These decorated Valentine’s Day cookies resemble conversation heart candies—so fun for the holiday! My recipe for sugar cookies promises flavorful cookies with soft and thick centers, slightly crisp edges, and flat tops for decorating with royal icing. The dough comes together with 7–8 simple ingredients, and the cookies hold their cookie cutter shape in the oven.
Not to toot my own horn, but… I have absolutely *zero talent* when it comes to piping writing on cookies and cakes. Zero zip zilch. LOL. Pen and paper, great! Piping frosting on cupcakes and flooding icing on cookies, totally manageable! But combine writing + piping, and I completely lose control of my hand.
Recently, my talented assistant Stephanie came to my rescue, and helped me write on these conversation heart-inspired cookies. Because we just can’t make Valentine’s Day cookies without the fun little sayings on top!
Conversation Heart Candies
If you aren’t familiar with conversation heart candies, they are a Valentine’s Day staple here in the U.S. They’re like little edible love notes! Pastel-colored, a little chalky-tasting, and totally iconic, conversation hearts have been around for over a century. Did you know the company that produces them comes up with a new theme each year, and creates new sayings to go along with that theme? The sayings are usually sweet or funny, but can even be sassy or sarcastic!
But you don’t need to buy a bag of conversation hearts to make today’s recipe. You just need a rolling pin, a heart-shaped cookie cutter, and a little inspiration for what to write on top (I provide some suggestions below).
So Much to Love About These Valentine’s Day Cookies
These lookalike (but tasteabetter) heart-shaped treats start with my trusty recipe for sugar cookies. The cookies are soft and buttery with crisp edges. The dough holds its shape wonderfully in the oven. Sharp and precise; no misshapen hearts!
- Soft, thick centers with slightly crisp edges
- Irresistible buttery vanilla flavor
- Made from simple ingredients
- Leave plain or flavor with extracts
- Hold shape while baking
- Freeze beautifully
- Easy-to-follow recipe used by beginner and expert bakers alike
Reader Sharon commented: “I have made this recipe probably 50 times and I absolutely love it! It’s not too sweet so when you add royal icing it makes it just perfect. ★★★★★”
We’re using royal icing for today’s Valentine’s Day sugar cookie decoration, but you can absolutely skip the writing and top them with buttercream like we do for these St. Patrick’s Day cookies, or use this easy glaze cookie icing instead.
Overview: How to Make Valentine’s Day Cookies
- Make cookie dough. You only need 7–8 ingredients. With so few ingredients, it’s important that you follow the recipe closely. Creamed butter and sugar provide the base of the cookie dough. Egg is the cookie’s structure and vanilla extract adds flavor. I almost always add a touch of almond extract for additional flavor and highly recommend that you try it too! Flour is an obvious addition, baking powder adds lift, and salt balances the sweet. By the way, you can create these Valentine’s Day cookies using my chocolate sugar cookies too!
- Divide in 2 pieces. Smaller sections of dough are easier to roll out.
- Roll out cookie dough. Roll it out to 1/4 inch thickness. If you have difficulty evenly rolling out dough, try this adjustable rolling pin. Such a brilliant invention!
- Chill rolled-out cookie dough. Without chilling, these cookie cutter sugar cookies won’t hold their shape. Chill the rolled-out cookie dough for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Cut into shapes. If you need suggestions for cookie cutters, I love Ann Clark brand. (Not sponsored, just a genuine fan!) For the cookies pictured here, I used the 3.5-inch size from this set. You just need to make sure your heart cookie cutter is big enough to give you plenty of space to pipe the writing on—I think about 3 inches is good. You can use the same cookie cutter for these raspberry sugar cookies, too.
- Bake & cool. Depending on size, the cookies take about 12 minutes.
- Decorate. More on the icing below.
The Trick Is the Order of Steps
Notice how I roll out the dough BEFORE chilling it in the refrigerator? That’s my signature sugar cookie trick!
Let me explain why I do this. Just like when you’re making chocolate chip cookies, to prevent the cookies from over-spreading, the cookie dough must chill in the refrigerator. Roll out the dough right after you prepare it, then chill the rolled-out dough. (At this point the dough is too soft to cut into shapes.) Don’t chill the cookie dough and then try to roll it out because it will be too cold and difficult to work with. I divide the dough in half before rolling it out and highly recommend you do the same. Smaller sections of dough are simply more manageable.
Here’s another trick! Roll out the cookie dough directly on silicone baking mats or parchment paper sheets so you can easily transfer it to the refrigerator. Pick the whole thing up, set it on a baking sheet, and place it in the refrigerator. If you don’t have enough room for 2 baking sheets in your refrigerator, you can stack the pieces of rolled-out dough on top of each other (with parchment or baking mat in between).
Royal Icing Is Best for Writing on Cookies
This royal icing is my preferred sugar cookie icing because it’s easy to use, dries in a couple hours, and doesn’t have a texture comparable to hardened cement. (It’s actually on the softer side!) I use it for most of my sugar cookie recipes, including watermelon sugar cookies.
I make the royal icing with meringue powder. Meringue powder takes the place of liquid raw egg whites, which is found in traditional royal icing recipes. It eliminates the need for fresh eggs, but still provides the same consistency. You can find meringue powder in some baking aisles, most craft stores with a baking section, or shop for meringue powder online.
The trickiest part is landing on the perfect royal icing consistency. My royal icing video is included in the written recipe below, so use that to help guide you.
Tools You Need for Decorating These Heart Sugar Cookies
- Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit: In my experience, this is the BEST coloring for royal icing. The color is rich and vivid. You only need a teeny drip for the pastel colors in today’s cookies. And for darker colors, 1 small drop. So these colors will last you a very long time! I used the yellow, deep pink, violet, green, and orange; and red for the writing.
- Disposable or reusable piping bags.
- Coupler(s): If you only have 1 piping tip and want to decorate with multiple colors of icing, keep the tip on the outside of the bag by using a coupler so you can easily transfer the piping tip to other bags of colored icing.
- Round Icing Tip #4: For piping the royal icing on top of each cookie (outlining and flooding).
- Round Icing Tip #2: For piping the writing on top of the iced cookies.
For even more recommendations, see this full list of my favorite cookie decorating supplies.
I stuck with the shortest possible sayings and words because, well… you know my struggle. Some *short* conversation heart text inspiration:
- BFF
- Love
- Kiss
- Hug
- XOXO
- Sweet
- Wink
- Kind
- Me & U
- Cute
Have fun with it, and don’t worry about making them look perfect. You can even skip the writing for plain pastel Valentine’s Day cookies. Your Valentine will appreciate your efforts no matter what. 😉 And all that practice will get you ready for decorating football cookies, Easter cookies, fireworks cookies!
More Valentine’s Day Desserts
- Valentine’s Day Cupcakes
- Sparkle Sweetheart Cookies
- Red Velvet Cake
- Lava Cakes
- Homemade Chocolate Truffles
- Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies
See even more Valentine’s Day dessert recipes.
Print
Valentine’s Day Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 6 hours (includes icing setting)
- Yield: 20 3.5-inch cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These decorated Valentine’s Day heart sugar cookies resemble conversation heart candies—so fun for the holiday! I include the full set of special tools and equipment I use in the Notes below.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)*
Royal Icing
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted (I use and recommend Domino brand)
- 3 Tablespoons meringue powder (not plain egg white powder)
- 9–10 Tablespoons room-temperature water
- gel food coloring kit for tinting (or any gel food coloring)
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be a bit soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
- Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top. (This prevents sticking.) Place the 2nd rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2–3 large baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator. If it’s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it. Using a heart cookie cutter (pictured cookies use the 3.5-inch size), cut the dough into hearts. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough. (Note: It may not seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.)
- Arrange cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11–12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheets halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Make the icing: I have a video for how to make royal icing below. Use that as your guide for this step. Combine sifted confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and 9 Tablespoons of water in a large bowl. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat icing ingredients together on high speed for 1.5–2 minutes. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5–10 seconds. If it’s too thick, beat in more water 1 Tablespoon at a time. I usually need 10 Tablespoons, but on particularly dry days, I may use up to 12–14 Tablespoons. Keep in mind that the longer you beat the royal icing, the thicker it becomes. If your royal icing is too thin, just keep beating it to introduce more air OR you can add more sifted confectioners’ sugar. Yields about 3 cups of icing.
- Separate icing into 6 different bowls. (Or fewer bowls, depending how many colors you want.) Stir in 1 tiny drop of the following colors into each bowl, 1 color per bowl: pink, violet, green, yellow, and orange. The 6th bowl is for the writing. For that, stir in 2–3 drops of red. You won’t use the red icing for a couple hours after the base icing sets, so place a damp paper towel directly on the surface of it. This prevents it from hardening.
- Spoon or pour the pastel icings into piping bags (disposable or reusable) fitted with round piping tip #4. If you only have 1 tip and want to decorate with multiple colors of icing, keep the tip on the outside of the bag by using a coupler so you can easily transfer the piping tip to other bags of colored icing. Decorate cookies with colored icing by piping a border around the edges and then filling it. Let the icing-covered cookies mostly set, uncovered, for at least 2 hours before adding writing.
- Spoon or pour the red icing into a piping bag (disposable or reusable) fitted with round piping tip #2. Write desired words/messages on the cookies (ideas/suggestions listed in the post above!). Writing icing will set within 2–3 hours.
- Decorated or plain cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Plain or decorated sugar cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Wait for the icing to set completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months before rolling it out. Prepare the dough through step 3, divide in half, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw the disks in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4, then chill rolled-out dough in the refrigerator for 45–60 minutes before cutting into shapes and baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Rolling Pin or this Adjustable Rolling Pin | Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter | Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit | Piping Bags (Disposable or Reusable) | Couplers | Meringue Powder | Wilton Tip #4 | Wilton Tip #2
- Room Temperature: Room temperature butter is essential. If the dough is too sticky, your butter may have been too soft. Room temperature butter is actually cool to the touch. Room temperature egg is preferred so it’s quickly and evenly mixed into the cookie dough.
- Flavors: I love flavoring this cookie dough with 1/2 teaspoon almond extract as listed in the ingredients above. For lighter flavor, use 1/4 teaspoon. Instead of the almond extract, try using 1 teaspoon of maple extract, coconut extract, lemon extract, or peppermint extract. Or add 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or ground cinnamon. If using lemon extract, you can also add 1 Tablespoon lemon zest.
- Easy Glaze Icing: Instead of this royal icing, you can use my easy cookie icing if that’s easier for you. However, I find it nearly impossible to write with that icing because it isn’t stable like royal icing.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking success tips, my 10 must-have cookie baking tools, and here’s the best way to ship cookies!
What can I use to replace meringue powder? I don’t have that on hand atm and was wondering if there is a substitute.
Hi Trang, unfortunately there isn’t a replacement for meringue powder, but you could use our easy cookie icing recipe instead.
Cookie recipe was yummy! First time using meringue powder and it had an aftertaste. Anyone else? Fun recipe though!
Hi Adrienne, that can sometimes be noticeable at first, but should lessen as the icing continues to set. Alternatively, you might like our easy cookie icing instead. Thank you for giving these a try!
I was wondering what would be the difference if the dough hadn’t cooled for 2 hours
Hi Janaiya, chilling the dough is necessary to prevent the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.
Taste great however the baking time was more like 20 minutes. I measured the thickness to 1/4 inch per recipe and I only got like 21 cookies. Waiting for them to cool to test texture. I think next time I will roll them a little thinner.
Followed all of tb instructions, while substituting the butter with a plant based butter. While the texture of the sugar cookies was great the flavour was lacking… maybe the butter substitute doesn’t taste as good? I used 1/4 of the almond extract, maybe next time I will use more.
Hi Allison, that could certainly be the culprit. We haven’t tested these with plant-based butter, but we imagine you’ll lose a lot of that signature buttery flavor that regular butter gives these cookies. Thank you for giving them a try!
I halved the icing recipe as it seemed like a lot and still had waaaay too much.
After royal frosting them how do I add a little sanding sugar so it sticks
Hi Mimi, just sprinkle it on before the icing dries. Enjoy!
thanks! makes sense
I loved the recipe except my royal icing never fully hardened. I left the cookies sit out fir 8 hours and even the next day, the icing is still soft. Why is that?
Hi Jen, was your layer of icing especially thick? The thicker the layer of icing, the longer it will take to fully set. For next time, you can also try reducing the water just a bit to make a less soft/liquidy icing that will harden more. Thank you for giving these a try!
Hello! I love this recipe, thank you! How long will the royal icing last? What is the best way to store the leftovers?
Thank you.
Hi Tracey, you can prepare this royal icing 2-3 days ahead of time. I recommend transferring it to a smaller bowl or container and tightly sealing for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to use it, let it come to room temperature, then mix it up with a whisk a few times as it may have separated. Whisking in a few drops of water is helpful if it thickened. Any leftover royal icing can be frozen for up to 2 months. Place leftover royal icing into zipped-top freezer bags. If you have more than 1 color, each color should have its own bag. Before sealing, squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible. Freeze on a flat shelf surface in your freezer. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before using again.
Question about the icing … what if I’m snowed in and don’t have meringue powder ? 🙁
Hi Linda, we’d use our easy cookie icing instead!
Can this recipe be doubled, tripled, etc. ?
Hi Donovan, this recipe can be doubled easily. Tripling may start to overwhelm your mixer. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
Is it possible to use chocolate on top instead of royal icing? I find most icings too sweet and would love to do this with something I know my partner and I would enjoy.
If so, would melting wafers (like those from ghirardelli) be something I can use to flood the cookie with?
Hi Ellie, You definitely could but it obviously will not have the same consistency or set the same way as royal icing.
This is THE BEST sugar cookie recipe!!! Always turned out perfectly! Also, it is delicous!!! YUM!
Can I ask permission to use your heart cookie photos for commercial use?
Hi Janet, please email your request to our team at sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com. Thank you!
Mine came out way to dry.
Hi Charlotte, how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to measure to ensure the flour isn’t over measured. Too much flour can result in dry cookies. Over baking can also cause cookies to be a bit dry. Thank you for giving these a try!
I love this recipe I will try it
This is the best sugar cookie recipe I have ever found. Love making these for the holidays and birthdays. They turn out perfect every time! Thanks Sally!
Excellent recipe. We all love the cookies. I was out of almond extract so instead added a smidge of fiori di sicilia. Tasty! I used a brown butter frosting rather than the royal icing. I’ll be keeping this recipe for future holidays!
Such a great and easy recipe! I used the alternate icing recipe with corn syrup, and it worked out really well!
The best!! The cookie and the icing pure perfection!
I made sugar cookies yesterday for Valentine’s day, so disappointed in this Just made the Valentine’s sugar cookie. the flavor was not there. And I did add the almond extract. So disappointed
I’m making these today but am confused by the measurements. 2-1/4 cups of flour was around 360grams, not the 281 grams you mention. Am I missing something?
I just decided to measure out all ingredients instead of weighing them, which is not what I usually do for baking.
Hi Kerry! We consistently weigh 1 cup of spooned and leveled flour as 125g, and that is how the recipes on this website are tested. We recommend using 281g. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients!
I made this cookies today and they were perfect! I had the dough in the fridge for about 2.5 hours and it was easy to work with and so easy to cut out hearts. I used the royal icing and they taste great together!
Thank you for helping me conquering sugar cookies!! These are perfect!
I have been looking for a good cut out cookie recipe for holiday decorating for awhile and this recipe is a real winner. It tastes great and excellent texture. I made with her buttercream frosting recipe
This sugar cookie recipe has become one of my faves!! So easy. And I’m not good at decorating but I made heart shaped cookies and dunked them in the icing and put on sprinkles! Yummy!!
I love love love this recipe sally!!!
Hi Sally, I wanted to make a box out of cookie to fill with some homemade truffles I’m making! Will this cookie hold up or is it too soft? Thanks!
Hi Stella, a cutout sugar cookie like this should hold up well as a box. You can use some royal icing to help hold it together like we do for our gingerbread house. You may want to bake them for just a minute or two longer so they are even sturdier. Hope you enjoy it!