Looking for a cute and festive Valentine's Day cookie recipe that doesn't require much artistic skill? Then look no further than these heart-shaped Valentine's Day Spritz Cookies! This no-chill dough requires simple ingredients and can be colored and decorated so many different ways.
Who loves cute and festive treats but lacks the artistic ability to properly nail them? Me! I would love to be someone who could master royal icing and decorate reliably pretty desserts, but after all these years...I just don't think it's going to happen.
That's where my cookie press and recipe for trusty butter spritz cookies come in.
With a simple dough recipe and a variety of disk shapes, it makes it possible to crank out dozens of festive cookies in a seriously speedy way. These Valentine's Day spritz cookies join all-year-round chocolate spritz cookies, black (cocoa) and orange Halloween spritz cookies, and Christmas gingerbread spritz cookies for more fun, holiday-centered variations.
Recipe Ingredients
A glance at the recipe card may make it seem like this recipe for heart spritz cookies shouldn't be a higher-yield one, but the smaller nature of cookie press cookies means you'll get between 6-7 dozen cookies, as the recipe is written.
Note: The ingredients are complete, meaning that this recipe has no leavening (baking soda or powder).
- Butter: Make sure this is softened to room temperature so it mixes optimally with the rest of the ingredients. Salted butter can be used (just omit the salt).
- Sugar: My family recipe uses slightly less sugar than some variations out there, which allows the rich buttery flavor and extracts to shine through.
- Extracts: Adding almond extract along with vanilla is a nice variation on my usual spritz cookie recipe, which just uses vanilla. Other less common but fun-flavored baking emulsions, such as strawberry, raspberry, or cherry, would match well with the pink coloring in place of (or in addition to) almond extract.
- Food Coloring: While a gel-type food coloring is best to avoid adding too much liquid to the cookie dough, I often use liquid food dye without issue. Red allows you to make an ombré pink dough.
- Chocolate: Optional, but can be melted and drizzled over the cookies.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Wet ingredients. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and extracts.
- Dry ingredients. Add the flour and salt and mix in until combined.
- Color. Divide the dough into bowls. Mix in food coloring as you like.
- Press. Load the cookie press and press these heart spritz cookies onto ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake. Bake at 400°F for 10-11 minutes, or until the bottoms and edges are beginning to brown.
Decorating Spritz Cookies for Valentine's Day
While any shaped disk works, using the heart-shaped disk is a Valentine's Day classic. Here are some festive decorating ideas for heart spritz cookies (once they cool):
- Food Coloring: Use red food dye to color portions of the dough various shades of pink.
- Sanding Sugar: Sanding, shimmer, or sparkle sugars come in a variety of colors and don't melt in the oven.
- Sprinkles: There are lots of heart-shaped sprinkle blends out there. Make sure the kind you're using won't melt in the oven.
- Nonpareils: I recently saw a red, pink, and white blend that would be so fun!
- Chocolate: Melt chocolate in a bowl and dip in the corners of some of the baked and cooled cookies, or use it to drizzle over top.
- Candy Melts: Red, pink, or white for dipping. These are usually vanilla-flavored.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- When pressing the dough, start with lightest dough color and proceed onward so darker portions don't streak or discolor lighter ones.
- Cookies baked on darker colored sheet pans may require a minute or so less in the oven than those baked on lighter ones.
- If drizzling or dipping heart spritz cookies in melted chocolate, wait until the cookies have cooled completely.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
- Italian Wedding Cookies - Six ingredients and a big time sugar-dusting shortcut makes these melt-in-your-mouth cookies a breeze to make.
- Bisquick Chocolate Chip Cookies - Run out of flour or baking powder/soda? There's no need for either with this one.
- Italian Pizzelle - This is another recipe that relies on a machine to produce picture-perfect decorated cookies. Chocolate pizzelle, too!
- Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies - Red raspberry jam makes these another Valentine's Day appropriate treat.
Valentine's Day Desserts
If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating in the recipe card and/or a comment review below!
Valentine's Day Spritz Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie press
- Heart-shaped disk
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Red food coloring
- Red and white sanding sugar, festive sprinkles, etc. for decoration
- Melted chocolate for drizzling
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°F.
- Add softened butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and cream on medium speed for 2 minutes, until thoroughly combined and fluffed up. Add egg and extracts and mix in completely.
- Mix in flour and salt.
- Separate dough into three bowls (or however many you like). Keep one as-is, then mix coloring into the other bowls to form a light pink and a dark pink.
- Beginning with the undyed portion, load the dough into your cookie press fitted with the heart disk. Press cookies onto ungreased baking sheets, topping them with sanding sugar or sprinkles. Repeat the process, moving onto the light pink and then the darker pink dough, until all the dough is used.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until the edges are beginning to brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies have cooled, melt chocolate in your preferred manner. Dip half of the heart cookies into the chocolate, and/or add the melted chocolate to a piping bag (or plastic bag with one corner snipped off) and drizzle over top. Allow chocolate to harden completely before serving or storing.
Notes
- Darker cookie sheets may require a minute or so less of bake time.
- Gel food dye is recommended as it adds less moisture to the dough than traditional liquid food coloring, but I often use liquid coloring here without issue. If you've added quite a bit of liquid food coloring to make a true red, consider sticking that bowl in the refrigerator for a bit while the lighter dough batches bake to help it firm up.
- If using a festive sprinkle blend, make sure they can be added to a dessert before baking. Some pretty mixes state they're only for decorating after baking as the shapes will melt if heated.
- Store these Valentine's Day spritz cookies (once cooled) in an air-tight container or sealable bag. They'll stay for 4-5 days at room temperature, but also freeze well.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate for 2 cookies that does not include decoration or chocolate.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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