View Gallery
1 photo
Every year, when the calendar flips to February, my kitchen seems to demand a little extra love and sweetness. There’s just something special about heart shaped cookies that goes beyond the holiday itself. They are edible declarations, little treats that can say “I’m thinking of you” without a single word.
For years, I thought creating beautiful, decorated cookies was a skill reserved for pastry chefs with countless piping bags. I was happily proven wrong. This recipe changed everything for me. It’s built on a wonderfully reliable sugar cookie dough, one that I now use for every season, and a decorating technique so simple it feels like a cheat code.
These marbled heart cookies are my absolute favorite project to share, especially with nervous beginners or eager little hands. There’s no fancy equipment needed, no stressful piping, and the result is stunning every single time. Each cookie comes out with a unique, swirly pattern that looks professionally done, and the taste is so much better than anything you can buy in a store.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
First and foremost, this is a genuinely easy recipe. The dough comes together in one bowl with a mixer, and it handles like a dream. It rolls out smoothly, cuts cleanly, and bakes up with soft, tender crumb and just the right amount of sweetness. It’s the perfect blank canvas.
The magic, though, is in the marbled royal icing. If you’ve ever been intimidated by cookie decorating, this method is your gateway. Instead of painstakingly piping outlines and floods, we simply dip and swirl. You get to play with colors, creating beautiful, organic patterns with just a spoon and a toothpick.
It’s also incredibly versatile. While I adore these for Valentine’s Day, this simple marbling technique travels perfectly through the year. The same method makes stunning orange and black pumpkins for Halloween, green clovers for St. Patrick’s Day, or pastel eggs for Easter. One recipe, endless joy.
Ingredients Needed for the Recipe
Let’s gather everything. Using room-temperature ingredients where noted makes a real difference in getting that perfect, smooth dough. I promise it’s worth the quick planning.
- Unsalted Butter (1 cup): Room temperature. This is the base of our rich, tender cookie dough, creamed with sugar for that essential light texture.
- Granulated Sugar (1 cup): Sweetens the cookies and, when creamed with the butter, creates tiny air pockets for a soft bite.
- 1 Large Egg: Room temperature. This acts as a binder, bringing the dough together and adding structure.
- Vanilla Extract (1 tsp for dough, ½ tsp for icing): The classic flavor enhancer. A little in both the cookie and the icing rounds out all the sweetness.
- All-Purpose Flour (3 cups): The main structure of our cookies. I always fluff my flour before measuring to avoid a dense dough.
- Baking Powder (1 ½ tsp): Our leavening agent, giving the cookies a gentle lift so they aren’t flat or tough.
- Salt (½ tsp): Crucial for balancing all the sweet flavors and making them pop.
- Nutmeg (½ tsp): My secret weapon. It adds a barely-there warmth that makes these sugar cookies truly special.
- Milk (1 tsp): Just a splash to bring the dough together into a perfect, pliable mass.
- Powdered Sugar (3 ½ cups): The foundation of our royal icing, providing sweetness and that smooth, hard-drying finish.
- Pasteurized Egg Whites (¼ cup): These make the royal icing set firm. Using the cartoned, pasteurized kind is safe and convenient.
- Cream of Tartar (¼ tsp): A tiny bit stabilizes the egg whites in the icing, helping it whip up nicely and dry with a shine.
- Food Coloring: Gels or pastes work best. I used two shades of pink, but any colors you love will work beautifully.
How to make Heart Shaped Cookies?
This process is broken down into two main parts: making and baking the cookies, then whipping up and applying that gorgeous marbled icing. Clear your counter, put on some music, and let’s bake.
Step 1 – Cream Butter and Sugar
Place your room-temperature butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Mix on low speed until everything is combined, then let it run for a couple of minutes until the mixture becomes pale, fluffy, and smooth. Remember to scrape down the bottom of the bowl once during this process to ensure no lumps of butter remain.
Step 2 – Incorporate Egg and Vanilla
Add the single large egg to the creamed mixture. Turn the mixer to a medium speed, around a “4” on a KitchenAid, and let it mix until the egg is fully absorbed.
Scrape the bowl again if needed. Then, pour in that teaspoon of vanilla extract, mixing just until you no longer see any streaks of it.
Step 3 – Combine Dry Ingredients
In a separate, large bowl, whisk together your all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and that pinch of nutmeg.
Whisking aerates the dry ingredients and ensures the leavening and salt are evenly distributed, which prevents weird pockets in your baked cookies.
Step 4 – Mix in Dry Ingredients and Milk
With your mixer on low, begin adding the dry ingredients to the wet mixture about one-third at a time. Let each addition incorporate somewhat before adding the next. Once all the flour is in, add that single teaspoon of milk.
Keep mixing on low until the dough magically pulls away from the sides and forms a cohesive mass around the paddle.
Step 5 – Chill the Dough
This step is non-negotiable for easy handling. Scrape the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap it up, then use your rolling pin to press and roll the wrapped packet into a flat, square disc. This isn’t about rolling it thin yet, just flattening it so it chills quickly and evenly. Pop it into the fridge for about 20 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch.
Step 6 – Roll and Cut the Cookies
Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Knead the chilled dough just a couple of times to make it pliable, then roll it out to a consistent ¼-inch thickness.
Use your heart-shaped cutter to stamp out cookies, pressing straight down without twisting. Gather the scraps, re-roll, and cut until the dough is used up.
Step 7 – Bake to Perfection
Place the cut-out heart shaped cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Here’s another pro tip: put the entire sheet pan back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before baking. This re-chills the butter and prevents excessive spreading.
Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 10-14 minutes. They’re done when the edges show the faintest hint of golden brown, while the centers look set. Let them cool completely on a wire rack before even thinking about icing.
Step 8 – Make the Royal Icing
Now for the fun part. In a clean mixer bowl with the whisk attachment, combine the powdered sugar, pasteurized egg whites, and cream of tartar.
Start on low to avoid a sugar cloud, then whip on high for 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla and whip until the icing is white and holds a peak. It will be very thick.
Step 9 – Thin the Icing and Add Color
We need a “dip-able” consistency. With the mixer on low, add water one teaspoon at a time. Check the consistency by lifting the whisk and letting the icing fall back into the bowl. You want the ribbon of icing to hold its shape for about 15 seconds before melting flat.
Transfer about two-thirds of the white icing to a wide, shallow bowl for dipping. Color the remaining third with your chosen food colorings, keeping them in separate small bowls.
Step 10 – Create the Marble and Dip
Drizzle spoonfuls of your colored icings randomly over the surface of the white icing in your dipping bowl. Take a toothpick or skewer and gently drag it through the colors in up-and-down or swirling motions, just a few times, to create a marbled pattern.
Don’t over-mix. Pick up a cooled cookie, turn it upside down, and dip the top face straight down into the icing. Lift it straight up, let the excess drip for a moment, then gently twist your wrist to catch the drip. Place it on a parchment-lined tray to dry.
Step 11 – Final Touches and Drying
If you see any air bubbles on the surface of your freshly iced cookies, gently pop them with the tip of a toothpick. Then, for faster drying and to prevent smudges, I place the entire tray of cookies in my oven with the light on (or the oven off but just warm from baking).
The gentle, warm air flow sets the top shell in about an hour. Let them dry completely, ideally overnight, before stacking or packaging.
Essential Tips for Success
A few little notes from my own experience can make your cookie journey even smoother. These are the things I’ve learned from batches that were less than perfect.
- Chilling is your best friend. From the initial dough disc to the cut-outs on the pan, keeping the butter cold prevents sad, flat cookies.
- Roll your dough evenly. I keep two thin wooden dowels on either side of my dough as guides for my rolling pin. This guarantees every cookie bakes at the same rate.
- Don’t skip the nutmeg. It sounds odd, but it’s the subtle detail that makes people ask, “What’s in these? They’re amazing!”
- When marbling, work in batches. The pattern will settle as you dip. Simply drizzle a bit more colored icing on top and re-swirl every few cookies to refresh the design.
- For clean edges after dipping, have a damp paper towel handy to quickly wipe any icing that drips over the side before it sets.
Storage and Make-Ahead Notes
These cookies are wonderfully forgiving for planning ahead. The baked, un-iced cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or frozen for a month.
The dough itself freezes brilliantly, wrapped tightly, for up to three months. Just thaw it overnight in the fridge before rolling.
Once iced and fully dried, the cookies are shelf-stable. Store them in a single layer or with parchment between layers in an airtight container.
They’ll keep their texture and flavor for about a week. The royal icing acts as a seal, keeping the cookie soft underneath its crisp shell.
Heart Shaped Cookies Recipe
Description
Show some love with these heart-shaped cookies and make the perfect treats for Valentine's Day! The dough is one of the most simple recipes that I love to use for almost every holiday. The dough comes together quickly and the decorating is so simple. These are fun cookies to make with your kids too!
ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
Royal Icing
Instructions
Making the Sugar Cookie Dough
-
Place room-temperature butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on low until smooth. The creamed butter should be fluffy and pale yellow in color. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl.
-
Add the egg and mix on medium (4 on KitchenAid mixer) in a stand mixer until fully incorporated. Scrape the bowl when necessary to make sure the egg incorporates.
-
Add the vanilla extract. Mix until just incorporated.
-
In a separate large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together.
-
Add the flour mixture into the dough with a scoop (about ⅓ of total dry ingredients at a time) and mix until fully incorporated. Start mixer on low until flour starts to incorporate, then turn it up to medium. Scrape the bowl as needed to fully incorporate.
-
Add the milk once the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Continue to mix on low until the dough becomes a solid mass.
-
Scrape out the mixer bowl and wrap up the sugar cookie dough in plastic wrap.
-
Once the dough is wrapped in plastic, take a rolling pin and roll the dough into a flat square. (This helps the dough chill faster and more evenly).
-
Place your dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes or until the dough is firm to the touch.
-
Once the dough has chilled, knead the dough slightly and roll it out with a large rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, about ¼ inch thick.
-
Use heart cookie cutters to cut out uniform heart shapes. Keep the rolled dough chilled if you are not cutting and baking right away.
-
Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put the cookie sheet back in the refrigerator for 10–15 minutes to chill again. This will help them avoid spreading.
-
Bake cookies at 175°C (350°F) for 10–14 minutes, depending on size. Cookies will be slightly golden brown on the edge but look done in the center.
-
Place the baked cookies on a cooling rack to fully cool before dipping them in the icing.
Making the Marbled Icing
-
Combine the egg whites, powdered sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
-
Mix on low to combine, then increase to high for 1–2 minutes. Add vanilla extract and whip until white. Do not mix longer than 5 minutes.
-
Thin the icing by adding water 1 teaspoon at a time until a ribbon of icing disappears into the surface in about 15 seconds.
-
Color ⅓ of the royal icing hot pink and light pink (or other desired colors).
-
Drizzle colored icing over the white icing. Use a toothpick or skewer to drag up and down, creating a marbled effect.
-
Dip cooled cookies onto the icing surface, ensuring even coverage. Pull straight up, tap off excess, and twist gently to catch drips.
-
Wipe edges clean if needed. Place on a wire rack or parchment-lined tray to dry.
-
Pop any bubbles with a pin and gently shake the cookie to even out frosting.
-
Let cookies dry completely (16–24 hours) before packaging. For faster drying, place in a turned-off warm oven with the door open.
-
Store finished cookies in an airtight container. Unused dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Facts
Servings 24
Serving Size 1 cookie
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 140kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 6g10%
- Saturated Fat 3.5g18%
- Cholesterol 25mg9%
- Sodium 95mg4%
- Potassium 35mg1%
- Total Carbohydrate 20g7%
- Dietary Fiber 0.5g2%
- Sugars 12g
- Protein 1.5g3%
- Calcium 15 mg
- Iron 0.5 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Note
- Weigh your ingredients for best results.
- Practice Mise en Place—measure all ingredients before mixing.
- Chill dough thoroughly to maintain shape during baking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I freeze the cookie dough?
Yes! Wrap tightly in plastic and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before rolling and cutting.
How long does royal icing last?
Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week. Remix and adjust consistency before reuse.
Can I use meringue powder instead of egg whites?
Yes, follow package instructions to reconstitute meringue powder as a substitute for pasteurized egg whites.