smooth.
- Add honey, spices and vanilla extract to the cookie batter and mix well.
- Finally, add milk, ground almonds and flour. Using a spoon or mixer, stir the mix until well combined.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead it until smooth. Divide the dough into thirds and wrap them in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Retrieve one third from the freezer and place on a lightly floured surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 to 1/4 inch.
- Cut the dough with a cookie cutter or thin-rimmed glass/cup. Re-form and roll the remaining dough as needed to cut out more cookies.
- Transfer the raw cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, spacing them at least an inch apart.
- Bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes until edges are golden-brown. Bake thinner cookies for about 10-11 minutes and thicker cookies for about 14-15 minutes.
- Place on a wire rack and let cool while preparing the frosting
- Make frosting
- Prepare frosting ingredients
- In a medium size bowl, mix together icing sugar, rum and a few drops of food coloring. Control thickness of the frosting by adding more rum or icing sugar.
- Decorate cookies
- Pour the frosting into a pastry bag (or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off) and decorate as desired. You can also use a tea spoon to place frosting on top of the cookies. Sprinkle toasted almonds on top immediately while frosting is still soft and nuts can stick to it easily.
Repeat with the remaining two thirds of dough.
Notes
- Raw cookie dough can be kept in the freezer for 3-4 weeks.
Nutrition Facts
60 servings per container
Serving Size1 cookies
- Amount Per ServingCalories73
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat
3.86g
6%
- Saturated Fat 2.05g 11%
- Trans Fat 0.124g
- Cholesterol 8mg 3%
- Sodium 2mg 1%
- Total Carbohydrate
8.52g
3%
- Dietary Fiber 0.3g 2%
- Sugars 3.56g
- Protein 1.03g 3%
- Vitamin A 4%
- Calcium 1%
- Iron 2%
- Vitamin E 3%
- Thiamin 5%
- Riboflavin 4%
- Niacin 3%
- Phosphorus 2%
- Magnesium 2%
- Selenium 4%
- Copper 3%
- Manganese 4%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is estimated. It is calculated using an online nutrition calculator based on recipe ingredients as inputs. Accuracy is dependent on the calculator. It is not intended as a professional nutritionist’s advice.
These are so so adorable! Bet they taste just as amazing too.
Thanks for your comment! Yes, they are delish 😊