Get ready to sink your teeth into these fun and festive Valentine Cookies! Chocolate cookies covered in pink and red sprinkles and topped with a chocolate heart. These cookies are super chocolaty making them the perfect Valentine’s Day treat!
Whether you love or loathe Valentine’s Day I think we can all get on board with chocolate cookies, right? We used our favorite Chocolate Cookie recipe as the base and turned them into a treat for the upcoming holiday. Let’s celebrate!
Jump to:
Why you’ll love this recipe
Flavor: Chocolate cookies and chocolate candy on top.
Texture: The cookies bake up with crisp edges, soft centers, and a slight crunch from the sprinkles.
Ease: The dough comes together in minutes!
No chill time: These cookies can be baked right away.
Festive: Pink, red, chocolate, AND hearts. The perfect Valentine’s treat.
Looking for something different? Use Valentine’s sprinkles in our (vanilla based) Sprinkle Cookies. Use red and pink M&M’s in our M&M Cookies. Use a heart cookie cutter for Cutout Sugar Cookies topped with Sugar Cookie Frosting.
Recipe overview
Start by making the cookie dough. Beat butter and sugars, then add egg and vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, salt, cornstarch). Beat until combined.
Scoop the dough (I use a 1-½ tablespoon scoop) and roll the dough balls in sprinkles. Bake!
Once the cookies come out of the oven, place the pans on wire racks. Allow to cool for about 2 minutes then gently set a chocolate heart on top of each cookie. The heat from the cookie will melt the bottom of the chocolate and will help it to adhere to the cookie.
What type of sprinkles to use
I used red, pink, and white nonpareils for this recipe. They are the tiny, crunchy, ball sprinkles. You can also use a traditional “jimmies” which are a stick/rod shape. Sparkling sugar will also work but it might be a bit les noticeable against the brown cookie dough.
What type of chocolate candy to use
I used Hershey’s Valentine hearts in white chocolate and milk chocolate. You can use any other solid chocolate heart candy or even Hershey’s kisses. If you’d prefer to skip the chocolate candy you can leave it off and just have chocolate sprinkle cookies.
Recipe tips
- Butter should be softened slightly but still cool to the touch. If the butter is over-softened (or beginning to melt) the cookies will spread too much in the oven.
- Optional chill time. You can bake these cookies immediately after preparing the dough (as pictured). For thicker cookies, after scooping the dough and rolling in sprinkles you can place the dough balls in the refrigerator for one hour.
- Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. This helps the cookies bake evenly and prevents them from spreading too much. Bonus: it also makes cleanup a breeze!
- Use a cookie scoop for evenly sized cookies.
- Under bake the cookies. They should be so soft that you cannot pick them up off the baking sheet without them falling apart. They will firm up as they cool on the baking sheet.
- Place the chocolate candies in the freezer for about 30 minutes before placing them on the cookies. This will help the chocolate hearts hold their shape.
More Valentine’s Day recipes
Recipe
Valentine Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened slightly, still cool
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar, make sure it's fresh and soft
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, straight from the fridge
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour*
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ cup sprinkles, I used nonpareils
- 15 solid chocolate hearts or Hershey's kisses
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the chocolate hearts in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes while you proceed with the cookies.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars for several minutes, until light and creamy. Add the the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- In a separate bowl, combine the cocoa, flour, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until combined.
- Pour the sprinkles onto a large plate (I start with ¼ cup). Scoop the dough into 1½ tablespoon portions (I use a cookie scoop). Gently roll the sides and top of the cookie dough balls into the sprinkles (no need to get sprinkles on the bottom of the cookies). Place the dough balls a couple inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets**. Make sure the dough balls are mounded higher than wider, and not flatted at all (this is so that they don't spread too much).
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to set and the centers are still slightly underdone. They will look under baked, but the cookies will set as they cool.
- Place the baking sheets on wire racks. Allow to cool for 2 minutes then place a chocolate heart in the center of each cookie. No need to press it down, the bottom of the heart will start to melt and after several minutes you'll be able to nestle it onto the top of the cookies to help it stick. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the pan on the wire racks.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Brandy
I love these cookies they are pretty to look at and even more delicious to eat! I know my family is going to eat them up on Valentine’s Day!