Easy Valentine's Day Heart Sugar Cookies - 2 Ways
The way to anyone’s heart is with these easy Valentine's day heart sugar cookies! These lattice and marbled heart cookies are a fun twist to classic sugar cookies!
Servings 20 approximately*
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (284 g) all-purpose flour (you may need 1-2 tablespoons more)
- ¼ cup (25 g) cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- red or pink food coloring gel (optional)
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until creamy using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another minute, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary to fully combine.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined and the dough forms. If the dough is too wet, add a little more flour, a tablespoon a time, until it comes together. It’s perfect when you are able to pick up the dough in one piece.
- Divide the dough in half.
- Using a toothpick, add a tiny amount of food coloring (if using) to one half of the dough and knead by hand until the dough is fully colored.
- Roll out each batch of dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to your desired thickness (I roll out mine about ¼ inch / 0.5 cm thick).
- Put the dough in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Cut each batch of dough into ½ inch (1 cm) strips.
- For one batch of dough, slightly separate the strips by quickly pushing a knife left & right in between each cut to create tiny gaps. Put the dough in the freezer again for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
Make the lattice (see the picture tutorial in the post)
- Starting from the center, fold back every second strip of dough.
- Take a strip from the other batch and place it in the center.
- Fold the strips back down to cover the middle strip.
- Fold back the strips that weren't previously used.
- Add another strip of dough and repeat the process until you have a complete lattice.
- Pinch the dough to fix any tears or rips.
- Cut out the cookies with a cookie cutter.
- Remove all the excess dough.
- Re-roll the scraps for marbled cookies and cut them out.
- Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are light brown.
- When done, allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them on to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for about 5 days.
- Enjoy!
Notes
* The number of cookies will depend on the size of your cookie cutters.
Picture Tutorial & Tips: I have a detailed picture tutorial in my post to help you out with each step of the recipe as well as lots of tips to ensure success.
HOW TO FREEZE BAKED COOKIES
First, make sure the cookies have completely cooled. Then put them on a tray in a single layer and pop them in the freezer. When the cookies have frozen, individually wrap them in some plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. They can be frozen for about 2 months. To thaw, just take out the freezer bag or container and put it on the kitchen counter. They usually take a few hours at room temperature to thaw completely.
© Pastry Wishes