Heart Shaped Cookies Topped with Red Fondant



Cookies decorated with a fondant icing can look elegant and stylish. The bonus is that they can also be particularly easy to make too. These heart-shaped cookies topped with red fondant are very simple designs to create. They use a type of icing which comes ready-made in a packet for you to roll out.

Wow friends and family by making some of these gorgeous red fondant heart shaped cookies. They are a perfect expression of your love and your thanks at any special time of year. Perfect to bake up for weddings, engagements, anniversaries, February 14th and sentimental moments.

Fondant icing is like an edible form of Play-Doh and just as easy and fun to work with as well. You can choose red, pink or even purple colors which would look great for Valentine's Day or another romantic occasion.

Note: This post contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. 

How to Make Red Fondant Heart Shaped Cookies Tutorial


How to Make Red Fondant Heart Shaped Cookies Tutorial Valentine's Day Bake Make Instructions Sweet Treat


Makes up to 40 Small Fondant Heart Cookies

  • 113 grams / 0.5 cup unsalted butter
  • 113 grams / 0.5 cup caster or superfine sugar
  • 1 whole beaten egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 225 grams / 1.8 cup plain or all purpose flour
  • Apricot preserve, a small amount for adding fondant

The sugar cookie recipe is my own which I've adapted over the years to suit my own preferences. You may have your own favorite recipe to use instead.

1: Making the Cookie Dough


mixing butter sugar egg with mixer whisks

Image Credit: photo belongs to the author.

Measure out all of your sugar and the softened butter before adding these ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Planning ahead and leaving the butter out from the refrigerator for a while will help to soften it up.


Since I usually make cookies in just a bit of a hurry, I will often soften my butter up in the microwave. I like to put it in for a short, 10 second blast before I check and repeat until the butter is just soft to touch.

You need to completely combine the butter and the sugar with a mixing spoon by hand or an electric mixer placed on a slow setting. I admit that I prefer to take the easy option and use my mixer. When the butter and sugar are completely combined, add the beaten egg and the vanilla to the bowl as well. Mix everything in well again.

Next measure and then sift the flour into your mixing bowl. Combine the weighed flour with all the other ingredients except the apricot preserve. The preserve is to stick the fondant icing to the top of your sugar cookies. You can combine the flour in with a spoon or an electric mixer. Just be aware that using an electric mixer will make it look rather crumbly which is quite normal.

Eventually you really have to get your hands in to the mix and then push and squeeze the mixture together to form a dough. Work the dough into a round, firm ball before covering it in plastic food wrap. Then pop the dough into your refrigerator for about 30 mins. This will then make it easier to roll out and cut.

2: Cutting Out the Hearts


cookie dough heart shaped cutters stainless steel rolling pin

Image Credit: photo belongs to the author.

After chilling the dough, it will be ready to roll out. Take about half of it and then roll it out to the thickness that you want for your sugar cookies. I make mine about 5 mm thick. Use a heart-shaped cutter to press out all your hearts. Repeat this process for the remaining half of the dough.


Place your heart shapes on some lightly floured baking trays, with a small gap between each one. Bake the hearts on Gas 4 (350 °F / 177 °C) for about 10 - 12 minutes until they are a nice golden brown color. Allow these to cool on some wire racks before moving on to adding your fondant icing.

3: Add Ready to Roll Fondant Icing


apricot preserve ready to roll fondant icing heart cookie

Image Credit: photo belongs to the author.

I use a pre-colored (you can get uncolored) and ready to roll fondant icing. I find it very easy to use. You just warm up the packet of icing between your hands then remove it.

Put it out onto a surface which is lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar (or icing sugar as it is known in the UK) and then roll it out to a thickness that you like whether that is thin or thick.

Cut out your hearts out using the same cutter as you used before. Then warm up just a little apricot preserve in a small bowl, try it in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

Spread just a tiny amount of the warmed apricot on the top of a cooled cookie. You need just enough to make a very thin layer. Place your fondant heart over the top and gently press down in place.

A Demonstration of Decorating Cookies with Fondant


4: Decorating the Fondant Icing


You could now leave your colored heart cookies just as they are. However I prefer to decorate mine a bit more. Some people like to use sugar crafting tools to decorate fondant. I just use whatever I have to hand such as a little toothpick to make my own patterns on the icing.

A very simple decorative element is to take a smaller heart cutter and then press it just hard enough to leave an impression in the soft fondant that is on top of your cookie.

That's exactly what I've done which you can see in the photo below. I also used a tiny cake candle holder which makes a floral shape impression. Have fun experimenting.

Fondant Makes Colorful and Sweet Tasting Cookies


Valentine's Day baking heart cookies recipe

Image Credit: photo belongs to the author.

These are my finished fondant heart cookies. I used a toothpick around the edges to make a dotty border which finishes off and completes my traditional looking heart design. The fondant is pretty firm and not as sticky as other types of icing. You can pop your completed cookies into an airtight container until you want to eat them - which could be right away.

Pretty cookie gifts can make a special surprise. They don't need to be for Valentine's Day though. You could bake some sweet heart treats, any time of the year. Because these designs are firm and smooth on top and not sticky, you can also package them in clear cellophane wrap and tie the top with ribbon ready for gifting.

Related Content You Should Also Love:


Page Last Updated:

Comments

Articles are accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.