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Soft and sweet Valentine sugar cookies are the perfect way to say I love you! They are super simple and make a great treat for gifting.
For more Valentine dessert magic try Cherry Almond Cupcakes, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, and Chocolate Lava Cake.
“I LOVE YOU” In Cookie Form
Nothing says “I love you” on Valentine’s Day like a red or pink heart. What could be better than an edible one (based off of our classic sugar cookies)?
Why we love these cookies:
- Classic! Based off of our classic sugar cookies – they are soft and delicious!
- Simple. These sugar cookies are no fail and are easy to make.
- Easy to customize. Based on the shapes you cut out, the frosting color, and the sprinkles, these cookies are great to customize for February 14th!
We love this sugar cookie recipe, and this version is the perfect Valentine’s dessert!
Ingredients
- butter (softened)
- cream cheese (softened)
- sugar
- powdered sugar
- egg
- almond extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
Frosting
- butter (softened)
- powdered sugar
- milk – we recommend 2% or higher milk. Half and half works as well.
- vanilla extract
- almond extract
HOW TO MAKE Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies
- PREP. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- DOUGH. Cream butter, cream cheese, sugars, egg and almond in large bowl (or Kitchen-Aid) until fluffy. In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms.
- ROLL & CUT. Use a rolling pin to roll out the sugar cookie dough. Cut with cookie cutter. Thin dough will make crunchy cookies. If you want soft dough, it needs to be about ⅜ in. {NOTE: Try not to handle the dough too much}
- BAKE. Place on lightly greased baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
HOW TO DECORATE
- FROST. Make sugar cookie frosting by mixing all ingredients (unsalted butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and almond extract) with hand mixer on high speed. If too thick, add a little more milk. NOTE: For minimal chunks in the frosting, sift the powdered sugar.
- Add your food coloring. Frost the cookies with pink and red frosting (royal icing can be used too but we prefer our classic frosting).
- DECORATE. Use the decorating gel to add texture to the valentine sugar cookies. Sprinkle with red and pink sugar sprinkles and let set to harden before gifting or delivering.
RECIPE TIPS
- Avoid over-mixing the dough as it can cause it to toughen.
- Rolling the dough too thin will give a crunchy cookie. Too thick and the middle won’t bake completely. I stick to about ⅜” thick
- If the dough is too sticky simply sprinkle in a bit of flour until it’s workable.
Decoration Variations – Heart shapes, pink, and red scream Valentines, but you don’t have to stick to those exclusively.
- Frost the heart shaped cookies with any color
- Use other cookie cutter shapes and frost with pink or red.
- Adding “valentine” sprinkles or writing on loving words will help give the cookies a Valentine’s feel.
Storing
STORE the baked cookies unfrosted or frosted. Unfrosted cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to store frosted cookies? If you have frosted the cookies the storage times are the same you just need to be more careful about stacking the cookies. Make sure that the frosting has set and that you put parchment paper in between layers.
For more Valentine Cookies:
Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2¾ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Frosting
- ⅓ cup butter, softened
- 4½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Topping
- red and pink decorating gel, Valentines sprinkles
Instructions
Cookie
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Cream butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, egg, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl (or Kitchen-Aid) until fluffy.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms.
- Roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. Thin dough will make crunchy cookies. If you want a soft dough, it needs to be about ⅜ in. {NOTE: Try not to handle the dough too much}
- Bake for 8-10 minutes on a greased pan. Let cool on a wire rack.
Frost and Decorate
- Mix all ingredients with a hand mixer. If too thick, add a tad more milk.
- Frost the cookies with pink and red frosting.
- Use the decorating gel to add texture to the hearts. Sprinkle with red and pink sugar sprinkles and let set to harden before gifting or delivering.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are perfect sugar cookies! I need to work on my frosting technique!
Very simple to make. The cream cheese adds extra flavor. 😋
I love these
I really love this cookie recipe. They’re super soft yet firm enough to use buttercream or flood frosting. I love the bright red frosting you used for these heats!
Favorite sugar cookie and oh so adorable. Love the treats you can make for Valentines!
In the ingredients you list powdered sugar twice. Instead of 2 3/4 powdered sugar. Do you mean flour? Thanks in advance.
We fixed it 🙂 One is supposed to be flour, so thank you for catching that!
These cookies are on my list to make in the next couple weeks! We love them, they are soft, & so good!
This really is the softest cookie ever! Its holds it shape well too for cookie cutouts!
My favorite holiday to make sugar cookies for!! This recipe makes soft, delicious cookies!!