Valentine’s Day is one of those “holidays” that some people love and some people don’t. I have never gotten very excited over Valentine’s Day, but I always appreciated it just a teenie bit. Then I had two little girls and they love all things pink, so my appreciation for Valentine’s Day started to grow more and more each year. This year I have been very excited to try some new sweets and embrace the fun and yummy side of the day. I have always loved the way that sugar cookies look when they are decorated all fancy with royal icing. This past December I used royal icing for the first time and had a blast learning to work with it. I knew right away that I would be making all kinds of fun cookies in the year ahead as there are endless possibilities of fun and creative cookies that you can produce using royal icing. I definitely need to work on my piping skills and I learned a great deal from making this batch of cookies. I found that using a #2 tip when piping makes things so much easier (I wish I would have realized it sooner, like when I was piping the edges, oh well, it worked out). I also loved using the plastic decorating bottles for flooding the cookies, it made things go so much smoother and with little to no mess!
I had a lot of fun piping fun sayings and little hearts onto the pretty pink cookies.
Katelyn even got to help decorate a bunch of little hearts with lots of Valentine sprinkles.
I choose to use Martha Stewart’s sugar cookie recipe and I think they turned out perfect. The flavor is wonderful and they are so soft and delicious, they just melt in your mouth. So if you have been wanting to try decorating with royal icing, Valentine’s Day is a perfect time for cookie experimenting. We had so much fun making these cookies and we can’t wait to share them with all of our Valentines!
Valentine Heart Cookies Cookies: Printer Friendly Version Royal Icing: Printer Friendly VersionSugar Cookies
Makes 2 dozen
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy. With mixer running, add egg, milk, and vanilla; mix until well combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add reserved flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
Decorate with Royal Icing (click here for recipe).
Adapted From: Martha Stewart
These are so adorable!!! I’m gonna make decorated cookies this weekend and I just might have to borrow these designs 😉
Feel free to borrow all you want! 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful time decorating your own Valentine treats!
Cute and delicious in one package! Just wonderful, thank you for sharing 🙂
Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone in your family!
Thanks Dad! We miss you!
I’m not into Valentine’s day but who need V day for those cookies. They are just so so cute that I would want them any day!
Oh I love these!! So cute (and so is your little helper)
Oh my goodness, your helper is absolutely gorgeous! Your heart cookies are gorgeous, too! 🙂
So so cute! Isn’t it amazing how the simplest designs are the cutest! Your helper is a doll!
So lovely! And love your sweet assistant 🙂
I’m not sure who’s more cute, your little girl or your cookies. It’s definitely a close call.
Im always on the hunt for a good sugar cookie recipe. I hate when they are too dry and brittle, so thanks for noting how these turned out. I think its cute that even Katelyn got to help put sprinkles on, that was my favorite part as a child.