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Share the love this Valentine’s Day with these tender and delicious Valentine Sugar Cookie.
I always make heart shaped sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day. These fun and delicious valentine sugar cookies are a sweet treat for your valentine. And decorating them is a fun Valentine’s day activity for the family. I love thin sugar cookies, but this recipe works great if you want to make a thicker sugar cookie too.
For these valentine cookies, I used my favorite cookie glaze frosting. It gives you a nice, shiny flat finish. And it dries hard so they are easy to stack and package. If you prefer frosting, try my buttercream frosting recipe.
Ingredients Needed
- All Purpose Flour
- Butter
- Butter Flavored Shortening
- Sugar, granulated sugar and powdered sugar
- Corn Syrup
- Milk or Whipping Cream
- Eggs
- Extract, vanilla or almond extract. I prefer almond.
- Baking Soda
- Salt
How to Make Valentine Sugar Cookies
- Mix together ingredients and chill dough for at least one hour.
- Combine butter, shortening and sugar in bowl and beat.
- Add in eggs and extract and mixed until combined
- Mix in dry ingredients until well combined.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Roll dough out to desired thickness.
- Use your favorite heart shaped cookies cutter to cut out your valentine sugar cookie hearts.
- Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, making sure not to put your cookies too close together on the cookie sheet. Nothing worse than two cookies that bake together!
- Bake until slightly browned on edges
- Cool completely.
Tips
- Allow dough to soften slightly before working with it. It is easier to work with slightly chilled dough. If dough gets too warm just put it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up a bit.
- Divide dough into 2-4 pieces and work with one piece at a time, rolling it out and cutting out cookies. Keep the other pieces covered and refrigerated until ready to use.
- Freeze cookies before decorating if you are making them ahead. In an airtight container they will last in the freezer for 3-4 months. Cookies will last for up to a week if not frozen.
- Mix together powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, and extract. ingredients. You want the glaze to be thin enough that it is easy to spread, but thick enough that it doesn’t run off the edges of the cookie.
- Use a spoon to place a nice spoonful right in the middle of the cookie.
- Take a knife and spread it in a nice even layer.
- Add sprinkles before the frosting sets, if desired.
- Allow the frosting to set until glaze is firm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use butter instead of shortening?
This recipe uses butter flavored shortening. I know some of you don’t cook with shortening, so you can check out my decorated sugar cookie recipe for an all butter version. But there is something about using shortening in certain recipes that just works better.
Do I have to refrigerate dough before using?
Refrigerating the dough chills the butter and shortening in the cookies and makes them easier to work with when rolling out and cutting shapes. It also prevents the cookies from spreading when baking.
Check out more of my favorite Valentine cookies:
Be sure and follow me over on YouTube for weekly cooking demos.
Valentine Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup butter flavor Crisco
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla or almond extract. I prefer almond.
- 5 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
Sugar Cookie Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp milk or whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
- 1 Tbsp Corn Syrup
- few drops of flavoring of your choice I like almond
Instructions
For the Sugar Cookie Dough
- Combine butter, Crisco and sugar in bowl and beat.
- Add in eggs and extract and mixed until combined
- Add in dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Roll out cookies to desired thickness and cut with cookie cutter.
- Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes depending on thickness of cookie. If you like them softer, bake less.
Glaze Frosting
- Combine powder sugar, extract and corn syrup in bowl.
- If you are using a liquid food coloring, you will need to use LESS milk. If you are using a gel food coloring, your milk quantity can remain the same. Add in milk to desired consistency. It will get too runny fast so be careful.
- The corn syrup gives the “shine” to the frosting that you want.
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Nutrition Facts:
Shelley Robertson says
Lovely post! I never thought about using paint sticks to help with rolling out the cookie dough! I also usually make dozens and dozens of heart shaped sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day! I package them up and attache a Valentine to them for my kiddos to pass out to the class at school. One year my daughter came home and said “Nobody believed you made these! They all thought you bought them.” lol I enjoyed your post!! I am visiting from the Sundae Scoop party!
Shelley
http://www.piggyinpolkadots.blogspot.com
Leigh Anne says
Thanks so much for coming over for a visit. Yes, the trick with the paint sticks was pretty much life changing as far as my sugar cookie life goes! It works great. Heart shape sugar cookies are my favorite.
Angela Lorenzi says
What a clever idea with your paint stick trick! I’m going to try that one.
Leigh Anne says
Thanks – it works great!
Britt says
Is the buttercream frosting dry a little stiff?
Leigh Anne says
It is definitely stiffer than the glace but it should be easily spreadable. Add a little more milk to it if i seems to stiff.
janelle says
How much whipping cream do you usually add to your frosting to get the right consistency?
Leigh Anne says
I always start with about a tablespoon and go from there – it can go from too stiff to too runny really fast so increase slowly.
Jelli says
The same forgetfulness has happened to me with posting similar recipes. These cookies are really cute! Say, I’m moving and need to downsize my box of Wilton’s 101 cookie cutters. Which shapes do you use the most often or find most useful besides circles?
Leigh Anne says
Definitely hearts and then probably stars next. I guess it really depends on when you tend to make sugar cookies. If it is usually at Christmas I would keep more Christmas. I tend do make them at Valentine’s and at Christmas.
Jelli says
Thanks! I also chose stars, hearts, and a few Christmas shapes. Thanks for your input!