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Yields:
4 dz.
Prep Time:
30 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 40 mins
Cal/Serv:
153
What better way to surprise your sweetheart this Valentine's Day than with the most adorable…wait for it…sweet heart (cookie)? These adorable sugar cookies are topped with creamy buttercream frosting and sprinkles to create the sweetest food gift. The best part? You don't need to be a baking whiz to whip up these homemade cookies—no matter your decorating skills, these too-cute cookies are sure to look (and taste) amazing. Here’s everything you need to know:
How to make heart cookies:
— Use room temperature eggs. It’s important to let your egg come to room temperature before incorporating it into your cookie dough. This will prevent your dough from splitting; soak your egg in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using.
— Do I need to refrigerate my dough? Yes, yes, yes. After forming your dough into 2 flattened discs, wrap them in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour. This will help your cookies be soft, fluffy, and hold their shape.
— How do I make sure my cookies hold their shape? After cutting out your cookies, transfer to your prepared baking sheets and freeze for 10 minutes. While it might seem like an unnecessary extra step, don't skip it! This will help your cookies to hold their shape while baking.
The best icing for heart cookies:
We used buttercream, dyed with red food coloring, to ice our cookies. It’s light, fluffy, spreadable, and the perfect sweet pairing to our sugar cookies. We frost our cookies with an offset spatula—it truly couldn’t be easier. We love this decadent frosting as a base for all of our sprinkles and decorations, but if you prefer to decorate with your icing, try out our perfect royal icing instead.
Decorating your heart cookies:
We used food coloring to transform our cream cheese frosting into red and pink hearts with festive sprinkles, but you can decorate your cookies however you prefer. Dye your frosting with your sweetheart's favorite colors, skip the dye altogether, create icing designs on top of your base cream cheese coat, or top with conversation hearts—you can't go wrong with these adorable cookies.
Storage:
Store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for around 3 days after baking.
Have you made these yet? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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Ingredients
For the cookies
- 3 cups
(360 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
- 1 tsp.
baking powder
- 1/2 tsp.
kosher salt
- 1 cup
(2 sticks) butter, softened
- 1 cup
(200 g) granulated sugar
- 1
large egg, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp.
milk
- 1 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
For the buttercream
- 1
(8-oz.) block cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup
(1 stick) butter, softened
- 4 cups
powdered sugar
- 1 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp.
kosher salt
Pink and red food coloring
Sprinkles
Directions
- Step 1In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in color. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined, then add flour mixture gradually until totally combined.
- Step 2Shape into 2 flattened discs and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour.
- Step 3When ready to roll, preheat oven to 350º and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out dough until 1/8” thick. Cut out shapes with a 2 1/2" heart-shaped shape cookie cutter and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Freeze 10 minutes (so your shapes hold while baking!)
- Step 4Bake until edges are lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Step 5Make frosting: In a large bow using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined.
- Step 6Divide frosting into 3 bowls. Add pink food coloring to one bowl and red food coloring to another. Stir each bowl and add more food coloring until desired color is reached. Frost cookies using an offset spatula with each color of frosting, then top with sprinkles.
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