Valentine's Day Cookies

love you, mean it, say it back.

As critical as I *may* come off, I actually FREAKING LOVE Valentine’s Day.

I know the arguments against this holiday. It was created by Hallmark. It’s a capitalistic construct meant to encourage consumers to buy during a slow time after Christmas. If someone loves you they should show it *all days* of the year, not just this one.

Blah, blah, blah.

But here’s my argument for it. Is there anything worth celebrating more than love?

I know that’s corny as hell, so I’ll excuse you now to gag a bit. But come back and hear me out!

Look back at these past two crazy/miserable/depressing/weird years. What were the beautiful moments that you savored? Were they dancing with your friends? Hugging your parents? Having Thanksgiving with your family? Throwing a birthday party? Looking into your boo’s eyes and holding their hands?

I’m sure they were all centered around these moments of love. At least they were for me.

And here’s where I encourage straying from “traditional” Valentine’s Day love. I don’t just mean love for your romantic partner — I mean love for your family, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors, your bodega guy. Love really is what keeps us going, especially when times are hard. Ya know?

I believe each and every one of us is full of this kind of love, and while yes, we should be expressing that every day, it’s kind of beautiful to have one day as a reminder to really share that sentiment with the ones we love. Life happens so fast and I think we take love for granted sometimes.

Which brings me to these cookies.

Did y’all have those Valentine’s Days in elementary school where you had to make a Valentine’s Mailbox out of a shoebox to collect all your Valentine’s cards? I remember the night before, my dad would help me design and decorate an over-the-top shoebox mailbox. I would stay up late writing out all of my cute lil’ Valentine’s cards. I was so excited to not only give my Valentine’s, but also receive them from all my classmates. And at my school, it was *mandatory* that you gave these cards to everyone - was this the beginning of the “sensitive millennial?” but it still felt so good to both give and get those cards.

And yes, it was great to get the candy too! There’s something about eating something sweet while you read something sweet that is just the *chefs kiss*. I especially loved those candy hearts with the cute phrases, even though they tasted like shit.

they really did taste awful

Which is why I LOVE these cookies, because they can say all those cute things AND they actually taste AMAZING! We’ve been making them at Baked&Wired for years, and it’s my absolute favorite. People line up for these, file through all of the options to find the ones that really speak to them, and just are so psyched to give them out to their loved ones. It rocks.

And see, I don’t believe that the “rules” of Valentine’s Day are that you need to find yourself a date, go to a fancy restaurant for that prefixe menu, eat the chocolate covered strawberries, put on the lingerie, etc. etc. I mean those things are niiiiice and all, but not what makes this day special.

So what if you did something special?

Make these cookies, write some cute (or naughty) phrases, and pass them out to all the people that you love?

I’m going to give the DADDY to my man.

The WAP to my friends.

The XOXO to my bodega guy.

The TWERK for myself.

Because “gift-giving” doesn’t have to be your love language to know it just feels sooooo good to give someone a thoughtful treat and see how they light up.

I dare ya to not love Valentine’s Day after you make these :)

xox

Valentine’s Day Cookies

Makes about 18, 5” Hearts.

Ingredients

The cookies:

4 cups flour
½ tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cardamom
2 sticks, softened but still firm, unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla

Buttercream frosting:

1 pound powdered sugar

Pinch of salt

3/4 stick of butter, softened

1/2 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 cup evaporated milk (may need to add milk for better consistency)

(Beat everything together until fluffy on high speed). Separate about 1/4 of the frosting and add the desired food dye - this will be the frosting you use to write with. Put this frosting in a Ziploc bag with a very small bit of the end cut off. Who needs a fancy piping bag!?

Let’s do it!

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla until fluffy

4. Form your dough into a pancake shape, cover in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for about 30 mins (and up to 24hrs)

5. Roll out! Roll your dough on a floured surface until about 1/2” thick (although this part is subjective. If you like crispy buttery cookies, roll them out thinner!)

6. Here’s the fun part - use your heart stencil to cut out your hearts.

7. Place the hearts on a parchment-sheet lined baking tray.

8. Bake at 375F for 10-12 mins (rotate the pans halfway through to ensure an even bake).

9. Let cool completely.

10. And here’s the XTRA fun part! Decorate! Spread the frosting evenly on the cookies. Then take your colored frosting in the Ziploc bag to write your messages and go to town!

    

    

    

    Happy Valentine’s Day.

    Love ya, mean it, say it back.

    xox

    Tessa

    p.s. did you know that for each Sobremesa recipe, I make a cooking video?! Follow me on Tiktok + Instagram for these recipes + bonus material!