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The beauty of these Shortbread Valentine Cookies is not skin deep! They not only look really pretty, but they are also sweet, buttery and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! Check out the easy tutorial below!
Have you ever had a beautiful cookie from a fine bake shop that tastes like cardboard? I have and it's a major disappointment, especially when each cookie costs a ridiculous price. Not with these Shortbread Valentine Cookies! They're pretty to look at and each little (or big) bite is super delicious. On top of all that, the Dip, Drip and Flip icing technique is an easy and fun activity for adults and kids alike.
What is the Dip, Drip and Flip technique?
If you've been hanging around The Café for a while, you're probably already familiar with this Dip, Drip and Flip decorating technique. I've used it over and over for different holiday cookies, each time with a little different twist.
You might remember these Red, White and Blue Glazed Shortbread Cookies, these Easy Decorated Christmas Shortbread Cookies, or perhaps these Snowy Night in the Mountains Shortbread Cookies. I've also done them in honor of Spring, Thanksgiving and several other Valentine versions.
I've never been a great cookie decorator, but I feel like I can really fool people using this simple technique. Lots of Café readers feel the same way as I've gotten tons of comments and emails from fellow Dip, Drip and Flip lovers.
How does the Dip, Drip and Flip decorating technique work?
How does it work? Since "A picture is worth a thousand words.", I thought I'd include some pictures in addition to explaining the easy cookie decorating technique. Ready? Here we go!
The first step is to mix up a two-ingredient icing. Simply combine powdered sugar and half and half or cream. You can add a flavor extract like vanilla, almond, lemon, peppermint, maple, or any flavor you can dream up. Keep in mind that the cookies are also delicious without any additions. For these Shortbread Valentine Cookies, I added just a touch of turquoise gel food color. Again. you can use any color you prefer. Making it personal is part of the fun of this technique!
Secondly, set up a little work area. I've found that having a wet and dry cloth (for wiping your fingers in between cookies), a small amount of extra cream, some toothpicks, a spoon, a small plate, and your baked cookies nearby make the workflow go smoothly. For these Shortbread Valentine Cookies, I also include a little bowl of sprinkles.
The technique itself is simple and the name, Dip, Drip and Flip explains it perfectly! Take a cookie, dip it in the icing, let the excess drip back in the bowl, then flip it over and you're ready to add a little splash of pretty sprinkles. By the way. if you like a little thicker layer of frosting on your cookies, do the dip part twice (it also deepens the color that you're using, especially when dealing with pastels). Check it out:
A word about the Dip, Drip and Flip icing itself. You want a thick but pourable icing. You can add a little extra powdered sugar or half and half to achieve this consistency.
Want to see the whole thing in action? Here's a short little video demonstrating this easy technique:
How to roll cookies with an even thickness?
I'm letting you in on a lot of my secrets today. Rolling evenly consistent cookies has never been my forte. UNTIL I discovered this wonderful adjustable rolling pin. It takes all the guesswork and expertise out of the equation. You simply add the disc that's the correct size for the thickness of your cookies and that's it. Just roll away then cutout perfect cookies!
The rolling pin comes with four removable discs (1/16, ⅙, ¼, and ⅜-inch) so you can roll just about any thickness you desire.
A gift everyone loves!
Are you ready to get all Valentine-y? You probably have everything you need to make these Dip, Drip and Flip Shortbread Valentine Cookies. And they make the BEST gifts for friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, etc. To make your gifts especially festive and pretty, we're sharing a free printable PDF for the labels pictured below.
Just leave us a little note in the comment section below this post. We'll email you the labels and the info you need to print them up yourself. We'll also share links for some fun packaging ideas.
You could even make a little party out of it. Bake these Shortbread Valentine Cookies ahead then provide plain white icing, an assortment of food coloring and some pretty sprinkles. Let everyone make their own little artworks! Just a little heads-up - once they taste the tender, buttery cookies, you probably won't have many left for yourself!
Café Tips for making these Shortbread Valentine Cookies
- Bake the cookies until just slightly golden around the edges.
- Rub your fingers around the edge of the un-iced cookie to remove any crumbs or uneven places before dipping, dripping and flipping.
- Wipe any icing off of your fingers with a wet cloth then dry with a dry cloth before adding sprinkles.
- Rinse out your wet cloth whenever it gets too sticky.
- Keep a small amount of half and half nearby. If the icing seems to thicken, add just a few more drops and stir well.
- After flipping the cookie over, be sure to wave the cookie back and forth with the icing facing up for a few seconds to evening distribute the icing.
- You won't use all of the icing, but you need enough to be able to dip the cookies. Discard the remaining icing or use to ice some other cookies or cake.
- Here is a little troubleshooting guide for making these Shortbread Valentine Cookies:
- If the dough seems too sticky when you're rolling it out, add some extra flour to your work surface and knead the dough a few times to incorporate a bit more flour. Each brand of butter has a little different water content so sometimes you might need that little extra flour.
- If the cookie shows through the icing and you'd like it to be more opaque add a little extra powdered sugar to the icing and stir well. You can also dip the cookie, let it drip for a few seconds then dip it again for a little thicker coating. I call this double-dipping.
- The top of the icing may form a little skin after awhile. You can avoid this by simply stirring the icing in between every couple of cookies.
- If you dip your cookie in the icing and it comes out with just frosting on the edges, your icing is probably too thick. Simply add a few drops of half and half and stir well.
- If the icing is dripping over the edges after you flip the cookie, either your icing is too thin or you’re flipping too soon. Add a little powdered sugar to the icing in your bowl then stir well. Give the icing a few more seconds to drip before flipping.
- If you need to take a break during the decorating process, just cover icing with plastic wrap. When ready to start again, add a few drops of half and half and stir well.
- If any crumbs end up in the icing, use a toothpick to pull them out before icing the next cookie.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear other’s results and ideas for variations.
Dip, Drip and Flip Shortbread Valentine Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 8 ounces very soft salted butter, (two sticks)
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
For the icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons half and half
- ¼-½ teaspoon vanilla or other flavored extract
- gel or liquid food color
- multi-colored nonpareils, (little round sprinkles)
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place soft butter in a medium-size mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula until nice and smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix together by hand for about 30 seconds until well blended.
- Add the flour and cornstarch. Stir until dry ingredients are mostly incorporated. The dough will be a little shaggy.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and gather into a ball. Knead 5-6 times until fairly smooth and all the small pieces are worked in. If the dough seems sticky, knead it again with a little more flour. Form into a ball again and flatten with your hand to form a flat disk.
- Turn the disk to coat both sides with flour. Roll out the dough to an approximate ¼-inch thickness (see Café Tips above in the post). Keep work surface, dough and rolling pin lightly dusted with flour.
- With a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies and transfer to them to the prepared pans with a thin, metal spatula. Re-roll scraps as many times as needed to use up the dough.
- Place cutouts in the refrigerator, uncovered, for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350˚F. Bake for 10-14 minutes, or until just beginning to turn golden at the edges. Repeat with the second pan of cutouts. Cool on a wire rack before icing.
For the icing:
- Combine powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons half and half and flavored extract in a medium-size bowl. Mix until smooth. The glaze should be fairly thick, but pourable. Add a little more half and half if too thick. Add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin. (See picture above in the post.) Taste the glaze and add more extract, if a more intense flavor is desired.
- Transfer the glaze to a small shallow bowl (a little larger than your cookies). Add a drop of food color and stir well to combine. Add more food color if needed to achieve the desired color.
- Hold onto the edges of a cookie and dip the top surface into the glaze, being sure all of the surface touches the glaze. Pull cookie straight up out of the glaze and allow excess glaze to drip into the bowl for about 15-20 seconds. (You can gently shake the cookie back and forth and up and down to get it to drip a little faster.)
- Then quickly flip the cookie to the right side up and give it a gentle jiggle to allow the glaze to flow evenly over the surface. Sprinkle cookies on one side with colored nonpareils.
- Repeat with remaining cookies. Place cookies on a cooling rack and allow the glaze to dry for 20-30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
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Jane says
Scrumptious short biscuits. The dip and flip technique is ingenious - so much less finicky than flooding and easier on the hands than a piping bag. Made some to send to my daughter who is away at school. And the best part? A cookie recipe where I don’t have to bring out my mixer!! Thanks Chris.
Chris Scheuer says
I'm so glad! Thanks for sharing, Jane!
Bernice P says
Hi Chris, Now that I have made this cookie several times in the last couple of weeks, I just wanted to circle back to give the 5 star rathesing.
These are definitely a keeper.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Bernice!
Abi Niswonger-Clampitt says
Hi! These are delicious! How do you make them stick together? Mine just crumbled everytime! But they were still delicious just not beautiful! Any tips? Thanks
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Abi, I've never had that happen. Are they crumbling before or after you bake them?
Kathleen says
Hi Chris I am confused about butter in recipe. I used the 2 sticks of butter and had a lot of trouble rolling out dough and cookies falling apart after baking. When I checked the recipe for the Christmas tree cookies it says 8 oz butter which is one stick and they were great. Exactly the same as the Valentine cookies except amount of butter.
Am I missing something?
Thank you.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Katherine, I"m sorry you had trouble with this recipe. I hate wasting good ingredients.
Regarding your question, 2 sticks of butter is correct. There are 4 sticks in a pound so 8 ounces is 2 sticks. Sometimes different brands of butter (especially European butter) has more moisture content so you need more flour.
Kathleen says
Thank you for answering my comment Chris. I think I have figured the butter thing out. You have 4 half sticks of butter a lb. and I buy 2 sticks a lb. . That solves that!
Thank you!
Bernice P says
Hi Chris, I made these today. But to frost I used the swirl that I saw in some of your other cookie recipes. They are absolutely delicious. My swirls on the cookies are not as clean as yours and look more marbled than yours so not sure what I did wrong but I think they still look pretty. I used red and pink gel coloring. I did have a hard time getting the glaze to a pourable consistency and needed to add quite a bit of heavy cream... not sure why. I did sift the confectioner sugar first because I always end up with small lumps when using it so not sure if that is why I needed to add more cream. I will definitely be making these cookies again and maybe with more practice I will get that nice swirl that you show on your cookies. Thank you for your wonderful recipe.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for your comment, Bernice. This post might be helpful for you -https://thecafesucrefarine.com/christmas-tree-shortbread-cookies/ and also, yes just keep practicing! Glad you enjoyed them!
Bernice P says
Sorry for another question. The recipe says softened butter. Is that to room temperature or softer? Thanks
Chris Scheuer says
No problem! It shouldn't be melted but very soft so that you can mix it easily without a mixer. If you're house is chilly then you will want the butter warmer than room temp.
Bernice P says
Thank you
Bernice P says
Thank you Chris. Do you think I can roll the dough w/o chilling and do the cut outs and than chill? Also I love that rolling pin as well. I found it a few years ago on Amazon and I love it. So easy now to get the correct size.
Chris Scheuer says
HI Bernice, yes I usually roll the dough, cut it out and then chill before baking. That rolling pin is wonderful!
Helen Morris says
I baked the shortbread cookie from your recipe and it was fabulous! I was doing sugar cookies with royal icing before and was wondering if I could use royal icing on these cookies - will they hold up well and stay fresh and delicious ?
I use meringue powder/ water/vanilla and confectioners sugar in my royal icing recipe .
Thanks in anticipation
Helen Morris
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Helen, I'm sure that royal icing would work fine on these cookies although it doesn't taste as good as the icing that is with this recipe. This icing does dry nicely and the cookies stay fresh for several weeks in an airtight container.
Helen Morris says
Thank you so much for your prompt response !
Helen Morris
Alja says
Wow I’m so excited to read all these great comments and try them! I made some shortbread cookies yesterday with my daughter and it was so much work with the royal icing and a lot of work dealing with all the icing bags! These look super clean and simple ❤️ Thank you so much for the amazing g technique! Blessings and Merry Christmas
Chris Scheuer says
You're welcome, Alja! Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Barb says
Will these stay good unrefrigerated for a few days? I was hoping to mail them but I'm not sure how the half and half in the icing will fare?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Barb, yes they are fine to mail. The half and half is stablelized by the sugar and the icing will dry out so there's not need to refrigerate these cookies.
Amy Payne says
I have never left a comment on any of the hundreds of recipes I’ve tried on Pinterest. I picked this recipe because of the pretty cookie as well as the positive comments. I was making these for a baby shower tomorrow but just threw out the dough after fighting with it for too long. It would never stay together - as the saying goes - the cookie crumbled every single time. I even tried freezing the rolled out dough thinking that would help the cookie stay together. I love baking but this was a sad fail for me. It felt like the recipe needed egg or milk to hold it together. Now I will head to the grocery store that I haven’t been inside of since early March and pick up something to feed the guests.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Amy, first of all, I'm so sorry you didn't have good results with these cookies. I hate wasting good ingredients and even worse, not having good results when I'm making something for a special event.
I'm wondering, however, if you might have made an error with the ingredients. Did you use two sticks of butter? This dough is not crumbly at all with two sticks of butter and only 1¾ cups of flour (plus the ¼ cup cornstarch). I actually made this recipe three times in the last week and it's anything but crumbly.
If you check my recipe archives I actually have at least 8 shortbread variations (for Christmas, Thanksgiving and lots of other holidays) made with this same recipe and there are hundreds of comments on the various recipes. I've never had anyone complain of the dough being crumbly. That's why I'm wondering if there may have been an error with one of the measurements.
Again, I'm sorry you had a problem with this recipe, especially with a baby shower tomorrow!
Amy Payne says
Well I can't believe I missed it...re-reading the recipe several times. I saw the 8 ounces of butter and my brain must've registered 8 tsp - so I only used 1 stick. SMH - I will have to try it again. Thanks for your suggestion.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for getting back to us, Amy. It's an easy mistake to make. Hope you try the recipe again! 💕
Shane Alletag says
Hello Chris.This is my first attempt with shortbread cutouts. I am attempting to use a bunny shaped cookie cutter. Can I still use the dip and flip technique with a large cut out? Such beautiful pastels!
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, that will definitely work. Just make sure your bowl is a little bigger than the cookie.
Michelle Gash says
Surprised my husband with these for Valentine's Day. They turned out very well. I double dipped several for an extra-thick coating of icing.
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks so much, Michelle for sharing your results!
Sandi J. says
Just made a couple batches of these for the first time - and they are just gorgeous!
One dipped in pink-raspberry favored icing the other in sky blue-vanilla flavored.
Custom mixed some Valentine jimmies/sprinkles in traditional red, white and pink and did a bright Spring color mix for the nonpareils.
Next time I think I’ll try almond flavoring in the cookies - and I’m
going to double it!
Easy and beautiful!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for sharing your result, Sandi. Your versions sound wonderful! I wish I could see them!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Sandi! They sound beautiful!
Tricia B says
Another gorgeous cookie Chris! The color is fantastic and those sprinkles are just adorable. You nailed it again. LOVE the tutorial too. Bravo!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Tricia! 💕
Leslie says
I was wondering about chilling the dough if I wanted to make a couple of days ahead of time?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Leslie, you can definitely make this dough in advance. Just wrap it in plastic wrap before chilling then bring the ball of dough to room temperature again before rolling. Enjoy!
Leslie Stevens says
Great thanks Chris!~
Laura says
I've never commented on your site before but feel I have to after making these cookies for my husband's birthday. They were absolutely amazing. I rolled my dough into a log, refrigerated for 1 hour and then sliced and baked. They were a huge hit! I've made numerous recipes from your site and every one is spot on. I would love to have your recipes in a cookbook. Do you have plans to publish a book? You would do very well. Thank you for all your hard work!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Laura! I'm so happy you enjoyed them, especially for something as special as a birthday!
Thank you for your kind words about our other recipes, too. I have had a few cookbook offers but I have declined for now as I have felt it would be more time than I could put in and still keep my priorities which are my faith, my family and my community which the blog is a part of.
Laramie says
I'm getting ready to try out this recipe right now! For those of us with UNsalted butter, how much salt should we add to the recipe to compensate?
Chris Scheuer says
Add 1/4 teaspoon for each stick of butter.
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
So pretty and such a fun baking idea for Valentine's. Great for gifts or just to make with the kids!
Victoria Love says
Forgot to leave the rating! 5 stars Plus!
Chris Scheuer says
💕💕
Victoria Love says
Hi, Chris,
Just finished making these for the 3rd or 4th time. They are delicious, as always! This is my absolute favorite cookie recipe. I used to make and frost sugar cookies for holidays, but your shortbread cookie is my go-to now!
Victoria
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Victoria! I'm so happy you've enjoyed these cookies as much as we have! 💕
Charlotte Moore says
Beautiful cookies! I am sure they taste wonderful as well.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Charlotte!
Nancy Carlson says
Hi Chris,
Do you know if I used regular milk or soy milk in the
icing if it would still work? Also, I agree with Wendy.
I love all of your ideas.
I bought the exact rolling pin one Christmas to use in
one of your cookie recipes. Now I don't know how I
ever did with out it.
Thank you.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for your very kind words, Nancy! I think it would work fine to use milk. The icing may be a little thinner but you can always double dip the cookies to make the glaze a little deeper.
Becky says
Can’t wait to try this. Do you have a link for the sprinkles? They’re so pretty!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Becky, I kind of mixed my own till I got what I liked.
I used this as the base: https://bakerspartyshop.com/collections/nonpareil-mixes/products/rainforest-nonpareils-mix-pink-teal
and then added a little extra pink and some white nonpareils.
I really like this company as they get the stuff out really quickly.
Also, here's a coupon code for 50% off: https://www.wethrift.com/bakers-party-shop
Wendy says
So pretty, Chris! Your simple designs are always show stopping! Thank you so much for recommending the Joseph Joseph rolling pin. Ever since I read about it on The Cafe it is the only rolling pin I use for cut out cookies. I have even bought one for each of my kids. 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Wendy! I love that rolling pin. I would be a mess of a shortbread maker without it 🙂