How to Make a Heart Shaped Cookie on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day typically brings to mind thoughts of love, Cupid, hearts, and the colors red and pink. It is generally a day of giving to those closest to our heart, and of expressing our thoughts and feelings to them.

For some, the way to do that best is with treats. But not just any treats. This treat must be homemade, easy-to-make, and heart-shaped.

The Gift of a Giant Heart-Shaped Cookie: A Few Considerations
A simple and fun-to-make heart-shaped treat is cookies. A giant heart cookie can say "I Love You" in a most delicious way.

When making the cookie, there are several things you will need to keep in mind. First will be if the recipient can consume sugar or not. Some people have medical or other dietary restrictions that prevent them from having sugar. Be sure to find out ahead of time. Adjust your cookie recipe or type accordingly.

The second consideration is what kind of cookies they like. Some may have favorite cookies, strong dislikes, or even food allergies that will affect what your recipe choices are.

And finally, you need to decide how you are going to make your treat. Will you be using a giant heart-shaped cookie cutter, a heart-shaped pattern you have cut out of paper, or will you be using the freehand method? Once you have addressed all of these issues, you are ready to begin.

The Heart-Shaped Cake Mix Cookie
Cake Mix cookies are a perfect type of cookie to make for gift-giving as they allow for so much creativity and flexibility. They are relatively easy to make and a lot of fun to get creative with in making. The following is a basic cake mix cookie recipe handed down in my family and then altered by me to suit my tastes and needs. Be sure to read it all the way through before beginning.

Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients

1 box cake mix, ANY flavor
½ Cup canola or vegetable oil
2 eggs
½ Cup Flour
3/4 Cup chocolate or other flavored chips, nuts, raisins, etc - whatever additions you want to make.

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients well in a large bowl. This recipe may make several large cookies or a large one and some smaller ones. Having the extra cookie mix will allow you to try again if the first one doesn't work exactly right.

NOTE: DON'T try to make a giant cookie using the entire mixture on your first time. The larger your cookie is, the more variations there are in cooking time and the greater your odds for it not turning out correctly. Once you are familiar with how this recipe works for a giant cookie in your particular oven and with your particular baking sheet, then feel free to make as large a cookie as you feel you can handle.

Place the appropriate amount on your parchment-paper lined baking sheet to form your giant heart. Start with less than you think you will need, and add to it as you go. It is better to start with too little and add to it, than to have too much and have to try to take away from it without totally messing up your cookie shape and the parchment paper liner.

Use your cookie cutter, your pattern, or your freehand skills to shape and cut the cookie into the perfect heart.

Place your cookie in the preheated oven. The cookie should be baked in approximately 7-12 minutes - however, watch it carefully. Your altitude, oven, baking sheet, and the size of your cookie can all affect the baking time and results. When your cookie is done baking, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool thoroughly.

The parchment paper is your friend. It will help you carefully remove your giant cookie from your baking sheet and put it on or in the container you are using to place your gift in. You can cut it down to just slightly larger than your heart cookie, or into the shape of the container, so it will fit.

Frosting
You can buy tubes of frosting and 'gel' to decorate with, but if you want to make the frosting from scratch, it is really easy to do. Some people use food coloring, but I have found that I truly enjoy the consistency and overall hue variations which can quite easily be obtained by using coloring paste such as the kind sold by the Wilton company. Just a little bit on the end of a toothpick then scraped into the frosting can tint it to just the right shade. A little bit goes a long way, and you can create a rainbow of hues and colors with the coloring paste. I started with a kit of just primary and secondary colors, and from those have created many other colors.

Decorator frosting is different from regular frosting. It is a tad thicker and it holds shapes better. It sets up better and does not melt or run as quickly as regular frosting does. Here is a decorator frosting recipe I use. It stems from taking the best of other recipes and then adapting even more to suit my tastes and needs. Either kind of frosting can be used, but I prefer to use decorator frosting since I am also going to the trouble of creating pretty designs on the giant cookie I just created. I want my work to hold up well.

Decorator Frosting
Ingredients

½ Cup solid (not melted) vegetable shortening
½ cup butter, softened (not melted)
1 lb (4 cups) powdered sugar
3 TBSP milk
1 tsp vanilla (or other extract - frosting color may be affected)
Liquid or paste coloring

Instructions
Cream shortening and butter together in a medium bowl. Slowly add the other ingredients as you continue to mix on a medium speed. Continue to blend until the frosting is creamy. If more milk is needed, add it - one drop at a time. This frosting is supposed to be a bit thick, but easy to work with.

If you are coloring the frosting add the liquid or paste coloring according to the coloring package directions, but one tiny portion at a time. It is easier to make the frosting darker in color than lighter. If you will be creating several colors, divide up the frosting accordingly in advance of coloring it. It is handy to be able to put each color in its own bowl while coloring, and then in its own pastry bag when the coloring process is complete.

If you want to write words with the frosting, it may need to be thinner than the rest of the frosting you are decorating with. Divide and prepare your frosting accordingly.

This frosting can be refrigerated for up to about 2 weeks in an airtight container.

NOTE: if you wish to have a dark colored frosting like brown or black, it is easier to get the right color by using chocolate frosting. To make the decorator frosting chocolate simply add about 3 ounces of melted unsweetened chocolate (solid or chips). You may need to add more milk.

Decorating Tips
There are many fancy looking designs that are very simple for a steady hand to create. Any of a few basic decorating tips connected to your pastry bag can create a multitude of designs. The pressure you apply to the bag, how quickly/slowly you move your hand, and the angle at which you hold the bag all affect your results. Experiment on some spare parchment paper. There are many books and online sources with instructions as to how to create various designs.

The most important thing to remember is to not stress yourself out over this. It is a gift of love and should bring you joy as you create it - not frustration. Keep it simple, and have fun.

Remember the cook gets to eat all the 'mistakes', too!