Valentine’s Shortbread Cookies

These heart shaped cookies are a Valentine’s hit. Easily decorated or enjoyed plain, these cut out cookies turn out great every time.

Valentine’s Day shortbread cookies are fun to make and decorate this time of year and they’re always popular with friends and family.

Are you tired of January’s salads and healthy desserts yet? I’m all about the Valentine’s day treats lately and I’m having a great time sharing them with you! 

My mom has been making a version of these cookies based on this Taste of Home recipe since we were little kids.

These cookies are a little different from traditional shortbread because they include oatmeal, but I love the texture it gives these cookies.

Valentine’s Cookie Recipe

This is a very basic shortbread recipe with the addition of those quick-cooking oats.

Simply cream the butter and sugar together and stir in the remaining ingredients. The recipe includes both vanilla and almond extract.

I love the additional flavor from the almond extract, but feel free to leave the almond out if it isn’t your thing.

Roll the cookies out on a well-floured surface. If the dough seems a bit sticky, chill it in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.

The stickiness of the dough depends a lot on the temperature of the butter, so chilling it will firm the dough up quite a bit.

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Heart-Shaped Cookies

To make these chocolate covered heart-shaped cookies, I simply place chocolate chips on the cookies right after they come out of the oven and wait for the chips to melt.

When the chips are soft, I spread the chocolate across the cookies around with a knife or offset spatula. Tada! Easy peasy chocolate frosting that doesn’t require another bowl. 

Piping cute words or sayings on the cookies is optional, but this time of year it’s fun to make the cookies extra special. I used this royal icing tutorial for these cookies. It’s not as scary as it seems, I promise. 

How To Freeze Cookies

These Valentine’s heart cookies store well tightly covered on the counter for several days.

If you want to make them farther in advance, they freeze well. Simply place the cookies in a tightly covered container and freeze for several weeks.

The cookies also freeze well unfrosted if you want to make the cookies ahead of time and then decorate them at a Valentine’s day party. 

Valentine’s Day Cookie Ideas

These Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies take just 3 ingredients and a few minutes to throw together, plus they look so cute. Find a pink plate to serve them on for extra Valentine’s flair.

Caramel Stuffed Double Chocolate Cookies are a chocolate lover’s dream. Share a dozen with you Valentine for a fun, homemade gift.

I also make heart-shaped cookies out of this Sour Cream Cut-out Cookie recipe and frost them with a variety of shades of pink frosting.

Let me know if you make these cookies for Valentine’s Day. If you have any traditional Valentine’s day cookies or desserts, I’d love to hear about them in the comments. 

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5 from 2 votes

Valentine’s Heart Shortbread Cookies

Mary Younkin

Valentine’s Day heart shaped shortbread cookies are fun to make this time of year and share with  friends and family. 

Prep Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Servings: 3 -4 dozen, depending on size

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 cups 4 sticks butter, softened
• ▢ 1 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ 2 cups quick cooking oats see note
• ▢ 4 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
• ▢ Royal Icing for piping on sayings if desired

Instructions 

• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract. Stir in the oats, flour and salt and mix until well combined.
• Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a well floured surface. If the dough seems a bit sticky, refrigerate it for 30-60 minutes or until it firms up. How soft the butter is plays a huge role in how sticky the dough is.
• Cut the cookies with a heart-shaped cookie cutter and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
• As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle 6-8 chocolate chips on top. Let them melt and then spread with and offset spatula or knife. Let cool completely on wire racks.
• Use royal icing to pipe conversation heart saying onto the cookies if desired. Store tightly covered. These cookies freeze well for several weeks.

Notes

The oats must be quick cooking. If you only have old fashioned rolled oats, you can pulse them a few times in the blender to chop them up and use, but using rolled oats are too big to easily make cutout cookies.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 cookie | Calories: 189 kcal | Carbohydrates: 20 g | Protein: 2 g | Fat: 12 g | Saturated Fat: 7 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4 g | Cholesterol: 24 mg | Sodium: 103 mg | Fiber: 1 g | Sugar: 7 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this? Leave a comment below!

{originally published 1/28/19 – recipe notes and photos updated 1/15/21}