Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies (2024)

Pretty in pink, these Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies start with an easy sugar cookie recipe that is topped with the perfect pink buttercream and lots of holiday sprinkles.

If you love Valentine’s Day, make sure to check out all of my Valentine’s Day recipes!

And sugar cookies are perfect for Valentine’s day.

This is actually the same cookie recipe I use for my favorite sugar cookies, but these get a pink and red makeover.

These are fun to decorate with sprinkles, but they are great cookies for the kids to help decorate, as well. Break out the conversation hearts and heart candy and let them go crazy!

Ingredients

• Butter: I like to use unsalted butter. You will need it for both the cookies and the frosting. If you do use salted butter, you’ll want to cut back on the amount of salt you use.
• Sugar: You need granulated sugar for the cookies and powdered sugar for the buttercream frosting.
• Eggs: For the best results, use eggs that are at room temperature.
• Milk: You will need a little bit of milk for the cookies. Plus you can use milk in the buttercream if you need to thin it out.
• Baking Powder: The baking powder gives the cookies the lift and structure that they need.
• Vanilla: I like to use a good quality vanilla so the flavor really shines through.
• Salt: I like to use sea salt. Especially for the buttercream. If you are using table salt, I would cut the amount of salt in the frosting in half.
• Flour: I have only tested this recipe using all-purpose flour.
• Food Coloring: I like to use a gel food coloring, but liquid works as well. I only used 1 drop of red gel coloring to get the pink on my cookies. You can also leave the buttercream white and not use any food coloring at all!
• Sprinkles: It’s usually pretty easy to find Valentine’s day sprinkles at most grocery stores around the holiday, but you can also order them online.

How to Make Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies

Start by making your sugar cookie dough. Cream the butter and sugar together, then add in the eggs one at a time.

Mix in the milk, baking powder, vanilla, and salt.

Add in the flour gradually until you have a soft, but not sticky dough.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface and cut with cookie cutters. I used a heart and lips.

Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, until just set. This should take between 8-10 minutes. Let the cookies cool.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy, then mix in the vanilla and the salt.

Start adding in the powdered sugar until you have your desired consistency. If it gets too thick, you can thin it out with some milk. Add in your food coloring, then beat the buttercream until it is nice and light and fluffy. I usually beat mine for 3 minutes minimum.

Decorate the cookies with the buttercream and the sprinkles.

Tips and Tricks

• If you over bake the cookies, they will be hard. If you underbake the cookies, they will deflate some. You want to take them out of the oven when they have puffed up and have just started to set around the edges.
• I like to bake the cookies one tray at a time to make sure they all bake evenly. They bake pretty quickly, so it doesn’t take too long.
• You’ll want to store the cookies in the refrigerator, but I prefer to eat these when they are at room temperature.
• You can always refrigerate the dough for longer than 30 minutes. And if you don’t mind if the cookies spread a little bit, you can skip the refrigeration of the dough.

Change Them Up

If you don’t have shaped cookie cutters, you can make the cookies round. Of if you don’t have a cookie cutter at all, you can use a glass or a thin lid to cut the dough into circles.

You don’t have to make the frosting pink! Leave it white, or make it red or purple or any other color you’d like.

You can also decorate these with sugar cookie icing like I do on these cookies.

More Valentine’s Day Desserts

Chocolate Mousse
Strawberry Mousse
Butterscotch Budino
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Red Velvet Cupcakes