If all you have left of your Christmas cookies is crumbs then let Valentines Day be your excuse to make this delicious Valentines sugar cookie recipe.
Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies
A fun way to celebrate and share your love with others on Valentines is to make a delicious batch of sugar cookies with some yummy frosting on top. In fact in the good old days we always made sugar cookies to go with our valentines. We also would take them around to our friends and leave them on their doorsteps as we rang the bell and ran.
I have been using this sugar cookie recipe for years! I can’t even remember where I first saw it. It has become a family favorite. You can tell how old and loved the recipe is just by looking at the card it was written on over 25 years ago.
These cookies are so loved that we have even made a batch and froze them and then shipped them to Alaska for a loved one!
First things first you will need to gather your ingredients to make these delicious Valentines sugar cookies.
For your recipe you will need
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup milk
Getting Started With the Sugar Cookie Recipe
So let’s get started. This recipe starts out like most sugar cookie recipes. You will need to combine and cream your butter and sugar. My original recipe says margarine. I have always used butter instead.
I like to use my paddle attachment and cream the ingredients until they look smooth.
I {heart} this old school mixer I use. My aunt handed it down to me a few years ago. I often eye the shiny new mixers with their cute colors but this mixer has never failed me!
Next, add both eggs to the bowl and mix well. If you prefer to mix in one egg at a time that is great too. Once the eggs are beaten in then it is time to add in the one teaspoon of vanilla. Then mix again to combine all the ingredients.
Adding In the Dry Ingredients
Before starting the cream and eggs you could sift together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking powder) so they will be ready for you. Or go ahead and sift them once you have creamed your sugar and egg. Yet, being the baking rebel I am I always skip this step. I am not a sifter.
The purpose behind sifting is to get rid of clumps so there are no weird dry spots in your cookies. It also aerates your ingredients and can help create a uniform texture in the final product.
I am sure it is an important and valid step (sifting) but I have always skipped it and the valentines cookies are always delicious.
So after you have sifted (or not) your dry ingredients you are going to add them slowly to your mixing bowl alternating the dry ingredients with the 1/3 cup milk. You can either have the mixer on continuously during this process or mix some, turn the mixer off and add some more ingredients and then turn the mixer back on. Whatever you choose just beware of flour flying up at you…
Rolling Out the Valentines Sugar Cookie Dough
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it doesn’t require the dough to be chilled. Such a time saver!
Once your dough is all mixed together and your surface is floured so the dough won’t stick grab a rolling pin and get to work.
Since these are valentines cookies a heart shaped cookie cutter would be fantastic. Yet, there are so many fun festive cookie cutters! You could use X’s and O’s or lips or a cupid. Be creative and have fun with it.
Be sure to use something so that your cookies won’t stick to the pan. I have often used a silicone baking mat to prevent sticking. Though, recently these mats have been altering the taste of my cookies and leaving a rubber type taste. Instead I used some parchment paper for this batch.
Baking the Valentines Sugar Cookies
In the beginning be sure to preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Our oven repairman once taught us to give the oven another few minutes after it beeps that it has reached the correct temperature. The initial beep says it has just reached the correct temperature but if you give it a few more minutes the heat will be more consistent and you will have a better bake.
These Valentines sugar cookies stay in the oven for 8 minutes. You will need to adjust this time depending on how thick you make your cookies and if you like them super soft or a little crispy.
Once the cookies are out of the oven remove them from the pan to a cooling rack.
Frosting the Cookies
If you are a purest then you can skip the frosting of the sugar cookies.
For everyone else, when the sugar cookies are cooled you can get to frosting them. There are so many great frosting recipes out there but I most often use this recipe that is as old and loved as my sugar cookie recipe.
3 cups powder sugar
1/3 cup butter (softened)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. milk
This frosting recipe can easily have 1 tsp. of almond extract added to it if you like that flavor of frosting (I do). It can also have some cocoa powder added to it for chocolate frosting.
Brighten someone’s Valentine’s Day by delivering them some of these delicious Valentine’s Day sugar cookies.
Valentines Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 4 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/3 cup milk
Instructions
Combine and cream your butter and sugar. Add both eggs to the bowl and mix well. Once the eggs are beaten in then it is time to add in the one teaspoon of vanilla. Then mix again to combine all the ingredients.
Before starting the cream and eggs you could sift together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking powder) so they will be ready for you. Or go ahead and sift them once you have creamed your sugar and egg.
Dough does not need to be chillded. Roll out dough on floured surface and cut using your favorite cookie cutter. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Frost when cooled.