Description
These Stained Glass Valentine Heart Cookies are a beautiful and delicious treat perfect for Valentine’s Day. Soft buttery sugar cookies are cut into heart shapes with a smaller heart cutout filled with melted hard candies, creating a colorful, stained glass effect. The vibrant red dough combined with the glossy candy centers makes these cookies as eye-catching as they are tasty.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- ¾ Cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ Cup granulated sugar
- ¼ Teaspoon sea salt
- 2 eggs, at room temperature and beaten
- 1 ½ Teaspoons vanilla extract
- Red food coloring, gel
- 2 ½ Cups + ¼ Cup all-purpose flour
Filling
- 2 Cups hard candy, crushed into small pieces
Instructions
- Prepare the Cookie Dough: Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter, granulated sugar, and sea salt until the mixture is smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and continue mixing.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla: Incorporate the beaten eggs and vanilla extract into the butter mixture and mix until fully combined, approximately 1 minute.
- Add Flour and Food Coloring: Gradually add 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour to the wet ingredients on medium-low speed until well combined. While adding the flour, drop in a few drops of red gel food coloring to achieve your desired deep red color.
- Chill the Dough: Tightly wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You may divide the dough into two smaller balls for easier handling if preferred.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheet: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Roll Out the Dough: Lightly flour a clean countertop with some of the reserved ¼ cup of flour. Remove the dough from the fridge and turn it onto the floured surface. Sprinkle flour on the dough and roll it out evenly to about ¼ inch thickness, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Cut Out Cookie Shapes: Use a large heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the outer cookie shapes and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Then, use a smaller heart-shaped cutter to cut out the center of each cookie. Remove the smaller cutouts and either save them to bake as mini cookies or combine with extra dough for more cookies.
- Fill with Crushed Candy: Evenly fill the center cutouts in each cookie with crushed hard candy pieces. Make sure the candy is level with the dough surface and not mounded.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges start to brown slightly and the crushed candy has completely melted to form the stained glass effect.
- Cool Completely: Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool fully on the baking sheet before carefully removing them. This allows the candy centers to harden and set.
Notes
- Crush candy evenly into small pieces to ensure smooth melting and clear stained glass windows.
- Do not overfill the candy centers; keep them level with the dough to prevent overflow during baking.
- If the dough becomes too soft during rolling, return it to the fridge to firm up for easier cutting.
- Always use parchment paper-lined baking sheets to prevent melted candy from sticking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 140
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 65mg
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Fiber: 0.3g
- Protein: 1.5g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
