Description
These Valentine’s Slice and Bake Heart Cookies are a delightful treat perfect for celebrating love. Featuring a tender buttery dough with a festive pink center, they are rolled in colorful sprinkles for a fun and charming finish. This recipe guides you from creaming butter and sugar to assembling beautiful layered heart cookies, baked to golden perfection.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- 14 tablespoons unsalted European butter, cool room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- Red gel food coloring (to desired shade)
Toppings
- 1/2-1 cup pink and white jimmie sprinkles
Instructions
- Prepare Dry Ingredients: In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and fine sea salt until fully combined. Set this mixture aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a mixing bowl, cream the unsalted European butter and granulated sugar together using a mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is evenly mixed.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Mix in the large egg, egg yolk, heavy cream, and vanilla bean paste into the creamed butter and sugar. Continue mixing until well combined.
- Incorporate Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing carefully until the dough just comes together.
- Color and Chill Pink Dough: Divide the dough, leaving about half (375-400 grams) in the mixing bowl. Add red gel food coloring to this portion and mix until you reach your desired shade of pink or red. Roll the tinted dough between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/2 inch thick and freeze for 10 minutes. Cover the remaining plain dough and set aside.
- Cut Heart Shapes: Using a 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut hearts from the chilled colored dough. Reroll scraps once to cut more hearts. Lightly dab the center of each heart with water and stack them, pressing gently to adhere into a single log about 9–10 inches long on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze the log for at least 30 minutes until firm.
- Wrap with Plain Dough: Remove the heart log from the freezer. Wrap the plain dough around the log carefully, covering all gaps. Wrap the assembled log tightly in plastic wrap and roll it into a smooth, even log. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours or overnight for best results.
- Preheat and Prepare for Baking: When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Unwrap the chilled cookie dough log and roll it evenly in the pink and white jimmie sprinkles.
- Slice and Bake: Slice the log into approximately 1/2-inch thick cookies. Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet spaced slightly apart. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms are lightly golden and the tops look matte. For crisper cookies, bake for the full 12 minutes or slightly longer if desired.
- Cool and Serve: Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Allow them to cool completely before serving or storing.
Notes
- Measure your dry ingredients properly; use the spoon-level method or a kitchen scale for precision to avoid heavy cookies.
- Ensure the butter is cool but soft at 64-68°F for optimal creaming results.
- Use any sprinkles like sanding sugar, jimmies, pearls, or a mixture to customize the look of your cookies.
- For crispier cookies, slice the dough log thinner (about 1/4 inch thick) before baking.
- Chilling the dough overnight enhances flavor development and helps with easier slicing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 55 mg
