Valentine’s Day Heart Sugar Cookies

More hearts today! I had SO MUCH FUN decorating these Valentine’s Day heart sugar cookies. Aka conversation heart cookies complete with little sayings on top. ♥

I’d actually like to take this moment to apologize for how horrendous my piped writing is. I have zero talent writing on cookies and cakes. Zero zip zilch. Pen and paper, great! But once icing is involved, my hands lose control, get all floppy, and chicken scratch ensues.

Speaking of writing, one of the best parts of Valentine’s Day is reading all the writing on conversation hearts. Right?? I mentioned this over on Instagram the other day– I get a KICK reading these things. Wicked cool, txt me, QT pie, fax me… I even saw a “giggle” and “sugar pie” in a bag recently. And the mustache!! Thank you for all the entertainment, Brach’s!

Let’s jump right into the cookies.

Today’s conversation heart lookalike cookies are a sugar cookie, pastel royal icing on top, and writing. I stuck with the shortest possible sayings and words because, well… you know my struggle.

Tools I Used:

1. Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit. In my experience, the BEST coloring for royal icing. The color is rich and vivid. You only need a teeny drip for the pastel colors in today’s cookies. And for darker colors, 1 small drop. So these colors will last you a very long time! I used the yellow, deep pink color, violet, green, and orange. Red for the writing.


2. Round Icing Tip #5. I use this for piping the royal icing on top of each cookie.


3. Round Icing Tip #1. I use this teeny tip for the writing.


4. Disposable piping bags. For the piping, of course!


5. You’ll also need silicone baking mats, rolling pin, and a heart-shaped cookie cutter.

The recipe we’ll use is my trusty sugar cookie recipe. The cookies are soft and buttery with crisp edges. The dough holds its shape wonderfully in the oven. Sharp and precise; no misshapen hearts!

The most important part, like usual, is to chill the cookie dough. This ensures the cookies hold their shape. The unique part about this sugar cookie recipe is that you chill the cookie dough *after* rolling it out. After the cookie dough is prepared, divide in two, and roll out each portion. My little trick? Roll out your sugar cookie dough onto lightly floured silicone baking mats. The mats won’t slide around. Then use the mats for baking the cookies.

Some *short* conversation heart saying inspiration:

• BFF


• Love


• Kiss


• Hugs


• Xoxo


• Best


• Sweet


• Cute or cutie

I’m sure you can come up with more and that your writing will be beautiful!

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Valentine’s Day Heart Sugar Cookies

• 
  Author: Sally


• 
  Prep Time: 3 hours


• 
  Cook Time: 11 minutes


• 
  Total Time: 6 hours


• 
  Yield: 25 3-inch cookies


• 
  Category: Cookies


• 
  Method: Baking


• 
  Cuisine: American

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Description

These decorated Valentine’s Day heart sugar cookies resemble conversation heart candies- so delicious and fun for the holiday!

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Ingredients

• 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature


• 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar


• 1 large egg, at room temperature


• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


• optional for added flavor: 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Royal Icing

• 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted


• 3 Tablespoons meringue powder


• 6–7 Tablespoons room temperature water


• Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit for coloring

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Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.


2. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.


3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. If the dough seems too soft, you can add 1 Tablespoon more flour until it is a better consistency for rolling.


4. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each portion out onto a piece of parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat (I prefer the nonstick silicone mat) to about 1/4″ thickness. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly ¼-inch thick.


5. Stack the pieces, with parchment paper between the two, onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days. If chilling for more than a couple hours, cover the top dough piece with a single piece of parchment paper.


6. Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Remove one of the dough pieces from the refrigerator and using a heart cookie cutter, cut into heart shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd dough piece.


7. Bake for 10-11 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Make sure you rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.


8. Make the icing: In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat all of the icing ingredients together on high speed for 5 minutes. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 10-12 seconds. If it’s too thick, add a little more water. If it’s too thin, add a little more sifted confectioners’ sugar. Separate icing into 6 different bowls. Stir in 1 tiny drop of the following colors into each bowl, 1 color per bowl: pink, violet, green, yellow, and orange. The 6th bowl is for the writing. Use 2-3 drops of red.


9. Add icing to piping bag fitted with round icing tip #5. Decorate cookies with colored icing. Use round icing tip #1 for writing. Do not cover cookies as icing sets. Icing will set within 4-6 hours.


10. Decorated or plain cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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Notes

1. Make Ahead Instructions: Plain cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. I do not recommend freezing with icing on top. You can chill the rolled-out cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to 2 days (step 5). You can also freeze the cookie dough (before rolling out in step 4) for up to 3 months. Then allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before rolling out. Chill for only 30 minutes in step 5 as opposed to 1 full hour.


2. Easy Glaze: Instead of this royal icing, you can use my easy glaze icing if that’s easier for you. However, I find it nearly impossible to write with the glaze icing because it isn’t stable like royal icing.


3. Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.

Keywords: sugar cookies, valentine's day cookies, heart sugar cookies

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