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Valentine Sugar Cookies
Beautifully decorated heart-shaped Valentine’s Day sugar cookies are a sweet holiday treat. Perfectly yummy these cookies are easy to make and decorate.
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Delightful and delicious, these heart-shaped Valentine’s Day sugar cookies are soft and delicately sweet. Beautifully decorated, they make wonderful edible gifts.
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Valentine Sugar Cookies
Decorated in a variety of sweet Valentine’s Day designs, these sugar cookies are a festive treat for friends and family to let them know you care. So easy to make, decorate, and eat, these cute cookies are light and airy.
Perfectly yummy, sugar cookies are even better when heart-shaped and decorated with frosting and sprinkles. Valentine’s Day cookies are a fun holiday activity for everyone to help with.
Homemade sugar cookies can be decorated however you want, making them a fun twist for Valentine’s Day. These melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies have a crispy outside with a soft center.
Valentine Sugar Cookies Ingredients
- Flour - cake flour
- Flour - all-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Butter - salted butter, softened
- Egg - one whole egg plus an egg white
- Shortening - butter-flavored shortening, softened
- Baking powder
- Cream of tartar
- Vanilla extract
- Frosting - WHITE frosting, vanilla will be a creamy color, so be sure to use white if you want a pure white frosting
- Frosting - pink frosting, strawberry
- Sprinkles and nonpareils
In addition to frosting, you can add toppings to these cookies for extra decoration. Both sprinkles and nonpareils add extra sweetness and crunch to your cookies. If you don’t want to frost your cookies you can also add sprinkles or sanding sugar to your cookies before you bake them.
If you want to color your icing you can use gel food coloring to tint your store-bought icing. After dipping your cookies in the frosting add sprinkles right away as the frosting dries a bit on the surface after a few minutes and then they won’t stick as well.
It’s best to heat the frosting in small increments to avoid separation. If you accidentally overheat the frosting, place the tub in the refrigerator until it has resolidified. Then, beat with a hand or standing mixer to whip it back into a frosting texture.
How to Make Valentine Sugar Cookies
FIRST STEP: In a large mixing bowl add the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Whisk together then set aside.
SECOND STEP: In a large mixing bowl add the sugar, butter, and shortening. Use a hand mixer to beat together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and the whole egg. Beat together until combined. Add egg white and continue beating until well combined. Turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl.
THIRD STEP: Turn the hand mixer on low and gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until no flour pockets remain. Cover the mixing bowl with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
FOURTH STEP: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
FIFTH STEP: Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and roll the dough out on a flat surface to about ½ inch thick. Cut out desired shapes with floured cookie cutters. Place 6 cookies on one baking sheet, and 6 on another.
SIXTH STEP: Place one cookie sheet in the oven at a time and cook for 10-12 minutes. You want the edges to be firm without turning brown. Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet. Place the other baking sheet in the oven and cook.
SEVENTH STEP: Remove lid and foil wrapper from the tub of frosting. Transfer to a microwave-safe container if desired. I microwave in the packaging since it’s for less than a minute, but some people may be concerned with that.
EIGHTH STEP: Heat frosting for 30 seconds in the microwave and stir. Heat for an additional 15 seconds at a time JUST until frosting is pourable. Do not overheat as the frosting will separate and become unusable. You just want it warm enough that a drizzle smooths back into a flat surface.
NINTH STEP: Pour a ¾ to 1-inch thick layer of frosting into a shallow bowl. Holding on to the sides of the cookie, dip the top face of the cookie straight down into the liquid frosting, being sure to coat the entire top of the cookie. Lift the cookie back up, allowing excess frosting to drip off, and then flip the cookie face up and place it on a sheet of parchment paper.
TENTH STEP: Top with sprinkles and leave to dry.
ELEVENTH STEP: Continue dipping remaining cookies, reheating/adding frosting as needed to ensure smooth dipping.
TWELFTH STEP: Allow the cookies to dry for about 1 hour before stacking.
What if I don’t have cream of tartar?
You can substitute lemon juice for the cream of tartar. Lemon juice has the same acidity as the cream of tartar which means you can use an equal amount of lemon juice for the best results.
Can I use butter instead of shortening?
If you don’t have shortening you can substitute butter or margarine. Increase the butter or margarine by 1 to 2 tsp for every ¼ cup to compensate for the shortening’s extra fat content.
What toppings can I use for my cookies?
Decorate these buttery cookies however you want. You can top them with frosting, sugar, sprinkles, or leave them plain.
How to Store Valentine Sugar Cookies
FROSTED: Store unfrosted sugar cookies recipe in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze them for up to 3 months.
UNFROSTED: Leftover frosted Valentine Sugar Cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Valentine Sugar Cookies
Beautifully decorated heart-shaped Valentine’s Day sugar cookies are a sweet holiday treat. Perfectly yummy these cookies are easy to make and decorate.
Prep Time 55 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes
Servings 12 cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Ingredients:
- 2 cups cake flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- ½ cup salted butter, softened
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg white
- ¼ cup butter flavored shortening, softened
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup sugar for dusting the top of the cookies after they bake
Frosting Ingredients:
- 16 oz. tub WHITE frosting
- 16 oz. tub pink frosting (strawberry)
- Sprinkles and nonpareils
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- In a large mixing bowl add the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Whisk together then set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl add the sugar, butter, and shortening. Use a hand mixer to beat together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and the whole egg. Beat together until combined. Add egg white and continue beating until well combined. Turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Turn the hand mixer on low and gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until no flour pockets remain. Cover the mixing bowl with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and roll the dough out on a flat surface to about ½ inch thick. Cut out desired shapes with floured cookie cutters. Place 6 cookies on one baking sheet, and 6 on another.
- Place one cookie sheet in the oven at a time and cook for 10-12 minutes. You want the edges to be firm without turning brown. Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet. Place the other baking sheet in the oven and cook.
For the Frosting:
- Remove lid and foil wrapper from the tub of frosting. Transfer to a microwave-safe container if desired. I microwave in the packaging since it’s for less than a minute, but some people may be concerned with that.
- Heat frosting for 30 seconds in the microwave and stir. Heat for an additional 15 seconds at a time JUST until frosting is pourable. Do not overheat as the frosting will separate and become unusable. You just want it warm enough that a drizzle smooths back into a flat surface.
- Pour a ¾ to 1-inch thick layer of frosting into a shallow bowl. Holding on to the sides of the cookie, dip the top face of the cookie straight down into the liquid frosting, being sure to coat the entire top of the cookie. Lift the cookie back up, allowing excess frosting to drip off, and then flip the cookie face up and place it on a sheet of parchment paper.
- Top with sprinkles and leave to dry.
- Continue dipping remaining cookies, reheating/adding frosting as needed to ensure smooth dipping.
- Allow the cookies to dry for about 1 hour before stacking.
Nutrition
Calories: 611kcal | Carbohydrates: 93g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 213mg | Potassium: 122mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 70g | Vitamin A: 257IU | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg
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