This Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies recipe takes classic buttery sugar cookie dough and turns it into oversized conversation hearts, complete with stenciled royal icing messages.
Sometimes you need to bake something cute just for fun. And these Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies are just the thing. The cookie dough recipe comes from my first book. I’ve probably made it 100 times. Maybe 200! It’s my favorite for decorating, and believe me, I’ve done a lot of cookie decorating over the past 16 years. The dough is unsticky, easy to tint with food color, and doesn’t brown much in the oven. So it’s perfect for this kind of vibrant cut out cookie.
Prepare the Dough
Make this dough on a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the ingredients together until a non-sticky dough forms. I used to give it a distinctive candy flavor. It is highly concentrated, so a little goes a long way. But you could just use orange, lemon, or any fruity flavored extract in your pantry. Specific amounts are in the recipe card for both.
Divide and Color
Divide the dough evenly into even six portions. (Or use a scale if you have perfectionist tendencies -guilty!) Use neon gel food coloring to tint each piece a different color: pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. And yes – while I realize conversation hearts candies are pastel, the light hue just didn’t have the same charm in cookie form. Recommendation: go bold! I used all 6 colors in . However, discount stores and craft stores (Walmart, Michael’s) are now stocking neon gel food colors. So you might shop nearby first.
Roll Between Parchment Paper
Roll each color of dough between two sheets of parchment paper. This step eliminates the need for extra flour, keeping the colors vibrant and the surface perfectly smooth for stenciling. Aim for a thickness a little greater than ¼ inch – approximately 3/8 inch.
Cut into Hearts
Use a 5-inch heart-shaped cutter to cut out cookies. The one I used is from set of cutters, but if you don’t want to buy a literal bucket of 101 cookie cutters (ha!) then has a large heart similar in size and shape.
Chill then Bake
Transfer the hearts to parchment-lined baking sheets and chill them for at least 30 minutes. Chilling prevents spreading and helps the cookies retain their sharp edges.
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, or until the shiny surfaces have disappeared and the edges are just barely starting to turn golden. Avoid overbaking to preserve the vibrant colors.
Stencil
Once the cookies have cooled completely, prepare a batch of royal icing – which is included in the recipe here. Tint it red, then use Valentine’s Day stencils to add conversation heart messages to the cookies. You can find the stencils I used in this set .
Stencil Technique
Use an offset spatula to pick up some of the red royal icing on the upper 2″ tip of the spatula. Place the stencil on the cookie and center (as evenly as possible) then sweep and smooth the icing across the letters. Do this while holding the stencil down with one hand, and spreading icing with the other. Then lift the stencil straight up! Don’t try to peel it off to one side – the letters will smear. This advice comes from experience.
If you’re nervous about mastering the technique, use a piece of parchment paper or a scrap cookie to practice on first.
A few of my first stencils were imperfect and a little off-center on the cookies, and that really bothered me. But then I forgave myself when I saw the conversation hearts in my candy cabinet. I’m actually doing okay, I guess!
For me, will always bring a wave of nostalgia. Despite their chalky texture and odd flavor, I still love them. But I will admit that the buttery sugar cookie version is much tastier!
This recipe makes a lot of cookies – around 30. So if you’re the kind of person who spreads Valentine’s Day cheer all around, these make wonderful gifts. Just one packaged in cellophane and tied with pretty ribbon makes a sweet Valentine.
Related Recipe:
Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies
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Ingredients
Sugar cookies
Royal icing (stiff peak)
Instructions
Sugar cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two or more large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a 5-inch heart motif cookie cutter to stamp shapes from the dough and transfer them to the prepared pans. Chill the shapes in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Royal icing
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg white with the lemon juice until combined and slightly foamy.
Stenciling
- Place a cookie on a flat work surface. Center the stencil on top of the cookie as evenly as possible.
- Dip the offset spatula into the royal icing so that about 2” of icing coats the tip of the spatula. Hold the stencil steady on the cookie with one hand while you spread the royal icing evenly over the words. Lift the stencil straight up from the cookie to reveal the message. Don’t peel it off from the side because the words will smear.
