Conversation Heart Cookies

Cute conversation heart, frog, and bear cookies on a wire rack.

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These conversation heart cookies are the perfect homemade Valentine's Day gift for your loved ones! They're soft, buttery, easy to make, and completely customizable—so have fun writing your messages! :)

Prep Time45

Cook Time13

Dry Time1

Total Time1 58

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 2-inch cut out cookies

Calories: 155kcal

Author: Bianca Fernandez

Equipment

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Wet Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or paste
1 egg room temperature

Royal Icing:

2 tablespoons meringue powder I also love the brand LorAnn!
¼ cup water
2 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract or ⅛-¼ teaspoon almond, mint, etc. you can also add lemon juice or zest!
pinch fine sea salt
gel food coloring I used pink, yellow, and green

Decorating:

edible food markers

US Customary - Metric

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

For the cookie dough:

In a medium bowl, stir together all of the dry ingredients: 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt.
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the softened ½ cup unsalted butter and ½ cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
Mix in 1 tablespoon vanilla and 1 egg until smooth.
Dump in all of the dry ingredients. Fold using silicone spatula until no dry spots remains.

Roll out dough:

Now, you will make a "parchment stack". The bottom layer will be a large piece of parchment paper, the cookie dough in the middle, then parchment paper on top. This will make rolling out the dough much easier + mess free.
Lay large piece of parchment paper down on work surface. Plop on all of the cookie dough, then lay another piece of parchment on top of it. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a large rectangle, until dough is about ¼-inch thick.
Transfer parchment stack to a baking tray and freeze for about 15 minutes. This will make cutting out shapes easier.
While the cookies are freezing, feel free to make the royal icing ahead of time!

Cut out & bake cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
This step will help loosen the cookie dough from the parchment paper layers. So when you cut out dough pieces, the dough doesn't stick to the paper and is easier to transfer to your lined baking tray.
Peel off top parchment paper, then lightly stick it back on. Flip the entire parchment-cookie dough-parchment stack over so you can completely peel off the bottom parchment paper.
Use cookie cutters to cut out heart shapes. Transfer cookies to baking sheets, about 2-3 inches apart. The cookies will not spread much while baking.
Tip: Lightly flour your cookie cutter to minimize any sticking. When transferring cut-out cookies to your lined baking sheet, you can slide an offset spatula underneath the cookie to easily pick it up. If the dough is getting too soft, pop it back in the fridge or even the freezer for a few minutes.
Knead together any dough scraps, roll out, and cut out more cookies.
Tip: The colder the cut-out cookies, the more they'll hold their shape when baking! Feel free to freeze your cut-out shapes for 10 minutes before popping them in the oven.
Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until edges are set and very lightly golden. Let cool on pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to fully cool.

Make royal icing & decorate:

In a large bowl, add 2 tablespoons meringue powder and ¼ cup water. Mix on medium speed until very frothy, about 2-3 minutes.
While mixing on medium-low, gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is fully incorporated, add ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and pinch fine sea salt.
Whip on medium high for about 3-4 minutes until thickened and white. If the consistency is too thick for your liking, add a few drops of water at a time. If it is too thin, try whipping the mixture longer or adding in more powdered sugar.
Note: For a royal icing consistency perfect for both lining and flooding, drag your whisk through the icing. It should smooth back into an even surface within 15–20 seconds.
Now it's time to color your icing. Divide icing into bowls. Work with one color at a time, covering the remaining bowls with damp paper towels to prevent the icing from drying out.
**As dyed royal icing dries, the color does deepen a few shades darker. So if you're going for pastels, go a bit lighter than you normally would.
Stir in gel food coloring until combined.
To minimize air bubbles in your decorated cookies, let icing rest in the bowl for about 15 minutes, so any trapped air can rise to the surface. Pop bubbles with a toothpick.
Transfer icing to piping bags and cut a small tip. Pipe on outlines to all of your heart cookies first, then go back in to flood them.
Let cookies dry on a wire rack at room temperature for 8-24 hours. Once the icing is fully dry, write on custom messages using edible food markers. Enjoy!
Here are custom message ideas, in case you need inspo!
If you want to be sweet: besties, love u, XOXO, miss u
If you want to be funny: no., wtf., boy bye, u smell (good), nvm

Video

Notes

Storage Instructions:

Room temperature: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freezing instructions: Freeze cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Let thaw in container at room temperature. Please keep in mind the icing and edible marker may unfortunately bleed as the cookies thaw!

Nutrition