Valentine’s Cookies: A simple, easy, and fun sugar cookie recipe for Valentine’s Day. Perfect for parties, gifting to friends, or indulging in yourself.
With the start of a new year finally here, that means Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! And what better way to celebrate than with a marbled heart cookies recipe?
Marbled royal icing cookies are perfect for a small party, gifting to friends, or just an excuse to indulge in cookies – without guilt. I mean, it IS Valentine’s Day so treat yourself with a delicious festive sugar cookie!
As delicious as they are to eat, I think the best part about these Valentine’s cookies is how simple they are to make, too. Prepare the dough, bake the cookies, prepare the icing, and dip! The icing is MUCH easier than it looks, too. There’s only 15 minutes of prep so you’ll be in and out of the kitchen in no time!
Once they’re baked, you can serve a plate or stick them in some cellophane treat bags to gift to your loved ones. If there’s a year to love all over your family and friends, this is definitely that year.
Now let’s get to the recipe for Valentine’s cookies…
Cooking tools you might need
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- Hand mixer: A quality electric mixer is a must for baking. You can also use a stand mixer, if desired.
- Cookie cutters: A heavy-duty cookie cutter set will make a huge difference.
- Food coloring: Gel food coloring is a MUST for baking and work much better than other alternatives.
Valentine’s cookies ingredients
- Butter: Unsalted butter softened to room temperature is best for baking!
- Sugar: You will need both granulated and confectioners’ sugar for this recipe.
- Salt: Just a bit of salt to balance out this cookie recipe.
- Eggs: Be sure to bring your eggs to room temperature for best results.
- Vanilla: A bit of vanilla adds the perfect flavor to your cookie dough!
- Flour: Flour is the primary ingredient for cookies.
- Milk: You’ll need a bit of milk to add to the confectioners sugar for your icing!
- Corn syrup: Corn syrup helps make your icing nice and thick.
- Food coloring: I find gel food coloring is best for creating that marble effect.
How to make marbled heart cookies
- Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer set to medium speed.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt; continue blending until combined. Slowly add the flour, mixing just until combined. Be careful not to overmix!
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out onto a floured surface about 1/2-inch thick and cut into hearts (or another desired shape) with a cookie cutter. Place them onto the lined cookie sheet.
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are set.
- While baking, prepare the icing by combining the sugar, milk, and corn syrup in a small bowl. Adjust the milk measurement as needed to reach your desired consistency.
- Squeeze a small amount of food coloring into the icing and use a toothpick to swirl it around for the marbled effect.
- Once the cookies are done cooking and have fully cooled, dip each one into the icing face down. Lift them up and allow the excess to drip off. Add icing or edible glitter, if desired.
- Place on a plate or cooling rack and allow the icing to set for about an hour. Serve with milk and enjoy!
Baking tips for Valentine’s cookies
If baking isn’t exactly your forte, let me ease your fears. This recipe is super EASY as long as you follow the recipe exactly. I’ve listed out a few tips to make it easier for you, too.
- Use unsalted butter when possible: it’s a better option for baking since even salt content can throw off a recipe. You’ll find that different manufacturer’s have different amounts so it’s easier to opt for unsalted and control the salt yourself in the recipe.
- Do not skip chilling the dough: If a recipe calls for chilling the dough, I advise against skipping it, no matter how badly you might want to. Chilling the dough will chill and harden the fat content, making your cookies less likely to spread during baking.
- Be careful not to overmix: Many recipes will stress the importance of not overmixing the dough. This is because they can come out very tough, gummy, or just an unpleasant texture. Stop mixing when you see just a bit of flour left at the bottom of the bowl.
- Always cool your cookies first: It can be tempting to add the icing immediately, but this will result in cookies that are a mess. Cookies right out of the oven are very fragile and can break, make a mess of the icing, and otherwise not be usable. Wait until cooled.
Storing leftover marbled royal icing cookies
Since this recipe makes about 24 cookies, you just might have some leftovers. The good news is they store well and as long as the icing is completely dry for at least an hour, they shouldn’t stick together. They will last 3-4 days on the counter and about 2 weeks in an airtight container.
If you’d like to freeze, there are a few options in doing so. Just be sure to skip the frosting until you’re ready! You can prepare the dough and then place it in an airtight container. Alternatively, you can bake or cut them out and then freeze. If doing so, place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper to freeze flat before adding them to an airtight container.
To bake, pop them right in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. (Yes, you can bake frozen cookies without thawing them first!) If you froze the dough without cutting, you’ll want to thaw them out first and then roll out the dough to cut your shapes before baking.
Marbled heart cookies variations
This recipe for marbled royal icing cookies is delicious, but it doesn’t have to stop here! You can play around with different shapes, colors, and flavors to come up with some really delicious variations. I’ve listed a few ideas below for you to try.
- Holiday cookies: Try using different shaped cookie cutters, food colors, and edible glitter. A tree with red + green coloring topped with gold edible glitter would be so cute for Christmas! Or maybe an egg with yellow + blue coloring for Easter!
- Lemon cookies: Try adding some lemon extract/zest and use yellow coloring for the icing!
- Chocolate cookies: Add a bit of cocoa powder and use a brown food coloring.
More Valentine’s recipes:
Try these other cookie recipes:
Valentine’s Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour divided
Icing
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 4-5 Tablespoons milk
- 4-5 Tablespoons corn syrup
- Gel Food Coloring
Instructions
- Cream together the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer set to medium speed.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt; continue blending until combined. Slowly add the flour, mixing just until combined. Be careful not to overmix!
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out onto a floured surface about 1/2-inch thick and cut into hearts (or another desired shape) with a cookie cutter. Place them onto the lined cookie sheet.
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are set.
- While baking, prepare the icing by combining the confectioners sugar, milk, and corn syrup in a small bowl. Adjust the milk measurement as needed to reach your desired consistency.
- Squeeze a small amount of food coloring into the icing and use a toothpick to swirl it around for the marbled effect.
- Once the cookies are done cooking and have fully cooled, dip each one into the icing face down. Lift them up and allow the excess to drip off. Add icing or edible glitter, if desired.
- Place on a plate or cooling rack and allow the icing to set for about an hour. Serve with milk and enjoy!
Notes
- Cookies can be stored in an airtight container on the counter.
- Freeze prepared dough, if desired. Bake for an extra 2-3 minutes.
Nutrition
Be sure to pin this valentine cookie recipe for later!
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