TASTY TUESDAY: Valentine's Conversation Heart Cookies

Love is in the air and we've got a Valentine's treat for you! If you ever exchanged heart conversations with your school crush as a kid, we've got a clever grown up version that will sweep your sweetheart's feet right from under them! We're talking homemade Conversation Heart Cookies. Pure GENIUS! We teamed up with Abbey Rodriguez of The Butter Half to give us her sweet take on making this sugar cookie recipe super colorful and fun! So simple to make, you'll find the hardest part is choosing all of the hilarious phrases. 

Whether you're choosing a cozy night in or throwing an epic Galentine's Party, throw on your favorite Albion get-up and win over some hearts with these home made cookies. 

Click for our full Valentine's Day Collection.

Prep time: 1 hour
Set time: 2 hours
Bake time: 5-6 minutes
Yield: 1 dozen conversation heart cookies

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
•  2 1/2-3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Royal Icing

• 3 eggs whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• gel food dye

Red Food Paint

• 1/2 tablespoon raspberry extract
• 1/2 teaspoon red color dust
• letter stencil
• food paint brushes

Directions

1. In a stand mixer, thoroughly mix together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, blend dry ingredients together. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet sugar mixture alternately with the sour cream. Dough should pull from the sides of the bowl, but still be a bit sticky to the touch.

2. Form dough into a large ball and flatten into a disc between two sheets of parchment or wax paper. Roll out to 1/4″ thickness. Place the sheet of rolled dough onto a baking sheet, still keeping it between the pieces of parchment. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. (This helps the dough keep it’s shape when cutting out shapes and baking.) Remove when ready to make cut-outs.

3. Heat oven to 425°F. Cut out shapes with a large heart cookie cutter. Place hearts on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 425°F for 5-6 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow them to cool for about 10-15 minutes before frosting.

4. While cookies cool, prepare the royal icing. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg whites and vanilla extract with an electric mixer on low speed, until foamy. Slowly add in powdered sugar until the shiny and stiff peaks form. Divide icing into separate bowls for pink, yellow, green, blue, and violet icing colors. Mix in a pea-sized amount of gel food dye until blended. Pour each color into separate piping bags, each fitted with a #2 round icing tip. Create an icing outline on the sugar cookies first. Let set for about 5 minutes, then flood the middle with icing until completely filled and smooth. Let icing set for at least 2 hours until firm.

5. Mix together the raspberry extract and color dust until it forms a vibrant, thick paint. Place stencil on each cookie, and lightly dab a small food paint brush into the pigment. Lightly dab the stencil outline. Allow each letter to dry before moving onto another. If you mess up, just use a wet paper towel to wipe off and start again. Once all messages are painted on, let them dry for 15 minutes, then serve! Enjoy!

SHOP THE ALBION VALENTINE'S DAY PICKS

Need more inspiration in the kitchen? Follow Abbey onInstagram,Facebook andPinterest for your nextdelectable dish.