Well, I hope everyone enjoyed a week or so off from the holidays, because we’re gonna get back to it with a purpose today! And that purpose is… Valentine’s Day! I know, I know… we’ve still got a bit over a month until the big day, but there’s nothing wrong with being prepared! And these cookies are great for a work or social event because they’re a bit more laid back- they don’t scream “I love you” so much as just making the receiver feel all sorts of Good Feels. And who doesn’t love a sweet little tug on the heartstrings?
I actually started making these cookies months ago, for a wedding. I mentioned them in last fall’s Bride and Groom Sugar Cookies post as something really cute but that I thought I’d hang on to until the new year, which at that time felt so far away. And yet somehow… here we are in 2020. The colors I’ve used in this post were specific to that wedding’s theme so you can change them to anything you choose, but I think they suit Valentine’s Day very nicely without any changes needed. We’ll be working with two different string designs, so for simplicity’s sake I’ll be calling them the “bouquet” design (flowers in the middle) and the “gift” design (flowers in the corner like a bow on a package).
Materials Needed for Valentine’s Day Heartstrings Sugar Cookies
- Sugar cookies, baked and cooled (find my recipe at the bottom of this post)
- Heart cookie cutter (available here at Amazon)
- Royal icing in several colors (find my newbie tutorial here, and recipe at the bottom of this post. All gel colors are available at Amazon in this set)
- White, both piping and flooding consistency
- Deep red, piping consistency
- Pink, piping consistency
- Light green, piping consistency
- Cookie decorating toolkit (available here at Amazon)
- Decorating tips: #1, #2, small open star (#18 works well), and small leaf tip
- OPTIONAL: Counter top fan to speed drying time
Nothing too crazy there! Let’s get going on these before Valentine’s Day gets any closer!
Begin by baking your heart cookies and letting them cool completely on a wire rack. Flood each cookie completely with white icing (#2 tip) and allow about 2 hours under a fan for the icing to harden up. Let’s start with the “bouquet” design first. When you’re ready to proceed, use your light pink icing (#1 tip) and pipe three intersecting lines across half the cookies- the first straight across, the second slanted left to right, and the third slanted right to left.
Still holding onto your pink icing, let’s get the other half of the cookies going on the “gift” design. Pipe two vertical lines on the left side of the cookie, with the second starting at the highest part of the heart arch. They should be about ¼ inch apart. Then pipe two horizontal lines, with the second starting at the widest part of the heart width, and the same ¼ inch distance apart. Now allow both designs about half an hour back under the fan so that the lines are ready to receive decoration.
Put an open star tip on your deep red icing. Working on the bouquet cookies first, make a rosette flower near where all three lines intersect by pressing the icing firmly to the surface of the cookie and making a circle by swirling it clockwise. Practice this step on a paper towel if you need the practice first! After you’ve finished with the bouquet cookies, move on to the gift cookies. Still using the open star tip, simple make three stars of varying sizes where the four lines meet. You can vary the placement from cookie to cookie but keep them close together. Allow all your decoration at least half an hour to dry before moving on.
For the next step, clean your star tip and put it on your light pink icing. Working on the bouquet cookies, repeat the same technique as before to make another rosette. Give the cookies another half an hour to firm up, clean the star tip and make a final rosette in white piping icing.
While you’re waiting for all those rosettes to harden up, go back to your gift cookies. Use your deep red icing and a #1 tip to make some ornamental dots coming out of the center of your stars. The direction of these dot trails doesn’t really matter, just stick 5-6 per line.
Still working on the gift cookies, find your light green icing and another #1 tip. Make small crescent shapes around the stars, most of them below the design but one or two above it as well.
Hang onto your green icing and go back to the bouquet cookies. Pipe three lines radiating outwards from the rosettes. Make small ‘v’ shapes on the line to create the appearance of a vine.
Finally, swap the #1 tip out on your green icing for the small leaf tip. Go back to your gift cookies and make leaves wherever you like, about 4-5 per cookie should do it. Once you’ve finished with the gift design, move to the bouquet cookies and do the same thing. You’re done!
Well, how did these heartstring cookies turn out for you? Did they pull on yours like they do on mine? Make sure to let me know in the comments, and to also ask any questions that you might have about this design! Until next time, stay warm- and happy baking!
Foolproof Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In bowl, mix together 3 cups of the flour and baking power. Set aside.
- In separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the extracts and the egg and beat until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Dough will be crumbly.
- Press dough together with hands, and roll out on a well-floured surface. Cut shapes and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Refrigerate baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, remove when cookie edges are just barely golden. Allow several minutes to cool on sheet before moving cookies to a rack.
Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 Tbsp meringue powder
- 4 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar sifted
- 1/2 tsp Karo syrup (optional)
- 1/8 tsp clear flavored extract (optional)
Instructions
- Combine water and meringue powder in a bowl and beat with mixer until frothy.
- Sift powdered sugar into the same bowl and mix to combine
- Add syrup and extract if desired
- Beat the icing for 4-5 minutes until it is glossy and holds a peak if the beater is turned upside down
Medium Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 5 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
Flooding Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 3 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
