Valentine Sugar Cookies
Valentine sugar cookies are a fun and festive treat, perfect for decorating and sharing with loved ones. These buttery cookies bake beautifully and hold their shape, making them ideal for any special occasion!
Servings: 12
Calories:
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 cups cake flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- ¼ cup butter flavored shortening softened
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg white
- ⅓ cup sugar for dusting the top of the cookies after they bake
Frosting
- 16 ounces white frosting vanilla will be a cream color, so be sure to use white if you want a pure white frosting
- 16 ounces pink frosting strawberry
- sprinkles and nonpareils
Instructions
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°F 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 to 12 minutes. You want the edges to be firm without turning brown. Let the cookies cool for 2 to 3 minutes on the baking sheet. Place the other baking sheet in the oven and cook.
Frosting
- Remove lid and foil wrapper from the tub of frosting. Transfer to a microwave-safe container, if desired.
- 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.
Notes
- If you don’t want to frost your cookies, you can add sprinkles or sanding sugar now, before you bake.
- If you’d like to custom color your icing or you don’t want the flavor of a colored tub of icing, you can use gel food coloring to tint store-bought icing as well.
- If you overheat the frosting, place the tub in the refrigerator until it resolidifies. Then, beat it with a hand or stand mixer to whip it back into a frosting texture. A warning! The frosting may not be salvageable so it’s best to heat it in small increments from the beginning and avoid separation altogether.
- You can use a thin royal icing to achieve the same smooth frosting effect.
- This is a secret trick to imitate royal icing and it also tastes a lot better than royal icing.
- While dipping the remaining cookies, reheat and add frosting as needed to ensure a smooth dipping.
- Add sprinkles right away as the frosting dries a bit on the surface after a few minutes and they won’t stick as well.