Valentines Day Heart Sugar Cookies

By: RYLEE MCDANIELS

Staff Writer

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s time for some cookies! These decorated Valentine’s Day heart sugar cookies resemble conversation heart candies-so delicious and fun for the holiday!

Ingredients:

• 2 and ¼ cups all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Optional for added flavor ¼-½ teaspoon almond extract

Royal Icing:

• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons meringue powder
• 9-10 tablespoons room temperature water
• Food coloring

Instructions:

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside. 
2. In a large bowl using a hanging or stand mixer with 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 conines, about 1 minutes. Scrape down the sides, add up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
3. Add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. If the dough seems too soft, you can add 1 tablespoon more flour to make it 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 non-stick 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 the 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 the 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. (On particularly dry days, I use up to 12-14 Tablespoons of water total.) 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 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 2-3 hours.
10. Decorated or plain cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
11. ENJOY!! <3

Notes:

1. Freezing Instructions: Plain or decorated sugar cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Wait for the icing to set completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months before rolling it out. Prepare the dough through step 3, divide in half, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw the disks in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4, then chill rolled out dough in the refrigerator for 45 minutes – 1 hour before cutting into shapes and baking.
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.