Dye-Free Decorated Heart Cookies--The Sweetest Way to Say "I Love You!"

Decorated cutout cookies have always seemed magical to me. From the first time I helped my grandmother take her cutters from their faded cardboard storage box and we stamped out gingerbread men, trees, stars, and hearts, I was hooked. 

With that modest set of metal forms, we could readily transform plain sheets of doughs--from sugar to molasses and chocolate--into enticing shapes and treats. With just a few well placed cinnamon red hots,  multicolored sprinkles, and drizzles and swipes of icing, we could create works of art as pretty as those depicted on holiday cards and wrapping papers. But so much more fun. And, EDIBLE!

Now, many decades later, I've collected literally hundreds of cutters and have created cookies to fit every conceivable theme and season. (I've written my newest book Simply Sensational Cookies and several other cookie cookbooks along the way.) Yes, as the pics suggest, my cutter collection includes a great variety of hearts! 

These days I mostly make cutout cookies with my own grandchildren, Charlie and Lizzie. We started when they were just toddlers, and, in fact, one of the first sentences Charlie learned to say was, "Nana make cookies?" The quick video of us in my kitchen last summer shows how much fun we have; we were making butterfly, flower and dragonfly cookies that day.  For a how-to video showing the easy dough rolling method we always use, go here.

Baking with my grandkids has led to one major change in my cookie decorating that I am proud of and happy to share with you:  I  try to avoid using the usual petrochemical-based food colors and nonpariels tinted with them and create icings and even homemade sprinkles with fruit juices and other natural botanical colors instead. (Research has shown that even the "government approved" food dyes can cause allergic reactions and hyperactivity in some people, especially children. And allergies run in my family.)

So, ALL the cookies featured here are completely DYE-FREE.  Plus, as you'll see from the icing recipe and how-to info below, naturally-pretty decorating is surprisingly easy to do. The secret to all the appealing pink shades--pure, frozen (thawed, undiluted) cranberry juice concentrate found in the supermarket frozen juice section! Incidentally, Simply Sensational Cookies (available on line  here) has many additional naturally beautiful buttercream frostings, icings, homemade sprinkles and decorating ideas both for those making Valentine's cookies and for those desiring to make other gorgeous seasonal treats and still stay dye-free.

As the finished "sweetheart" cookies at the very top and at right above suggest, it's possible to get really razzle-dazzle results with a bit of piping--you just need the inclination and a little time. The technique is called marbling, meaning that an accenting color is piped onto a wet layer of a complementary-colored icing, then immediately marbled into it with a toothpick for a dramatic patterned effect. Step-by-step pics below show exactly how this is done, and with just a little care and practice, you'll achieve similar over-the-top looks. Actually, due to the icing's spread-ability and gorgeous colors,  even without marbling, you can turn out utterly irresistible iced Valentine's cookies like those shown at left above.

Valentine's Day Beautiful Dye-Free Powdered Sugar Icings

This basic, versatile recipe, which is adapted from one in Simply Sensational Cookies, is used to make all the icings shown at left except the green tea version (it's provided here). The following icing calls for only small quantities of corn syrup and meringue powder or egg white powder, but these ingredients are important for good results, so it's best not to leave out either one.

The corn syrup promotes smooth flow and yields a glossy finish. The purchased meringue powder or dried egg white powder helps set the natural berry color and also keeps shades from bleeding together and fading as the decorated cookies stand. Particularly if you plan to store the cookies more than a day and want the icings and designs to keep looking bright and crisp, find and use either of these egg-based powders. Many discount department stores stock the Wilton brand of meringue powder with cake decorating supplies. Supermarkets and nutrition stores sometimes carry the Deb El “Just Whites,” product or another brand of pure dried egg whites in their baking aisle.

This recipe is designed so you can make smallish batches of 3 or 4 different colors--bright pink, light pink, chocolate and white. For the intense pink shown, mix the ingredients with all cranberry juice concentrate. For a light or medium pink, use about half cranberry juice concentrate and half water.  For the rich, reddish chocolate color shown, use mostly cranberry juice concentrate instead of water when you mix up the icing. By the way, the berry juice adds a very pleasant fruitiness and tang to the icings. (Of course, for a plain white icing, you simply use all water and omit the juice.)

All together these batches of icing will yield enough to generously decorate 40 to 60 cookies, depending on their size. I often decorate a number of cookies using the medium and bright pink colors, then stir in some white to tone them down for cookies in additional complementary slightly softer shades. Both the chocolate and the white contrast the bright pink nicely.

 By the way, I made the cookies using the Good & Easy Sugar Cookies recipe in Simply Sensational Cookies, but for another a rolled sugar cookie recipe that works well, go here.

Remember that the following icing quantity makes one color of icing.  For every color icing you want, start with 1 1/4 cups powder sugar and 1 teaspoon meringue powder and proceed from there.

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted after measuring if lumpy

Generous 1 teaspoon commercial meringue powder or dried egg white powder

2 to 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted after measuring if lumpy, optional for chocolate icing

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

1/8 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla extract, optional

About 2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons water, or frozen (thawed)  cranberry juice concentrate, as needed for bright pink, pink or white icing

For each color of icing, thoroughly stir together the sugar and meringue or egg white powder until well combined in a small deep bowl; for a chocolate icing incorporate the cocoa powder also (the maximum will yield the darkest color).  Add the corn syrup, and extract if using, then gradually stir in enough fruit juice or water (or a combination)  to yield a fairly wet, fluid icing. Stir until very well blended, adding in more juice (water) or powdered sugar to produce the color and consistency desired. Use the icings immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to a week. Let warm to room temperature before using, then very thoroughly stir in a little juice or water if they are too stiff to spread.

 If simply icing cookies, set them on racks over paper or parchment to catch drips. Then spread the icing over the tops with a table knife; the icing will flow out evenly and dry with a sheen.

 If marbling cookies, also have on hand toothpicks and the accenting colors ready in piping cones; pastry bags fitted with fairly fine writing tips; or in small sturdy baggies with one bottom corner snipped off at the very end. Working quickly before the base layer of icing can set, pipe on the accenting lines as desired, then immediately draw through them to create the marbling desired. 

Let all iced cookies dry for at least several hours and preferably 4 to 6 hours before storing airtight. It's best to pack them in a single layer or with wax paper between each layer. Keep 1 week at room temperature; or frozen airtight for up to 1 month.


For step-by-step pics of how to form little hearts using the icing as shown in the pic at the top, go here.
For a whole gallery of  my dye-free decorated cookies and pastries, check out my Pinterest board here.