Heart Shaped Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These chocolate chip heart cookies are adorable, addictively delicious, and perfect for Valentine's day! They have crisp edges, chewy centers, and are jam-packed with mini chocolate chips.

heart cookies surrounded by valentines sprinkles

Heart shaped cookies make an adorable little Valentine's treat! You can make them big or small, then frost them and add heart sprinkles.

These charming heart shaped chocolate chip cookies do more than just look cute. They taste amazing too! The edges are golden brown and crisp, the centers soft and chewy, and the insides jam-packed with mini chocolate chips.

Mini chocolate chips make the dough easier to roll, and look quaint too, but you could just as easily add heart sprinkles or another cute mix-in.

Why you'll love it

Easy to make heart cookies
Perfect for Valentine's day!
They taste delicious, with crisp edges and soft middles.
Freezer-friendly & easy to make ahead

Ingredients

Unsalted butter - Butter is the base of a delicious cookie! I always bake with unsalted butter and add salt myself so the cookies aren't too salty. Be sure to let it come to room temperature first. If you forgot to leave it out, just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds until it gives a little when you push on it.

Sugar & brown sugar - To sweeten the cookies! I love a combo of white and brown sugar for the perfect texture and spread.

Egg & egg yolk - An egg gives the cookies structure and an extra yolk takes these babies over the top! Trust me on this one. If you've been wondering why you're cookies aren't amazing, an extra yolk may just be the answer.

All-purpose flour - The right amount of flour is key to the perfect thickness. Too little and the cookies aren't thick enough, too much and they're too thick! If you're gluten-free, you can swap regular flour with Bob's Red Mill's 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour.

Baking soda - Even cookies need leavening or they come out too dense.

Kosher salt - A small amount of salt enhances sweetness. If you only have table salt, cut the amount in half.

Mini chocolate chips - I highly encourage you to buy MINI chocolate chips, and not just because they're cute. Since the dough must be rolled out and cut to get the heart shape, you don't want big chocolate chips in your way.

How to make heart shaped cookies

These heart cookies are a breeze to make! I may say that often, but what can I say? I'm a BIG fan of simple recipes.

Before you do anything, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

1. Make the cookie dough

Cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. You can use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer to do this.

Add the eggs and the yolk to the butter mixture. Beat until incorporated, then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Beat on low speed so the flour doesn't poof outside of the bowl. Once a cookie dough forms, stop the mixer.

Add the mini chocolate chips and beat until the chips are dispersed throughout the cookie dough.

2. Roll and cut the cookie dough

Next we want to chill the dough to make it easier to work with. Use your hands to form the cookie dough into a large disc and wrap it in plastic wrap.

Chill the dough for 30 minutes to let it firm up a bit.

Roll out the cookie dough. Sprinkle flour onto a clean work surface and use a rolling pin to roll the cookie dough around ½ inch thickness. A little thicker is fine, but you don't want it to be too thick or you won't get clean lines.

cookie dough rolled thin with hearts cut out of it

Cut out six large heart cookies with a heart cookie cutter. If you have a small cookie cutter, that's fine too. You will just need to decrease the baking time by a couple minutes.

Once you cut six cookies out, roll the remaining dough back into a ball and roll it out again. Cut out six more hearts.

3. Freeze the cookies

Place six cookie hearts onto each sheet pan. Place the sheet pans with the cookies into the freezer for 30 minutes. Doing this ensures the cookies won't spread too much. If they spread, you lose the defined heart shape!

4. Bake the cookies

chocolate chip heart cookies on sheet pan.

Bake the cookies until the edges are golden brown, but the middles still look underdone. If the whole cookie is brown when it comes out of the oven, it's overbaked!

Mine took about 11 minutes. If your heart cookies are small, it will take less!

Cookie Making Tips

Don't overbake the cookies! Cookies should look slightly underdone when you remove them from the oven. They will continue to set up as they cool. If the entire cookie is brown when it comes out of the oven, it will be crispy when it cools. (And not in a good way!)
Let the cookies set up on the sheet pan. Hot cookies fall apart. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes before you transfer them to a cooling rack.
Chill the cookie dough to make it easier to work with. Don't leave it in there too long or it will get rock hard. Just 30 or 45 minutes works great. The cookie dough will be easier to work with if its cold.

Variations

Mix-ins - Swap the mini chocolate chips with any mix-ins you like! Just remember you don't want them to be big or else you won't be able to roll out the dough. Try red jimmies, heart sprinkles, shredded coconut, or finely chopped white chocolate.
Frosting - For a truly festive heart cookie, frost the tops with pink, white, or red icing, then top with heart sprinkles!

Storing Tips

Store leftover heart cookies in a plastic bag or airtight container on the counter for up to three days.

You can freeze these heart shaped chocolate chip cookies unbaked or baked!

Unbaked: Follow the recipe to roll and cut out the cookies, but don't bake them. Instead leave the unbaked heart cookies in the freezer until solid, then transfer them to a ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen as directed.

Baked: Once the baked cookies are cool, transfer them to a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw on the counter or pop one in the microwave in 15-second increments until warmed.

FAQs

Do you cut cookie shapes before or after baking?

It's best to cut your cookie into shapes before you bake them! While technically you can cut them after, it's difficult and messy to do. The cookies have to be cut while they're hot to get a uniform shape.

Can you make heart shaped cookies without a cookie cutter?

Yes, if you don't have a heart cookie cutter, use a sharp knife to cut the cookie dough into hearts. The lines won't be as clean or uniform, but it will work. Be sure to chill the cookie dough before you roll it out, so it's not to soft as you cut it.

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