Looking for an easy batch of Valentine cookies to wow your sweetheart? This post has you covered! These simple heart cookies are dipped in royal icing (no piping necessary) and dappled with gold food coloring, making them every bit as elegant as they are tasty.
Valentine's Day treats don't have to be difficult. I mean, if you're all about extra treats (motions to self), by all means, you do you boo.
But if you're looking for something simple, sweet and just a smidge elegant, this is the post for you. Give your sweetheart your (cookie) heart (and yes, I handed my partner about 10 of these cookies and said "I give you my heart!" every time. I'm sure they appreciated it) with these easy, dipped Valentine cookies.
How to make these heart cookies
First, make your sugar cookies.
I wrote a whole post on making sugar cookies, including common sugar cookie problems and how to fix them, so be sure to check it out if you’re new to sugar cookie baking.
To make sugar cookies, follow the directions in the recipe card below. Once your dough is made, flatten it into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, roll to ¼″ thick and cut out with a heart shaped cookie cutter.
Bake your cookies at 350F for 8-11 minutes, or until the tops are no longer shiny.
Second, whip up a batch of royal icing.
You’re going to want about a 10 second consistency for this recipe. If you’re not familiar with consistencies or working with royal icing, check out my comprehensive guide to royal icing.
In a nutshell, a 10second consistency means that you could pick up a spoonful of icing, drop it back in the bowl and it would take roughly 10 seconds to reabsorb completely.
Finally, ice your cookies.
Spoon some of the white royal icing into a shallow bowl until it's about ½" thick. Add food coloring in the colors of your choosing to the royal icing. Use a toothpick to swirl it.
Dip the top of your cooled sugar cookies into the swirled icing. Gently shake off any excess, turn the cookie right side up and set aside to harden.
Add more white icing and food coloring as necessary.
Combine your powdered gold food coloring with a clear, high-concentrate alcohol (I use vodka) and splatter the cookies.
Easy tips to help you make these cookies
- Working ahead: Sugar cookie dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up 5 days before use. You can also freeze the dough for up to 6 months. To use frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight.
- To prevent butter bleed, cool your cookies on a cooling rack rather than the pan, making sure they’re completely cool before working with them (I like to leave them out overnight so they cool and dry as much as possible).
- If your cookies spread during the baking process, use the same cookie cutter to “cut them out” again immediately after removing them from the oven. When the cookies are hot and soft, you can make a clean cut.
- If you end up with any little air bubbles in your icing, you can pop those with your toothpick or quilling tool.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below. Better still, snap a photo and tag it on Instagram with #thesimplesweetlife. I love seeing your creations!
PrintRecipe
Easy Heart Sugar Cookies
These simple heart sugar cookies are dipped in royal icing (no piping necessary) and dappled with gold food coloring, making them every bit as elegant as they are tasty.
- Prep Time: 8 houra
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 7 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Sugar cookies:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
Royal icing:
- ¼ cup meringue powder or powdered egg whites
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- Optional: 1 teaspoon of an extract of your choice
Instructions
- Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth.
- Add the sugar and continue beating until thoroughly combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract and repeat.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour one cup at a time, mixing between each new addition.
- The dough should be firm, easily peel away from the bowl and no longer sticky.
- Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Once the dough is chilled, roll it out to ¼″ thick on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut out with heart cookie cutters.
- Bake the dough at 350F for 8-10 minutes or until no longer shiny on top.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the meringue powder/powdered egg whites and lukewarm water.
- Use a whip attachment to whip the mixture on high until frothy. Scrap down the sides as you go to make sure there’s no residual powder.
- Sift the powdered sugar and add it to bowl. Continue whipping the icing, this time on medium speed. Stop the machine every 2-3 minutes to scrape down the sides.
- If you’re adding additional flavoring to your royal icing, you can add it during one of the stops to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Whip the royal icing until you’ve reached a 10 second consistency.
- Pour the icing into a shallow bowl until it's about ½" deep.
- Add food coloring of your choosing to the surface of the royal icing and swirl with a toothpick.
- Dip the top of your cookies into the royal icing.
- Gently shake off any extra, turn the cookies right side up and set aside.
- Add a little clear alcohol to your gold food coloring and use a clean, food-only brush to splatter it onto the cookies.
- Allow the icing to dry completely (at least 8 hours or overnight).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 251
- Sugar: 28.8g
- Sodium: 20mg
- Fat: 7.8g
- Saturated Fat: 4.9g
- Carbohydrates: 43.7g
- Fiber: 0.4g
- Protein: 3.2g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
Keywords: heart cookies, valentine cookies, how to make decorated sugar cookies
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