Does anyone really need an excuse for sugar cookies? These sweetheart sugar cookies are the perfect way to show you care on Valentine’s Day or any other day of the year.
I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day because it reminds me of my mom and all the silly cards she would get me when I was little. In our society right now more than ever, it’s so important that we spread the love, and these sweetheart sugar cookies are a great way to do it!
Sweetheart Sugar Cookies:
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (if you don’t have vb paste, sub with 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- 1 large egg
Royal Icing:
- 1 egg white
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 cups of powdered sugar
- Food coloring of your choice (optional) or colored juice (that’s what I did!)
- ¼ tsp water if needed + additional ¼ tsp water depending on how thick you want your icing (only use the water if you’re not using juice)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and vanilla bean paste in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the egg and mix to fully combine. Add all of the flour mixture in 2-3 batches, and beat just until blended.
Split the dough in thirds and place 1/3 of the dough on a floured surface. I usually put a large piece of parchment paper down and put flour on top of that for easy clean up.
Make sure you use enough flour on your work surface and rolling pin to ensure that the dough doesn’t stick to anything. If you don’t use enough flour, your dough will become a sticky mess.
Working with one disk at a time, roll out the dough to about ¼- ½ inch thick and cut out with your favorite festive cookie cutters. I used both big and small hearts, hence the name sweetheart sugar cookies, but you can use whatever you like. There a lot of fun cookie cutter sets out there, so have fun with it!
Bake at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.
To make the icing, mix egg white and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until frothy, then beat in the powdered sugar until a glossy and smooth icing forms.
I don’t like using food coloring or dyes, so I used beet juice and pomegranate juice to color these. For the mini hearts, I just used a splash of beet juice, and for the paler pink hearts, I used POM pomegranate juice. For the pomegranate icing I didn’t use vanilla extract. The juices add a touch of sweetness but no distinct flavor.
NOTE** This icing recipe is a guideline, and I tend to add more powdered sugar/water depending on what I want to do with the icing. If you want it thicker, add more sugar. If you want it a little thinner and runnier, add more water or juice ¼ tsp at a time.
Make sure the cookies are fully cooled before you ice them. If you ice them when they are warm, the icing will just run off. You can have fun decorating the cookies and spend time with details, or if you want something simple and beautiful, just pick one color icing, and using a knife, frost all of the cookies in the same color for a cool, monochromatic look.
I put each color of icing in a ziplock bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner to use it as a piping bag to pipe the icing onto these cookies, but you could definitely just frost these cookies with a knife.
[Click here to watch video on how to pipe icing with a ziplock bag]
Whichever icing method you use, these sweetheart sugar cookies will look and taste great!
Let the iced cookies set up and dry for about an hour so icing dries, and pass out these sweetheart sugar cookies to all the sweethearts in your life. Happy Valentine’s Day!
