These adorable heart cookies are a sweet treat for a lovable holiday! This classic recipe has a zesty twist with brown sugar and orange zest to amp up the flavor. What I love most about sugar cookies is you can really use any cookie cutter shape to create a fun dessert to enjoy - while I used a heart, you can also use envelopes, "x" and "o" or other themed shapes to capture the holiday. Plus, add any size or shaped sprinkle for an elevated look.
Heart sugar cookies
Timing: 3 hours
INGREDIENTS
Cookies
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbl heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
orange zest of an orange
Royal Icing
4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbl meringue powder
5 Tbl warm water
Food coloring (any color of your choice!)
DIRECTIONS
Cookies
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar in an electric mixer, beat until light. Add egg, heavy cream, and vanilla until combined. Scrape bowl.
Gradually mix in flour mixture until it forms a dough, scrape down dough from sides of bowl. Using a microplane grater zest one orange into the dough. Turn on mixer to combine.
Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for two hours.
Once set, take out, let warm for 15 minutes. Roll out on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 mins. Remove from oven, use a spatula to move cookies on cooling rack.
Royal Icing
Combine powdered sugar, meringue powder and warm water in an electric mixer. If you want your icing runnier, continue adding water until it matches your consistency.
Mix in food coloring until it's your desired color (I choose a pink color!).
Place into a piping bag with a tip of your choice (2D was used for the heart sugar cookies) and pipe onto your cookies. For these cookies, I make two strokes on either side of the heart (one on each side) to amplify the heart shape.