If you’re looking for a charming and delicious way to celebrate someone special, these love heart shaped cookies are the perfect treat. Made with a soft, buttery dough and layered with vibrant pink and red tones, this heart cookies recipe creates a gorgeous mosaic effect that turns simple heart sugar cookies into truly pretty cookies worth sharing.
Whether you’re looking for Valentine’s Day baking ideas, prepping sweet Mother’s Day treats, or putting together a fun pink color party, these adorable cut out cookies check all the boxes for festive, eye-catching sweetness.
For more cookie baking ideas, see these pretty chocolate heart cookies, these Valentine’s Day cookie recipes, pistachio cookie recipes, or these coffee cookie recipes.
Why You’ll Love These Heart Cookies
- They’re visually stunning without needing icing: The layered colored doughs create a beautiful mosaic effect, giving you pretty heart cookies that look bakery-made with zero decorating skills required.
- The recipe uses simple, everyday ingredients: With basics like butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, and one egg, these heart cookies are easy for any home baker to make.
- They hold their shape and bake perfectly: Thanks to the long chill time, the dough stays firm, cuts cleanly, and bakes into neat, soft heart shaped sugar cookies that don’t spread.
Whether you’re gifting them, serving them at a celebration, or adding them to your seasonal Valentine’s Day treats lineup, these heart cookies deliver both charm and flavor in every bite. Get ready to impress – these are the kind of sweets that make people smile before they even take a taste.
Key Ingredients
To make love heart sugar cookies, you’ll need the ingredients shown in the image below. I cover a few of the key ingredients here, and you can find the specific quantities and steps in the recipe card below.
- Unsalted butter: Bring it to room temperature for easier creaming.
- Red food coloring: Soft gel pastes are often the best option for achieving deep intense colors. I like the AmeriColor range.
You will need two heart shaped cookie cutters of different sizes – a smaller one for the red hearts and a larger one for the final cookie.
How To Make Heart Cookies
Here’s a quick overview of how to make heart shaped cookies. For the full recipe details, including ingredients and measurements needed, scroll down to the printable recipe card below.
You will need heart shaped cutters, parchment paper, a large cookie sheet and three bowls to get started.
Prepare the cookie dough: Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl until creamy and light. Add the egg and beat to combine.
Then using a spatula or large spoon, incorporate the flour, salt, and baking powder until just combined into a smooth cookie dough.
Color the dough: Divide the dough into three portions:
- Portion 1: Leave uncolored.
- Portion 2: Add a few drops of red food coloring to achieve a soft pink color.
- Portion 3: Add more red food coloring to achieve a brighter red tone.
Separately wrap all three doughs in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 3 hours, or the fridge overnight, to firm up.
Roll and Cut Shapes: Roll the uncolored dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of around 1/4 inch. Set aside. Repeat with the pink and red dough.
Use the small heart cookie cutter to cut hearts from both the pink dough and red dough. Place these small hearts on to the plain dough, alternating colors and varying the position to create a mosaic effect.
Once you have filled the plain dough area, re-roll the colored dough scraps and cut additional cookies to be baked as single color red or pink cookies.
Roll And Cut The Dough: Place a piece of parchment paper over the top of the assembled dough, and gently roll over it with a rolling pin to press the shapes into the plain dough – without distorting the shapes too much.
Use your large heart cutter to cut heart cookies out of the patterned dough and place them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet or tray.
Note: You cannot re-use the offcuts of this dough to create more cookies with the mosaic effect, so cut them as close as possible to each other to maximise the number of cookies you can get out of the patterned dough.
Chill the tray with the love cookies in the freezer for 5 minutes before baking to help them keep their shape during baking.
Bake: Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes, or until the edges are firm but not browned. Remove from the oven and cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve and enjoy immediately or tie up in a bundle to gift to your loved one.
Recipe Tips For Success
Chill the dough until firm for clean shapes: Freezing each colored dough portion for at least 3 hours ensures the hearts cut cleanly. Freezing just before baking helps the cookies hold their shape while baking.
Roll the dough between parchment for easy handling: Using parchment prevents sticking and helps keep the dough smooth and evenly thick, which leads to consistent baking.
Avoid overmixing once the dry ingredients are added: Mixing just until combined keeps the dough tender, preventing tough or dense cookies.
How To Store Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies
Freshly baked pink heart cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Make ahead tip: Make the three doughs and wrap tightly before freezing for up to 3 months. Thaw the dough in the fridge overnight before rolling, cutting, and baking.
Heart Cookie Inspo
These love heart shape cookies are a versatile cookie recipe that’s perfect for:
- Valentine’s Day treats
- Mother’s Day baking ideas
- Red or pink color party food ideas
- Pink baby shower snacks
- Romantic anniversary treats.
Soft and chewy, with a colored mosaic pattern, these pretty cookies are a fun baking idea for different holidays and occasions. Or pair with a warm cinnamon latte for an everyday treat.
More Sweet Treats To Try
- These Tiramisu Cookies are a gourmet treat everyone will love.
- This creamy coffee mousse is the perfect dessert idea for a romantic dinner.
- There are so many sweet treats for Valentines Day in this list.
Loved this recipe? Leave a review, and join me on Facebook and Pinterest for more tasty coffee recipe ideas.
Love Heart Shaped Cookies
Equipment
- Heart Cookie Cutters small and large
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- red gel food coloring
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: In a large bowl using a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy and light. Add the egg and beat to combine.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the wet mixture. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms. Avoid overmixing.
- Divide and color the dough: Divide the dough into three portions. Leave one portion uncolored (the base dough). Into portion 2 add a few drops of red food coloring and mix until you achieve a soft pink tone. For the final portion, add more red food coloring to achieve a brighter red / dark pink color.
- Wrap each portion in plastic wrap, flatten slightly, and freeze for 3 hours or refrigerate overnight.
- Roll out the dough: Roll out the uncolored base dough between two pieces of parchment paper, using a bit of flour to prevent sticking until about 1/4 inch thick. Set aside. Repeat with the pink and red doughs.
- Create the heart design dough: Use a small heart shaped cookie cutter to cut multiple heart cookies from the pink and red doughs. Place these small hearts onto the uncolored dough, alternating colors to create a mosaic effect.
- Place parchment paper over the assembled dough and gently roll over it with a rolling pin to press the shapes together without distorting them.
- Cut the large cookies: Using a large heart cookie cutter, cut the cookies out of the mosaic dough. Transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Chill before baking: Place the cookies on the tray in the freezer for 5 minutes to help them hold their shape during baking.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes, or until the edges are firm but not browned.
- Cool and serve: Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use Parchment Paper: Roll out the dough between sheets of parchment paper to prevent sticking and make handling easier.
- Uniform Thickness: Ensure the dough is rolled to an even 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) thickness for consistent baking.
- Check Cutter Sizes: Test the sizes of your small and large heart cutters to ensure the mosaic design fits well.
- Work in Small Batches: If the dough warms up while working, return unused portions to the freezer to keep them firm.
- Use Gel Food Coloring: Opt for gel food coloring for vibrant hues without altering the consistency of the dough.
- Watch Baking Time: Keep an eye on the cookies as they bake, remove them as soon as the edges are firm but before they brown.
- Storage Tip: Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container to keep them fresh for up to a week.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
