Valentine’s Day sugar cookies dipped in chocolate are easy and elegant

These chocolate dipped cookies can be cut into any shape, but we find them especially elegant as heart shaped Valentine’s Day sugar cookies.

This post contains affiliate links which means we get a small commission if you purchase ANYTHING through one of the links. Thanks for supporting our family business!

How to decorate sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day

There are endless possibilities for decorating Valentine’s Day sugar cookies. My sister is a cookie decorating savant and will spend days using specialized tools and things like gold foil to make the most stunning sugar cookies.

I on the other hand do not have the patience or the time for intricate cookie art. I want cute heart shaped Valentine sugar cookies, but I need a way to make decorating them extremely simple.

This is where the elegance and simplicity of chocolate dipped cookies comes in.

Chocolate dipped cookies

The most complicated part of making heart shaped chocolate dipped cookies for Valentine’s Day is the actual baking of the cookies.

The recipe below includes my absolute favorite soft sugar cookie recipe. But if you’re short on time to make your Valentine’s Day sugar cookies, you can always by premade sugar cookie dough from the refrigerated section of the grocery store.

Once your cookies are baked and cooled, you simply dip the sides of each heart cookie into melted dark chocolate (or semi sweet depending on your preference).

Then you can drizzle melted white chocolate over the tops of the cookies for really elegant tuxedo cookies. These can be called tuxedo cookies because they have regular and white chocolate to give that black and white look . In fact with a little black bowtie candy they would look like little tuxedos!

Valentine cookie cutters

There are a lot of fun Valentine’s Day cookie cutter sets out there. But I prefer to keep things simple with basic heart shapes.

My favorite Valentine cookie cutters are these nesting heart cookie cutters. Because they’re made from plastic, they are super affordable and my kids don’t bend them out of shape.

The various sizes allow you to make a bigger batch of small cookies, or a smaller batch of big cookies. They also give you the option of fun cutouts like stained glass cookies.

The other nesting heart Valentine cookie cutters I like are actually heart shaped fondant cutters. These are fun because one side of each cookie cutter gives the typical smooth edge, while the other side is more scalloped. It’s like getting double the cutters!

How to make Valentine’s Day sugar cookies

I’ll walk you through making these Valentine’s Day sugar cookies, including the chocolate dipping process, and variations. If you just want the basic printable recipe, feel free to scroll to the bottom of the post for the recipe card.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, (or 282g). If using measuring cups, make sure to spoon the flour into the cup, then level it off with the handle of the spoon.
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, I like using Himalayan pink salt for my cookies
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, (or 170g) room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, (or 150g)
• 1 large egg, at room temperature. A cold egg will work, but a room temperature egg makes for an easier dough to roll.
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract, Almond extract adds a wonderful flavor to otherwise plain cookies, but you can use an additional teaspoon of vanilla extract if you don’t have almond)
• 1 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips I like dark chocolate the best, but either option is good.
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips You can also use vanilla candy melts if you don’t have white chocolate available

Valentine’s day sugar cookies Supply list

• Stand Mixer with paddle attachment or a hand mixer and large mixing bowl
• Medium mixing bowl
• Whisk or a fork
• Scraping spatula
• Parchment paper
• Rolling pin
• Heart cookie cutters
• Baking sheets
• Cookie spatula
• Wire cooling rack
• Microwave safe bowls or double boiler
• Piping bags or resealable plastic bags

Making the sugar cookie dough

1. Place flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk until well mixed then set aside.
2. Add softened butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer. Use a hand mixer or a paddle attachment on the stand mixer to beat the butter and sugar together on high speed for 3-4 minutes. You want it incredibly creamy and smooth.
3. Add the egg and extracts then beat again on high speed for a minute or two, until everything is well combined.
4. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, and scrape up the bottom of the bowl. Then add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on low until combined.
5. You dough will be pretty soft, but you can mix in 1-2 additional tablespoons of flour as needed for rolling it out.

Do you cut sugar cookies before or after baking?

It’s important to cut your sugar cookies into shapes before baking so you get nice clean rounded edges. This also gives your cookies the best texture for decorating and for eating!

Here is how to roll, chill, and cut your sugar cookies for the best results.

1. Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper and place half the dough into the center. Rub some flour on a rolling pin, then roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Use additional flour on the rolling pin or parchment if the dough is too sticky.
2. Repeat with the second half of the dough, so you have two sheets of dough. Lightly dust the top of one piece with flour, then place a piece of parchment paper on top.
3. Stack the other parchment sheet of dough on top, dust lightly with flour, and then use one more sheet of parchment paper to top it off.
4. Place the sheets of dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour. You can also leave them up to 48 hours if you wrap in plastic.

How to bake Valentine sugar cookies

1. When your dough is chilled and you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (or 177 degrees C).
2. Line a couple cookie sheets with parchment paper. Carefully remove one sheet of dough from the fridge.
3. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out your cookies. Arrange on lined baking sheet 3 inches apart. Reroll the remaining dough scraps and continue cutting until you’ve used it all.
4. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes until golden around the edges (I like to check halfway through because sometimes the back cookies cook faster, in which case I will turn the tray around at the halfway mark).
5. Allow cookies to sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before using a firm spatula to transfer to a wire cooking rack.
6. Repeat with second sheet of dough. You can also do both sheets at the same time if your baking sheets and oven are big enough.

How to decorate chocolate dipped Valentine cookies

1. Once the cookies are completely cooled, you can start the chocolate dipping.
2. Place the semi sweet or dark chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir.
3. Microwave an additional 30 seconds and stir well until melted. You can also do an addition 15 seconds in the microwave if necessary, but first make sure it won’t melt any more from stirring.
4. Dip both sides of each cookie into the melted chocolate. It should make a V shape from the point of the heart to the center of each rounded top.
5. Place the cookies on a sheet of parchment paper after dipping them.
6. Repeat the melting process with the white chocolate chips, then spoon the melted white chocolate into a resealable plastic bag.
7. Snip the corner off the plastic bag and pipe a squiggle from top to bottom. Make it wide at the top of the heart and narrow at the bottom.

How to store sugar cookies

The biggest enemy of sugar cookies is the open air. To store them and keep them fresh, place them in an airtight container separated by layers of parchment paper. Try to keep the cookies from touching as well.

The parchment paper not only protects the cookies from sticking to each other, but also prevents the lower layers from getting exposed to air every time you open the container.

You can keep cookies in the cupboard like this for up to two weeks, but I find they taste the best within one week.

Can you freeze sugar cookies?

It is also possible to freeze your sugar cookies before or after decorating them with chocolate. Freeze the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet for a couple hours. Then place them into a bag or container between layers of parchment paper to prevent sticking.

You can keep your Valentine’s Day sugar cookies in the freezer this way for up to six months.

More Valentine’s Day sugar cookie ideas

Our whole wheat Valentine’s Day sandwich cookies are made with whole ingredients for a healthier Valentine’s Day sugar cookie. These Keto sugar cookies from Keto Focus only have 2.7g of net carbs, and Cooking on Caffeine has a wonderful vegan sugar cookie recipe.

The Valentine thumbprint cookies on One Hot Oven are pretty quick to make without any rolling or chilling required. And I love the flavor of Little House Big Alaska’s red velvet sugar cookies (which would also be gorgeous with our chocolate dipping technique).

Oh, and if you love red velvet, here’s how to make Valentine’s Day sandwich cookies from a box of red velvet cake mix!

Pin to save for later

Don’t lose this recipe! Save the image below to Pinterest so you can find it when you need it. Then leave a photo in the comments of the pin once you’ve made it. We love seeing your creations!