Valentine’s Day Shortbread Cookies
Valentine’s Day Shortbread Cookies are a simple way to say “I love you”! These cookies are so tasty and so very easy to make. They come together in no time and the kiddos will have a blast decorating them!
This is a one-bowl, no-mixer recipe (one of my faves!) so you don’t have to dirty up extra dishes. The dough comes together in about 5 minutes and it doesn’t need to be chilled before rolling (after rolling, I like to chill for an hour or so) and you can re-roll the extra bits after cutting the cookies without any discernible changes in the taste or texture. The cookies don’t spread in the oven so they keep their shape and don’t need extra space between them on the baking sheet. All-in-all, it’s a very amazing recipe!
Stir the butter until it’s smooth. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and make sure it’s incorporated in the butter. Finally, add the flour and corn starch. The dough will be shaggy but you will gather it together, turn it onto a work surface and knead it a few times until it comes together.
Roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness and use a round or heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes. You can use different size cutters, too! Place them on the baking sheet and refrigerate for an hour. Bake for 12-14 minutes per sheet and then let cool.
To make the frosting, use a stand mixer and add the butter. Beat until it is light and creamy and then add the powdered sugar, vanilla, milk and salt. Continue to beat until frosting is whipped and fluffy.
Divide it into 3 or 4 bowls, depending on how many colors you want and add gel food coloring to each bow and mix. Using different tips, pipe frosting onto cooled cookies.
Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Valentine’s Day Shortbread Cookies
Makes: 24 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 12-14 minutes per sheet
Total Time: 1 hour plus 1 hour chill time
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, very soft
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp whole milk or heavy whipping cream, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
- red, pink, purple gel food coloring
Instructions
Cookies:
Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place soft butter in a medium-size mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula until nice and smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix together by hand for about 30 seconds until well blended. Add the flour and cornstarch. Stir until dry ingredients are mostly incorporated. The dough will be a little shaggy.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gather into a ball. Knead 5-6 times until fairly smooth and all the small pieces are worked in. Form into a ball again and flatten with your hand to form a flat disk.
Turn the disk to coat both sides with flour. Roll out the dough to an approximate ¼-inch thickness. Keep work surface, dough and rolling pin lightly dusted with flour.
With a round cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and transfer to them to the prepared pans with a thin, metal spatula. Re-roll scraps as many times as needed to use up the dough.
Place cutouts in the refrigerator for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350˚F. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until just beginning to turn golden at the edges. Repeat with the second pan of cutouts. Cool on a wire rack before icing.
For the Frosting:
With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color, about 7 minutes.
With the mixer on low, add the sifted powdered sugar one cup at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
Add vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated.
Divide frosting into 3 bowls and add food coloring as desired to create three different colors. Using a variety of tips and piping bags, decorate cooled cookies. Have fun with this!
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