Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting
These adorable Valentine’s Day sugar cookies are shaped like hearts, waffles, and strawberries for a delicious way to tell someone that “I like you a waffle lot!” and “You’re berry sweet!”
Prep Time 40 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Decorating Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour25 minutesminutes
Servings 16cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
1 cup (227 grams)Unsalted Butter, slightly melted
1cup (200 grams)Granulated Sugar
2largeEggs
1tspVanilla Extract
3 cups (420 grams)All-Purpose Flour
1/2tspSalt
1/4tspBaking Soda
1/4tspBaking Powder
Buttercream Frosting
2cups (454 grams)Unsalted Butter, slightly melted
5cupsConfectioners' Sugar
1TbspVanilla Extract
Instructions
Cookies
In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until smooth (1-2 minutes).
Beat in eggs and vanilla until light & fluffy (about 2 minutes)
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat just until well combined and the dough starts to stick together.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Sprinkle table or silicone baking sheet lightly with flour and then place a portion of dough on the prepared surface. Lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin.
For soft and thick cookies, use a rolling pin with a 3/8" thickness ring to roll out the sugar cookie dough.
Use cookie cutters in the shapes of circles, hearts, and squares (about 3.5") to cut out the cookies.
Place the cutout cookies onto the prepared baking sheet and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake cookies for 15-17 minutes or until the edges are just slightly brown. The middle of the cookies will still be slightly soft to the touch, but will continue baking once removed from the oven. Only bake one tray of cookies at a time to ensure even baking.
Repeat the process with the remaining cookie dough.
Let all cookies cool completely before frosting.
Cookie Decorating
In a large bowl, beat together butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
Separate the frosting into smaller bowls and color as desired with food coloring. Mix the food coloring completely into the icing to make sure that the color is evenly distributed.
Transfer the frosting into piping bags, and close the ends using clips or rubber bands.
Use scissors to snip the tips off of the piping bags - for background colors and thicker lines, snip off a larger amount of the tip; for detail work and fine lines, snip a very small amount off the tip.
Start with the background color of the cookies (for example, the white frosting that will have the lettering printed on it), pipe the frosting over the surface of the cookie. If you would like to smooth out the frosting on the background layers, place the cookies in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes and then lightly pat down the top of the frosting with a spatula or small piece of parchment paper.
Decorate the cookies in layers - for example, first add the background layer of icing to the waffle, then the crosshatched lines, followed by the syrup, and then the butter.
Cookies can be stored at room temperature (in a sealed food-safe container) for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for a week. Store cookies in a single layer to preserve the details in the icing.
Notes
Cookies can be placed close together on the baking sheet while freezing, but should then be placed about 2-inches apart before baking.