Description
These Valentine’s Day Cookies with Royal Icing are soft, buttery sugar cookies decorated with smooth, glossy icing — perfect for hearts, love notes, and festive designs. They’re ideal for gifting, parties, or a fun decorating activity that everyone will love.
Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Royal Icing:
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp meringue powder
5–6 tbsp warm water
Gel food coloring (pink, red, white)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
5. Gradually add dry ingredients, mixing until dough forms.
6. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness.
7. Cut into heart shapes and place on prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake for 8–10 minutes, until edges are just set.
9. Cool cookies completely before decorating.
10. For royal icing, beat powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water until smooth and stiff.
11. Divide icing into bowls, tint with food coloring, and decorate cookies.
12. Allow icing to dry completely before stacking or packaging.
Notes
Keep unused dough chilled to maintain clean cookie shapes.
Adjust icing consistency with small amounts of water for outlining or flooding.
Decorated cookies store well in airtight containers for up to a week.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 140
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 85mg
- Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 25mg
Keywords: valentine’s day cookies, royal icing cookies, decorated sugar cookies, heart cookies, holiday baking