Handwritten letters and notes are the best, right? I love technology, the Internet, and social media like crazy, but I am also a huge believer in hand-writing thank-you notes, letters, etc. There’s just something more personal about receiving a hand-written note — knowing that an envelope, a stamp, and the ritual of mailing it were involved. Snail mail and hand-written notes also allow me to justify my shopping trips to Paper Source!
If you haven’t mailed someone a hand-written note in a while, do it this Valentine’s Day season! I made these little love letter cookies to celebrate the season — and they were so easy to do! A simple shape, only one color of icing, and minimal decorating required. Enjoy!
If you are a new to decorating with royal icing, here are some helpful tips and links:
- I used my grandma’s sugar cookie recipe, which is listed below. Another good cut-out cookie recipe can be found at Bridget’s wonderful Bake at 350.
- I used a royal icing recipe from Annie’s Eats, which is listed below.
- If you are new to decorating with royal icing, please visit this post by Annie’s Eats, which will teach you about outlining and flooding. Bake at 350 is also a great resource for cookie decorating and ideas (I love Bridget’s book, too!).
Here are the specifics on how I made these cookies:
- I used a scalloped-edge rectangle cookie cutter. I can’t remember where I purchased mine — sorry!
- You won’t need any food coloring for these! All you need is a batch or two of white icing (see the recipe below)
- The first step is to outline the rectangles with white icing, allow the outlines to set, and then flood with white icing. The second step is to pipe the detailing to make them look like envelopes – I used a slightly larger round tip for this step. The third (and final) step is to place a small red heart onto each cookie.
- The red hearts are a Wilton product — and I found mine at Hobby Lobby. The hearts are red, pink, and white — feel free to use any color, not just the red!
Omi’s Sugar Cookies
Print Recipe
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Beat butter and sugar. Add egg, sour cream, and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients gradually. Chill the batter overnight or for at least 4 hours. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 350F until golden (in true fashion, my grandma didn’t give a specific baking time. I baked the cookies for about 8 minutes). The yield will depend on how large your cookie cutter is. I got a couple dozen cookies out of this recipe.
White Royal Icing
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 Tablespoons meringue powder
5 Tablespoons water
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the sheen has disappeared and the icing has a matte appearance (about 7-10 minutes). Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl to an air-tight container. This will be the stiffest consistency of the icing, and at this point it is still too stiff to use for decorating. Add water a very small amount at a time and stir by hand until fully incorporated. Continue until the icing has reached a consistency appropriate for piping.
* Note: you may need more than one batch of icing, depending on how many cookies you make or how big your cookies are.
