Name: Valentine Heart Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 14
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: Cookie Ingredients:; 1 ½ cup flour; ¾ cup confectioners sugar; ½ cup butter; ½ tsp baking soda; ½ tsp cream of tartar; ½ tsp vanilla extract; ¼ tsp almond extract; Icing Ingredients:; 1 cup confectioners sugar; 4 tsp milk; 2 tsp light corn syrup; ¼ tsp almond extract; pink food color; non-pariels or other candy decorations such as white and pink non-pariels, red and pink candy hearts

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These adorable Valentine heart cookies are made with a delicious sugar cookie base and some simple decorating tips. Try out these easy DIY Valentine’s Day cookies!

pin showing the finished cookies with title in the middle.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprsed by how easy it is to make these adorable Valentine heart cookies. They’re perfect for sharing and gifting and the decorating process is simple and easy.

If you are not a cookie magician, don’t worry, it’s simple and I’m giving you my best tips along the way so that you can have a batch of tasty sugar cookies perfectly decorated for Valentine’s day! Share them with your sweetheart, your kids, or send them to school for a class treat!

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A plate full of finished cookies ready to eat.

Can kids make these decorated sugar cookies?

Absolutely! You can have kids help with as much of the process as they are comfortable with, I’d say the baking of the actual cookies might be more suited towards older kids but the decorating and prepping the dough can be helped by little hands!

If you want to make it really easy for kids to help you can always make the icing a bit thicker and let them use spoons or butter knives to put it onto the cookies! Sometimes piping bags can be a little tricky for younger kids.

A close up of a cookie with sprinkles ready to be shared.

What do I need to make these cute Valentine heart cookies?

This recipe is a really simple sugar cookie recipe that is topped with royal icing that you can color any way you like! You’ll need the following for the cookie part of this recipe, yay for homemade sugar cookies!

Flour
Confectioners sugar
Butter
Baking soda
Cream of tartar
Vanilla extract
Almond extract

A variety of cookies each decorated differently for valentine's day.

Here is what you will need to make the royal icing for these awesome Valentine heart cookies. Don’t forget to pull out your favorite holiday themed sprinkles as well!

Confectioners sugar
Milk
Light corn syrup
Almond extract
Pink food color
Non-pariels or other candy decorations such as white and pink non-pariels, red and pink candy hearts, etc.

How to make Valentine heart cookies:

Cream together confectioners sugar, butter, vanilla, almond, and egg.

Blend in flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda until thoroughly combined.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Roll dough on floured board to 1/8” thick.

Cutout heart shaped cookies.

Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or just golden.

Be sure to let them cool a bit before you try removing them from the sheets. Also let them cool completely before you handle them too much! This will help avoid cracking and breaking!

Another pin showing the finished cookies in back with title across the top.

How do I make the royal icing for these cookies?

To prepare the icing, combine confectioners sugar, milk, corn syrup, and extract until smooth and creamy.

Tip: to create a nice piped edge on the cookie, separate 2 heaping tbsp of icing into a small bowl and add 1 tbsp of confectioners sugar.

A look at one of the finished and decorated sugar cookies ready to eat.

This will create a thicker icing. Scoop this icing into a piping bag with a small hole cut in the bottom. Pipe your edge around the center cookie and each petal. This will prevent the colored icing from pooling and dripping over the edge.

With the remaining icing, add food coloring to desired tint.

Spoon a small amount of food coloring icing onto the cookie and carefully spread to the border edge.

Tip: use a toothpick to work the icing toward the edge. Work quickly, the icing dries and hardens fast.

Sprinkle non-pariels on asap so they will stick.

Use the white piping to write words if desired!

here we see a valentine heart cookie with the word love written on it.

Looking for more fun Valentine’s Day posts?

Here are some more of my favorite Valentine’s Day posts. There’s everything from more recipes and treats to DIY decor and gift-able cards!

Printable Valentine Heart Cookies Recipe:

Yield: 14 Large Cookies

Valentine Heart Cookies

These adorable Valentine heart cookies are made with a delicious sugar cookie base and some simple decorating tips! Try out these easy DIY Valentine's day cookies!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Chill Time 1 hour

Bake Time 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

Cookie Ingredients:
1 ½ cup flour
¾ cup confectioners sugar
½ cup butter
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract
Icing Ingredients:
1 cup confectioners sugar
4 tsp milk
2 tsp light corn syrup
¼ tsp almond extract
pink food color
non-pariels or other candy decorations such as white and pink non-pariels, red and pink candy hearts

Instructions

Cream together confectioners sugar, butter, vanilla, almond, and egg.
Blend in flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda until thoroughly combined.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Roll dough on floured board to 1/8” thick.
Cutout heart shaped cookies.
Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or just golden.
To prepare the icing, combine confectioners sugar, milk, corn syrup, and extract until smooth and creamy.
Tip: to create a nice piped edge on the cookie, separate 2 heaping tbsp of icing into a small bowl and add 1 tbsp of confectioners sugar. This will create a thicker icing. Scoop this icing into a piping bag with a small hole cut in the bottom. Pipe your edge around the center cookie and each petal. This will prevent the colored icing from pooling and dripping over the edge.
With the remaining icing, add food coloring to desired tint.
Spoon a small amount of food coloring icing onto the cookie and carefully spread to the border edge.
Tip: use a toothpick to work the icing toward the edge. Work quickly, the icing dries and hardens fast.
Sprinkle non-pariels on asap so they will stick.
Use the white piping to write words if desired.