Valentine Sugar Cookie Hearts & 3 Ways to Decorate w. Sugar Crystals

Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m sending you lots of love today, and I do that best with sweets. They say the way to anyone’s heart on Valentine’s, well any day, is really through their stomach. I love to celebrate this day in a sweet and simple kind of way. No over the top frills, or spending money that could be better spent somewhere else. Just a nice meal, some pretty flowers, and of course a sweet bite to end the night. But that doesn’t mean I skip out on making Valentine’s treats pretty to look at too. After all, we do eat with our eyes first. Sugar cookies are one of the simplest desserts to bake up, and they are sure to please all ages and tastebuds. They’re even easier, and dare I say more enjoyable, when decorated with different colored sugar crystals. Something so simple yet makes any sweet, sparkle and simmer. The same two ingredients; sugar cookie hearts and colored sugar crystals, make wildly different results depending on the decorating technique you use. Each so easy, anyone can do them, I mean anyone. I could’ve decorated these sugar cookies with royal icing, but the thought of having to actually make it, then pipe it and allow them to dry, felt like way much more work than I wanted to take on or dishes I wanted to clean. Plus, who wants to stress over perfectly piped cookies, as long as they’re baked with love that’s all that truly matters, right?

So with one pretty ingredient, I created these three different, but oh so cute, cookie decorating techniques that are just perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Shaped

Before baking, place a smaller heart cookie cutter in the center of a medium cutout cookie, already on your lined baking sheet. Fill the inside of the cookie cutter with the sugar crystals, then gently lift. You can do this with any small cookie cutter shape. 

Striped

Before baking, place a decorating spatula or piece of paper on a diagonal on one half of a cutout cookie, already on your lined baking sheet. Gently sprinkle the sugar crystals on the half you want decorated. You can even do this to create several stripes.

In the Batter

Think funfetti cookies! This is a fun and extremely easy way to use the sugar crystals, and perfect for the final scraps of dough you keep re-rolling. If you already have sugar crystals spilled onto your surface, simply roll the dough over it and then knead to distribute the colored sugars. If you want more “funfetti” in your dough, just knead more sugar crystals into the dough, then roll out to 1/4″ thickness and cut with desired shapes.  Anyone else remember the song “Beating Heart Baby“? It’s all I kept thinking when shooting these pretty little things. And even though these cookies are simply covered with sugar crystals. they’re my favorite way to decorate. They look like little gemstones, but better because you can eat them.Seriously aren’t these the most adorable, sweetest cookies ever?! Definitely the perfect way to say I love you. Happy  Valentine’s Everyone!!

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Sugar Cookies 

Ingredients {Makes about 3 Dozen}

4 cups –  All Purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon – Salt

1 teaspoon – Baking Powder

2 sticks – Unsalted Butter , room temperature

2 cups – Cane Sugar

2 large – Eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons – Pure Vanilla Extract

Colored Sugar Crystals

Recipe 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy {about 4 minutes}. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the vanilla and salt, mix until combined. With the mixer on low, slowly incorporate the flour in two to three batches, mixing just until incorporated.

Place dough onto a lightly floured surface, divide in half. Flatten each into rounds, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350*F, and line baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to 1/4″ thickness. Cut out with desired shapes and transfer to prepared sheets about 2″ apart. Repeat until your dough is used up, or refrigerate leftover dough wrapped very well in plastic, up to a week, or freeze. Chill cut-out shapes for 15 minutes, or until firm. Decorate with sugar crystals using one of the above three techniques. {If using royal icing, bake cookies then allow to cool completely before piping}

Bake cookies, rotating pans halfway, until slightly golden around edges and firm to touch {about 10 minutes – if you prefer a crisper cookie bake an additional 2 minutes}. Cool cookies completely on a cooling rack. Place in an airtight container up to 3 weeks.