Conversation Hearts are the Valentine’s Day candy that people either love or hate, but these conversation heart cookies will change that. Perfect for themed parties, sharing with friends, or family treats to share your love with a special message.
Things to note before starting:
To get a pastel color you will have to dye the icing the base color, then add white to lighten it up.
Gel Vs Liquid Food Coloring:
Water based or liquid food coloring will change the consistency of your icing when working with them. As an industry standard when working on decorated cookies, gel or powder colors are the preferred.
Royal Icing Guidelines:
Royal icing dries hard when uncovered. During the non-mixing moments and coloring you should keep a wet paper towel over the royal icing until it is inside of the piping bag.
Royal Icing should not be too stiff, nor too loose. Make sure you follow the directions on the royal icing mix and do an icing consistency test:
To test your royal icing:
Slide the spoon down the center of the bowl, touching the bottom. Count how long it takes the line to disappear from the icing. You want it to take 13-15 seconds. If the icing closes immediately your icing is too loose and will run off the cookie.
If the icing is too loose, add more of the stiff royal icing or add SIFTED powdered sugar to thicken it up. The powdered or icing sugar must be sifted to minimize the risk of clumps in the icing coming out of the piping bags.
How to easily and quickly fill your piping bags:
Using a tall cup, place the piping bag inside of the cup, making sure you flatten the tip of the bag downward on the cup.
Scoop or pour the icing into the bag making sure not to get icing on the overhang of the piping bag on the outside of the cup.
Lift the side of the cup straight up, press out any air and tie the bags in a knot, with bag ties or seal them with a rubber band or something similar, to keep the icing from coming out the incorrect end of the bag.
Conversation Heart Cookies
Equipment
- Scissors
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 1 Cup of unsalted sweet cream butter softened
- 1 1/2 Cup Powder sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 3 Cup of flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- Royal Icing
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Using a standing mixer, cream together the butter, powder sugar, vanilla and egg and mix until combined and creamy.
- Using a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
- Gradually add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed.
- Using your hands continue to mix until fully combined.
- Lightly flour a cutting board and knead the cookie dough a couple of times.
- Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick.
- Cut out 12 cauldrons and place onto a cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- Let cookies cool completely.
Decorating the Cookies
- Color royal icing as many colors as you would like, we chose pink, orange, green, blue, and yellow. Remember to lighten up the color to a pastel, you will need to add white gel food coloring.
- Fill each of the piping bags with their respective colors and seal off the open end.
- Cut the tip slightly and test how the icing flows out of the bag. Remember to cut a small hole in the tip first, then gradually make it larger. If you cut too much off at once, you will have to create a new bag. Once you have a flow of icing that does not hurt your hands and is easily managed, outline the cookie with icing.
- With a little more pressure add icing to the center of the cookie. Use a toothpick or skewer to move the icing around on the cookie.
- Tip: You want the icing to be puffy and not flat on the cookie.
- Place newly flooded cookies on a baking sheet to dry.
- Tip: Place the cookies in front of a fan to speed up the drying process.
- Tip: If you own a dehydrator, place it on the lowest temperature setting and place the cookies inside the dehydrator for 30 mins, then in front of a fan for an additional 2-3 hours.
- Icing will be hard to the touch when cookies are ready for the next step. The drying time can take anywhere from 2-6 hours, depending on your weather. If you live in a moisture-rich area, allow for a longer drying time. If it is raining, allow for an extended drying period.
- After the icing has dried: Use the Pink Wilton Food Writers to write your love notes onto the cookies. The pink is the closest to mimicking the actual Conversation Heart cookies, but any color writer will work. Edible food markers will dry out faster than a regular marker so please keep the tops on when not in use.