These soft Pink Sugar Cookies are a fun twist on classic sugar cookies for Valentine's Day or spring holidays. Simply add food coloring to your dough and fill with pink, red, and white Valentine's m&ms. These are an easy and delicious Valentine's Day treat for any class party or dessert at home with the family.
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Turn your classic sugar cookie pink for Valentine's Day and pack it full of festive colored m&m's for a delicious classic dessert that can't be beat! You can never go wrong with a simple, festive sugar cookie for a holiday party or just to get in the holiday mood with your loved ones.
These Pink Sugar Cookies are your ultimate soft sugar cookie recipe for this Valentine's Day.
Everything's better when it's a fun color, especially for your kids' school parties. This is an incredibly easy recipe that is fun for your kids to make with you.
📋 Ingredients
You'll need classic baking ingredients to make Valentine's sugar cookies, plus a few extra items, like festive Valentine m&ms and red or pink food coloring.
- softened unsalted butter (if it is too hard, warm in the microwave for 20-30 seconds, but do not let it melt)
- all purpose flour
- eggs
- white sugar
- vanilla extract
- milk (whole is best)
- baking powder + baking soda
- salt
You'll also need an electric hand mixer or stand mixer.
Oops, I bought salted butter! Can I use that instead? Yes! If you're like me and accidentally brought home salted butter, shed no tears! Just don't add salt when you get to that step.
Do I really need baking soda and baking powder? Yes, you do! Read about why here.
🔪 Step-By-Step Directions
As with most cookie recipes, pink sugar cookies are pretty simple to make. This recipes has 7 simple steps:
- Cream the butter and sugar.
- Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated.
- Add the flour ½ cup at a time, along with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until the flour is fully incorporated.
- Add the milk and mix until the dough is smooth.
- Starting with 1-2 drops of red dye or 3-4 drops of pink, add the food coloring and continue mixing and adding dye until the color you want is reached.
- Last, add the m&ms and mix for another minute or so.
Pink Sugar Cookie Batter Pink Sugar Cookie Batter with m&ms
The mixing process takes about 10 minutes. Once you have the dough made, allow it to chill for at least 1 hour or up to a few days.
Once chilled, shape 1-2 tablespoons of dough into a ball and put on a parchment-lined or greased baking sheet one inch apart. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.
sugar cookie dough balls ready for the oven Baked Pink Sugar Cookies
Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Pink Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- electric hand or stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 cup Valentine's m&m's
- pink or red food coloring
Instructions
- On low speed, cream butter and sugar until combined.
- Add vanilla and eggs and mix 1 minute on medium.
- Add flour ½ cup at a time, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix 2-3 minutes on medium.
- Add milk and mix on medium until combined and dough is smooth.
- Add 3-4 drops of food coloring and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Add coloring a few drops at a time until desired color is reached.
- Add m&m's and fold into the batter.
- Chill for at least 1 hour. Once chilled, shape 1-2 tablespoons of dough into balls. Place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet and cook 8 minutes at 400°.
Notes
Nutrition
💭 Expert Tips
What type of food coloring works best for pink sugar cookies?
Gel or liquid food coloring both work great. I do find that the gel coloring is less messy and doesn't stain skin like liquid coloring does.
Since red food coloring might be easier to find in stores, you can use just a couple drops to get a pink color. I found pink food coloring and used about ½ tablespoon to get a nice light pink color.
Is it necessary to chill the dough?
Yes, you should chill the dough to create the best sugar cookie possible. Chilled sugar cookie dough is much easier to work with than warm dough. Warm dough will be difficult to roll into balls and much of it will stick to your hands.
Warm dough may also cause the cookies to spread more than you want. You can chill your dough anywhere from 1 hour to a few days. I often make my dough a few days before I need it (whenever I can find the time!).
How do I keep sugar cookies soft?
The trick to keeping these pink sugar cookies soft is to bake them until the edges barely begin to brown. They will continue to bake a few minutes once you remove them from the oven, so this is really important.
If you leave them in the oven until they look completely cooked, they will harden or burn. I always remove mine when I think, they look almost done but maybe need a few more minutes.
They likely never need a few more minutes. I take them out at that point, when the edges just begin to brown.
I also suggest checking them periodically during the first batch. Ovens are not all the same, so yours may need more or less time.
Can I use cookie cutters to make heart-shaped, pink sugar cookies?
No, you cannot use cookie cutters with these sugar cookies. The dough is too soft and sticky to roll out flat and the cookies will not hold shape. You can, however, use butter cookie dough to make heart-shaped cookies.
📖 Recipe Variations
It's easy to change these pink soft sugars to match other occasions. You can make these simple changes:
- use green dye for St. Patrick's Day or Christmas
- use orange dye for Halloween or Thanksgiving
- replace the m&m's with Christmas ones for Christmas
- instead of using m&m's, top with festive holiday sprinkles, like on these Christmas sugar cookies
🍪 Storing
Valentine's sugar cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If you make them ahead of time or make extra batches, store them in a freezer baggie in the freezer for up to 6 months. They only take a few minutes to defrost when needed, and will be just as soft and delicious as they were fresh out of the oven.
If you tried this recipe, I'd love to hear what you thought. Please let me know how they turned out in the comments below.
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