Heart Shaped Cookies
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Heart shaped cookies are the kind of baking you do with someone, not just for them. They’re a soft, buttery sugar cookie under a simple pink or red glaze, and they turn up at Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and on gift plates for neighbors.
After decades of vegetarian baking, the recipes I keep are the ones that leave room for other people at the counter. These do, and they come together far more easily than they look.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The dough comes together in one bowl with pantry staples you most likely already have, so there is no special trip to the grocery store.
- It’s a genuine activity, not just a treat. Rolling, cutting, and decorating gives everyone at the table something to do.
- The glaze is powdered sugar and milk, which means you can tint it pink or red, dip the cookies, and add sprinkles without touching a piping bag if you would rather not.
- You can bake the cookies days ahead and decorate when you have time, which makes them easy to fit around a busy week.
- They travel and gift well once the icing has set, so they suit a cookie exchange or a plate handed over a fence.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.
- Unsalted butter. Let it soften to room temperature before you start. Cold butter won’t cream properly with the sugar, and that creaming step is what gives the dough a smooth, even texture for cutting. If you only have salted butter, cut the added salt back a little.
- All-purpose flour. Spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off rather than scooping, which packs in too much and leaves the cookies dry. This is the single easiest place to throw the dough off.
- Baking powder. A small amount gives the cookies a little lift so they hold their shape and bite without spreading into puddles. Check that yours is still fresh, since old baking powder is a common reason cut-out cookies lose their edges.
- Powdered sugar and milk. This is the whole glaze. The ratio is what sets the consistency, so keep both close while you mix and adjust a little. A drop or two of red food coloring turns it the soft pink or deep red most people picture on a heart cookie.
- Sprinkles. Any shape works. Some sprinkles and candy decorations use a shellac or gelatin-based glaze, so check the pack if you are keeping the cookies strictly vegetarian.
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How to Make Heart Shaped Cookies
A complete printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.
Make the Dough
Cream the softened butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt gradually rather than all at once, mixing just until a soft dough forms. Stop as soon as it comes together. Overmixing once the flour is in develops the gluten and makes the baked cookies tough instead of tender.
Roll and Cut
Lightly flour your work surface, using just enough that the dough does not stick. Roll it to about a quarter-inch thick, which is the thickness that holds a clean heart shape and still bakes soft in the middle. Thinner than that and the cookies turn brittle and snap when you move them. Don’t be tempted to go thinner to stretch the batch.
Cut your shapes, gather and re-roll the scraps, and lift the cutouts onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. This is the same roll-and-cut routine I use for my soft spiced gingerbread cookies, so once you have it down, it carries across every cut-out cookie you make.
If you want a cookie with no rolling or cutting at all, my easy chocolate chip cookies scratch that itch, but the shaping here is where the fun is.
Bake
Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to turn golden. Pull them before they color all over. These cookies carry on cooking for a moment on the hot sheet, and the soft center is the whole point, so err on the side of underdone.
Let them rest on the sheet for a few minutes before moving them, because straight out of the oven, they’re still too soft to lift without breaking. A thin metal spatula helps them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze and Decorate
While the cookies cool, whisk the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth. If you want white and red or pink, divide the glaze and stir a drop of red food coloring into one bowl. Wait until the cookies are completely cool before you decorate, since any warmth will thin the glaze and slide it off.
Dip each cookie into the glaze, or spoon or pipe it on if you want more control. Scatter sprinkles while the glaze is still wet so they stick, and let everything set fully before you stack or store them.
If you want to get ahead, the baked, undecorated cookies keep well for a few days in an airtight container, or freeze them (see storage below) and glaze them later when you have the time. I find decorating is easier in a calm half hour than rushed on the day.
Recipe Notes and Expert Tips
- Chill the dough if your kitchen is warm. If the dough feels too soft to roll cleanly, a short rest in the fridge firms the butter back up and makes cutting far easier. This is optional on a cool day and worth it on a hot one.
- Roll to an even thickness. Cookies of different thicknesses bake at different rates, so some brown while others are still pale. If you have a rolling pin with thickness rings, this is the recipe to use them on.
- Watch the oven closely from eight minutes. The gap between golden edges and overbaked is small, and the bottoms can brown faster than the tops. Soft in the middle is what you are after.
- Get the glaze consistency right before you commit. Too thin and it runs off and drips; too thick and it drags and won’t smooth itself. If it’s runny, stir in a little more powdered sugar; if it’s stiff, add milk half a teaspoon at a time.
- Add sprinkles immediately. They only stick while the glaze is wet. Once it starts to skin over, fresh sprinkles slide off, so decorate a few cookies at a time rather than glazing the whole batch first.
- Keep decorations vegetarian. If you’re baking these to be strictly vegetarian, it’s worth a quick check of your sprinkle and food-coloring packs, since a few use animal-derived ingredients.
Recipe Variations
- Keep them plain. Skip the glaze entirely and dust the warm cookies with a little sugar instead, a tested route I’ve taken plenty of times when baking with small children who’d rather eat them than decorate them. For a softer, dairy-free cookie that drops and flattens rather than rolling out, my sugar cookies without butter are a good alternative.
- Almond extract in place of the vanilla, or half of each, gives the cookies a bakery flavor. I haven’t tested that swap in this exact recipe, but it’s a like-for-like change that doesn’t touch the dough ratios, so it’s a safe one to try.
- Spread a little jam or buttercream between two cooled hearts. I haven’t tested this version here, and it does make them richer and more filling, so bake them a touch thinner if you plan to pair them.
- Go patriotic. Use red, white, and blue sprinkles and the same cookie suits Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, or Veterans Day. This is as tested as the standard batch, since only the decoration changes and the recipe stays exactly as written.
How to Store Leftovers
Once the cookies are completely cool and the icing has fully set, store them in an airtight container with parchment paper between the layers so the decorations do not stick. They keep at room temperature for up to 3 days, as long as the room is not warm enough to soften the glaze.
For longer storage, they hold in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for 2 to 3 months. If you plan to freeze them, do it before decorating; freeze the plain baked cookies in a single layer until firm, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. When you’re ready, let them come back to room temperature and then glaze and add fresh sprinkles so they look their best.
What to Serve With Heart Shaped Cookies
These are at their best with something warm to dip or sip alongside. A cup of coffee or tea in the afternoon is the natural pairing, or a tall glass of cold milk if you are keeping it classic for the kids. They’re also close cousins of my buttery cut-out Christmas sugar cookies, so I often serve them together.
For a party or a gift, I like to set them on a dessert board next to my chocolate covered strawberries, since the two share the same Valentine’s feel and the strawberries need no baking at all. A few cookies tucked into a cellophane bag with a ribbon also make an easy handmade gift on their own.
FAQs
Usually the dough was too warm going into the oven, or there was a little too much butter or too little flour. Chill the cut shapes for ten minutes before baking, make sure your baking powder is fresh, and let the baking sheet cool between batches rather than placing dough on a hot pan.
Yes. The dough can be wrapped and refrigerated for a day or two before you roll it. If it has firmed up hard in the fridge, let it sit out for about fifteen minutes so it rolls without cracking.
A glaze that stays wet is usually too thin, with too much milk for the sugar. Stir in more powdered sugar to thicken it, give decorated cookies plenty of time to dry undisturbed, and avoid stacking them until the surface is firm to a light touch.
Not always. On a cool day, this dough rolls and cuts straight away. If your kitchen is warm or the dough feels too soft to hold a clean edge, a short rest in the fridge firms the butter back up and makes cutting much easier.
More Cookie Recipes to Bake Next
If you enjoyed decorating these, here are a few more cookies from my kitchen worth keeping close.
- Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies. Make these when you want the same decorating fun in a tree shape, and you don’t even need cutters since you cut the triangles by just a knife.
- Marshmallow Swirl Cookies. This is the one I make when a soft cocoa cookie with a gooey marshmallow middle sounds better than a crisp one, using gelatin-free marshmallows to keep it vegetarian.
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. I bake these when I want a fudgy cookie with a crackled powdered-sugar top that looks the part on a holiday plate.
- Cookie Monster Cookies. Save this one for a day the kids are baking with you, and you want something bright, loaded, and a little bit silly.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Decoration:
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Red food coloring
- Sprinkles
Video
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing until fully combined. Gradually mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt until a soft dough forms.2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking powder
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about ¼-inch thickness.
- Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cookies and place them on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8–10 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden.
- While the cookies cool, prepare the icing by whisking together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Divide into two bowls, and add red food coloring to one of them for a pink icing option.1 ½ cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, Red food coloring
- Once the cookies are fully cooled, decorate with icing and sprinkles as desired. Let the icing set before serving or storing.Sprinkles
Notes
Nutrition
