Cut Out Heart-Shaped Cookies

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The perfect sweetness and chewiness you're looking for in a cut out heart-shaped cookie. These homemade cookies are the perfect Valentine's day treats using 11 simple ingredients!

Heart-shaped cut out cookies with pink frosting on a heart-shaped plate

Whether it's for a holiday, birthday, or just because, these cookies are an excellent activity to get your family involved with and have a lot of fun! These are coined as my mom's Valentine's Day Cookies, and she still makes them for us every year.

Every great cut-out cookie begins with the right dough. This simple 7-ingredient dough is forgiving and creates the perfect light, sweet cookie. It can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen. From festive holiday shapes like these heart cookies to personalized creations, you can unleash your creativity with the style and flavor of frosting and sprinkles!

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Looking for more ways to spread love? These 3 ingredient Be My Darlin' Berries, these easy One Bite Cheesecakes, or this extra large Give me a Sugar Cookie will all give you the warm and fuzzies!

Pro Tip: These cookies are cut-out cookies rather than sugar cookies. Why? They hold their shape when sliced with a cookie cutter. Perfect for any holiday.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Easy to Customize: Whether it's a holiday, special occasion, or just a fun baking, you can customize the shapes and decorations to suit the occasion you're making them for!
Variety of Flavors: This cookie dough and icing are both customizable! You can switch up the extract with your favorite flavor!
Fun Family Activity: Making cut-out cookies is a great activity to bring the whole family together in the kitchen!
Seasonal and Holiday Tradition: From Christmas trees and heart-shaped cookies to Easter bunnies, they're the perfect cookie to commemorate and celebrate any holiday or celebration! They're also excellent for birthdays, weddings and baby showers!

Cut-Out Cookie vs. Sugar Cookie Recipe

While there is some overlap in the terms, "cut-out cookie" and "sugar cookie" are not exactly the same, though they are closely related.

Sugar Cookie:

A sugar cookie is a type of cookie that is typically made with ingredients like butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and baking powder or baking soda.
Sugar cookies are known for their sweet and buttery flavor. They are versatile and can be shaped into various forms, including rounds, drops, or even pressed with a fork.
The dough for sugar cookies is often rolled out and cut into shapes using cookie cutters. After baking, sugar cookies can be decorated with icing, sprinkles, or other toppings.

Cut-Out Cookie:

A cut-out cookie is a broad term that refers to any cookie where the dough is rolled out and cut into specific shapes using cookie cutters or a knife.
Sugar cookies are a common type of cut-out cookie, but not all cut-out cookies are necessarily sugar cookies. Cut-out cookies can be made with different types of dough, such as shortbread or gingerbread.

In summary, all sugar cookies can be considered cut-out cookies, but not all cut-out cookies are sugar cookies. The distinction lies in the specific type of dough used and the flavor profile, with sugar cookies being a popular and well-known subset of cut-out cookies. In this recipe for heart-shaped cookies case, you could call it a simple sugar cookie dough as well.

Ingredients

Scroll Down to the Bottom of this Post for Ingredient Amounts Listed in the Printable Recipe Card

Butter: For the cookies, it imparts flavor, tenderness, and moisture to the cookies. The fat in butter contributes to the cookies' richness, and its solid state at room temperature helps create a tender, crumbly texture. For the frosting, it provides the primary flavor, richness, and creaminess to the buttercream and contributes to its stability and structure.
Granulated Sugar: White sugar sweetens the cookies and contributes to their texture.
Egg: Act as a binding agent, providing structure to the dough. Eggs also contribute to the cookies' tenderness and help with leavening.
Milk: For the cookies, it contributes to the moisture content, affecting the cookies' tenderness. For the icing, it creates a smooth texture perfect for spreading.
Vanilla Extract: Enhances the flavor of the cookies. Vanilla extract adds a warm, sweet aroma and flavor, contributing to the overall taste of the cookies.
All Purpose Flour: Provides structure and stability to the cookie dough. The protein content in flour contributes to the cookie's texture.
Baking Powder: Baking powder helps the cookies rise, creating a softer texture. Baking powder contributes to a more cake-like texture.
Powdered Sugar: Creates a smooth and sweet icing that slightly firms upon drying
Strawberry Extract: Gives this buttercream icing its distant strawberry flavor.
Optional: Food Coloring and/or Festive Sprinkles

Tools You’ll Need

Liquid Measuring Cups
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Spatula
Quarter Sheet Pan (9.5"x13") or 13"x9" Pan
Hand Mixer
Mixing Bowls
Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter
Cookie Rolling Pin
Cooling Racks (optional)

How to Make Cut Out Heart-Shaped Cookies

First, and most important, these must be made with LOVE!

a heart-shaped cut out cookie with pink frosting and sprinkles

In a large bowl an electric mixer, beat together room temperature butter, sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla extract on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the flour and baking powder and beat again until blended well.
Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Prior to baking allow the dough to sit out at room temperature until it's soft enough to roll easily.

rolling out the cookie dough on a floured surface

When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness. Using a lightly floured cookie cutter(s), cut the dough into your desired shapes. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake cookies in batches. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown.

transferring the cookies to a cooling rack

Transfer the baked cookies from the baking sheet to a wire rack lined with a piece of parchment paper. Once cool, decorate as desired with buttercream icing and decorations. Let stand until set.
For the icing, combine butter, powdered sugar, strawberry extract, and 3 tablespoons of milk in a medium bowl or stand mixer. Beat on high speed until smooth. Whip in the additional tablespoon of milk if needed. If you'd like to add food coloring, add it in this step as well.

Pro Tips and Substitutions

Dough Rolling Tips: If the dough is too hard when you're ready to roll it out, let it come to room temperature a little longer. This dough is easy to roll when it's ready.You can re-roll the scraps as you cut out the cookies. More than 3 re-rolls aren't recommended to keep the optimal yummy cookie texture.
Dough Cut-Out Tips: For the heart-shaped cookies, dip the cookie cutter in flour before each cut. It helps achieve clean cuts without sticking.
Dough Baking Tips: The cookies go from perfectly toasted to TOO toasted in about 45 seconds. To prevent this from happening, watch your first batch closely starting at 7 minutes into the bake time. Once you see a HINT of brown, crispy edges, they're done. Now you'll know the perfect bake time for the rest of your batches.
Room Temperature Ingredients: For best results, allow butter and egg to come to room temperature before blending. This will create a smoother cookie dough.
Frosting Variations: If you want to opt out of having frosting, you can add sprinkles on them before baking. Vanilla extract can be swapped for any extract flavor desired. Lemon extract and almond extract are two of our favorites but maple, coconut, orange, peppermint, and butter extract work great as well. Besides buttercream, royal icing, cream cheese frosting, or even fondant can be used to decorate cut-out cookies. Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating. You can also melt white chocolate, dark chocolate, or milk chocolate chips for drizzling over the top.
Valentine's Day Celebration: Serving these heart-shaped cookies for a party? This Valentine Punch is the perfect accompaniment! It has 3 simple ingredients and is quick to prepare! Your loved one will LOVE it!

using a rolling pin to roll out the cookie dough

Storage and Freezing Instructions

These heart-shaped sugar cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They are best eaten 1 day after making and within a week, but they will last for 2-3 weeks. Store cookies in a single layer with parchment paper in between to prevent sticking.

You can use a portion of the dough and wrap the remaining dough in plastic wrap to be frozen for later use. It can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before baking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I chill the cookie dough for too long?

Yes, prolonged chilling can make the dough overly firm. If it's difficult to roll out, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften slightly.

Can I freeze cut-out cookie dough?

Absolutely! Freeze the dough in a disc or rolled-out sheets for later use. Thaw in the refrigerator before rolling and cutting.

My cookies spread too much. How can I prevent that?

Chilled dough helps reduce spreading. Ensure your oven is properly preheated, and avoid placing cookies on warm baking sheets.

How thick should I roll the dough for cut-out cookies?

It depends on your preference, but a thickness of about ¼ to ⅓ inch for heart sugar cookies is common. Thicker dough produces softer cookies, while thinner dough yields crispier ones.

Can I re-roll the scraps of cookie dough?

Yes, but be mindful. Repeated rolling can make cookies tougher. Combine the scraps, chill briefly, and then roll and cut.

Can I use margarine instead of butter?

While butter provides better flavor, margarine can be used. However, it might affect the texture and taste of the heart-shaped cookies.

Is a cut-out cookie the same as a sugar cookie

All sugar cookies can be considered cut-out cookies, but not all cut-out cookies are sugar cookies. The distinction lies in the specific type of dough used and the flavor profile, with sugar cookies being a popular and well-known subset of cut-out cookies.

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