Making deliciously decorated Valentine's Day cookies doesn't have to be hard! With just a simple heart & circle cookie cutter (and my signature sugar cookie recipe!), you can make any of these 3 Valentine cookie designs.
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In this post, I'll show you how to make 3 different types of cookie designs using my favorite cut out sugar cookie recipe and easy homemade frosting. Even if you're not an experienced baker, you can make the best ever Valentine sugar cookies this year!
Whether you have a class party at your kiddos school or simply want to surprise your friends and family, these easy cookie ideas for beginners are just as SIMPLE as they are cute!
Valentine Cookie Decorating Ideas Made EASY
- Easy to make: If you're not an experienced baker, don't worry - you can still make these cookies with ease! My sugar cookie recipe is simple and the buttercream frosting is a breeze to put together.
- No fancy cookie cutters needed! You can make all 3 of these designs using a heart cookie cutter, circle (or glass cup!) and a knife (for the envelope!).
- Use premade dough: Running low on time? Save my sugar cookie recipe for another time and pick up a roll of premade dough (like Pillsbury) from the grocery store.
- Perfect for gift giving: Forget the store bought gifts. Using these cookie decorating ideas, you can make a few batches of sugar cookies and gift them to your friends and family. Pop them into ziploc bags with a printable gift tag a sweet gesture and it's budget-friendly!
Ingredients Needed For Valentine Sugar Cookies:
- My Signature Cut Out Sugar Cookie Dough (or try my Fluffy Sugar Cookies!)
- Buttercream Frosting
- Food Coloring
- Tools: You'll also need a rolling pin (read more about my favorite rolling pin here), parchment paper, heart cookie cutter, circle cookie cutter, knife (to make rectangle envelopes), piping bag, butter knife or offset spatula, and Wilton heart sprinkles (you can also just pipe the heart on the envelope)
Tip: If you don't have a rolling pin, you can instead make my Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars and cut out the shapes after they're baked!
How To Make Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies
Step 1: Make Dough, Cut Shapes, and Bake
After following the instructions on how to make classic sugar cookies, your cookie dough is ready to be rolled out. I highly recommend checking out my guide on how to perfectly roll-out sugar cookie dough.
Now, it's just to cut them out into the shapes you like!
- Heart Cookie: use a heart shaped cookie cutter
- Circle Heart: use a circle cookie cutter or glass cup to cut out shapes
- Envelope: roll out dough and then use a sharp knife cut into rectangles (you can also just bake my sugar cookie bars)
Tip: Want to make the dough ahead of time and roll it out later? Learn all about how to freeze sugar cookie dough.
Step 2: Make & Color Buttercream Frosting
I used my easy sugar cookie buttercream frosting recipe as the base for all 3 colors and simply mixed in the exact amount of food coloring to get the perfect shade!
To Make Red Frosting: For every 1 cup of frosting, use 4 drops Wilton Crimson + 2 drops Wilton Red.
To Make Pink Frosting: For every 1 cup of frosting, use 1 toothpick swipe of Wilton Red (dip the tip of a toothpick ½″ into the food coloring then swipe on top of the frosting). The toothpick trick is the easiest way to pale, light pink frosting!
Tip: If you want your frosting to be pure white, use clear extracts (using brown vanilla extract will make the frosting slightly off-white!).
Step 3: Decorate!
To make it as easy as possible, I am going to share how I decorated each cookie design and any tips I may have.
Idea 1: Heart Cookie:
Out of all the Valentine cookie decorating ideas, these heart cookies are the easiest to decorate!
- Cut out heart cookies using a cookie cutter, bake, and cool.
- Using a piping piping bag and small round tip (#5), start out by piping along the edge of the cookie.
- Then, use a zig-zag motion to fill the center of the cookie.
- You can leave it like this, OR you can use an offset spatula to smooth it all out.
Tip: You can leave the cookie as is, or you can decorate it with some pink sugar sprinkles. This frosting hardens quickly, so be sure to add sprinkles immediately after frosting!
Idea 2: Envelope Cookie:
You'll use the rectangle cookies for this one! You can easy any of the colored buttercream frostings for this one but I went ahead and used plain white.
- Cut out rectangle cookies using a knife, bake, and cool.
- Pipe or spread the buttercream evenly onto the cookie (if piping, create an outline, fill in, then smooth).
- Pipe out the outline of an envelope shape (shown in the picture below) by piping a border, followed by a triangle on the top and two lines on the bottom.
- Seal the "envelope" with a jumbo heart-shaped sprinkle.
Tip: If you can't find any heart-shaped sprinkles, you can simply pipe one on with red frosting or swap them out and use a classic Valentine's Day candy conversation heart!
Idea 3: Circle With Heart:
Now, for the last cookie! This is my favorite circle Valentine cookie, as you can make it with a simple circle cup!
- Cut out circle cookies using a glass cup or circle cookie cutter, bake, and cool.
- Pread or pipe on the white icing.
- If you have it, lightly press a small heart cookie cutter into the center of the cookie to leave a heart outline.
- Now using the red piping bag and small round tip (#5), pipe along the heart outline and fill the center.
Tip: Don't have a heart-shaped cookie cutter? You can simply freehand the heart shape!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Besides buttercream, there are several other types of frosting you can make to add to your sugar cookies:
Easy Sugar Cookie Icing = I highly recommend using this icing when you are making quick, one-color designs.
Cream Cheese Frosting for Cookies = While this one doesn't fully "harden", it is a tasty cream cheese alternative!
Easy Sugar Cookie Glaze = A runny icing great for quickly dipping one-color designs.
Royal Icing = This is a perfect option for those sugar cookies that need extra details, where you want the icing to fully harden.
These simple Valentine's Day sugar cookies will last for up to 3-4 days if they are stored in an airtight container. If you think you won't be able to eat all the cookies within that time frame, you can freeze them for 2 months. To thaw the cookies out, let them sit out at room temperature for 1-2 hours before enjoying them!
If you have any extra frosting, you can store it in the fridge for up to a week. If you have way too much leftover, you can freeze it too! Freeze it in an air-tight container for 2 months. When ready to use, bring it back to room temperature and re-beat it with a mixer to fluff it back up.
For more easy Valentine treats...
If you make these Valentine sugar cookies, be sure to leave a comment below and tag me on Instagram @designeatrepeat. I LOVE seeing what you made!
Valentine Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract (nut allergy? you can substitute this with extra vanilla!)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- Gel food coloring
Tools/Toppings:
- Jumbo Heart Sprinkles for the envelope cookies
Before you begin! If you make this, will you do me a huge favor and leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe? This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- In a large bowl, cream together unsalted butter (¾ cup, i.e. 1 ½ sticks) and granulated sugar (¾ cup) on medium speed for 20-30 seconds. Mix in egg (1 large), vanilla extract (2 teaspoons) and almond extract (1 teaspoon). Add in baking powder (1 teaspoon), salt (½ teaspoon), and all-purpose flour (2 cups) and mix until combined. Transfer to a flour-covered surface and use a rolling pin to roll dough ⅜" to ½" thick (for more tips & a full tutorial see my Ultimate Guide to Cut Out Sugar Cookies) . Use cookie cutters or glass cup to cut out dough.
- Bake at 350℉ for 8-10 minutes. Depending on size of your cookie cutter and thickness of dough, you may need to bake for a few extra minutes. Allow to cool before decorating.
- To make frosting: In a large mixing bowl, add softened unsalted butter (1 cup, i.e. 2 sticks), vanilla extract (2 teaspoons), almond extract (1 ½ teaspoons), and salt (¼ teaspoon). Cream together on medium speed for 30 seconds, or until blended together. Mix in powdered sugar ½ cup at a time (3 cups total) until all is incorporated. Turn mixer to high speed, and beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- To decorate: Reference the photos in the post above to decorate your valentine sugar cookies. See notes below for more sugar cookie frosting recipes.
- Store in airtight container for 2-3 days or freeze for later.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe! This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Notes
- Easy Sugar Cookie Icing = Great for simple piping and one-color designs.
- Easy Sugar Cookie Glaze = A runny icing great for quickly dipping one-color designs.
- Cream Cheese Frosting for Cookies = While this one doesn't fully "harden", it is a tasty cream cheese alternative!
- Royal Icing = Great for intricate designs, where you want the icing to fully harden.
they are amazing! i think i used the same recipe for my christmas ones!! will definitely have to bring to valentines dinner!