Marbled Heart Cookies

Let’s make marbled heart cookies using royal icing and food gel dye! It’s easy to make, no piping bags required, and each cookie looks unique. These are fun to give as gifts or for a party!

Why You’ll Love Marbling Sugar Cookies

Just a fair warning, marbling sugar cookies can be a little messy. It can get on your fingers and drip onto the table but dipping cookies in royal icing is fun. At least to me it is. It’s a nice break from using piping bags and it’s a fast way to flood cookies (minus the hand cramps).

Another cool thing about dipping cookies is that no two marbled sugar cookies will look alike! Each time you dip the cookies, the gel food dye pattern changes, especially if you add more than one gel color. You can do this cookie project with kids, but be careful when using the food dye! It will come off hands after a few washes.

Overview: Baking Sugar Cookies

The sugar cookies in this recipe are my soft cut-out sugar cookie recipe. 

1. Make sugar cookie dough. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg, vanilla extract and mix. Add the all-purpose flour and salt and mix until combined. Don’t over mix! The dough can be slightly kneaded on a flour surface but don’t over do it or that results in tough cookies.
2. Chill the dough. Wrapping the dough in plastic wrap in two pieces is easier to work with. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes but it can be chilled overnight! If chilling overnight, take out the dough 10 minutes before rolling or it’ll be too hard to work with. (TIP: Making the royal icing during the chilling saves time! Just cover the bowl with a damp paper towel to prevent crusting)
3. Roll out the dough. The dough will be cold and a little difficult to roll. It might have cracks around the edges- that’s okay! Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness.
4. Cut into heart shapes. You can use any heart shape cookie cutter for these cookies. My favorite brand of cutters is the Ann Clark brand. The cutters are metal which gives that cleanest cut and easy to clean. The heart cutter I used is this 3 3/8-inch which is a great size for medium cookies.
5. Bake! These medium size cookies take about 8-10 minutes. Look for slightly golden bottoms. For cookies less than 3 inches, bake for 7-8 minutes. Cookies larger than 4 inch can bake for 10-11 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye out!
6. Marble! More royal icing info below ?

How to Make Royal Icing For Dipping

Finding the perfect royal icing consistency can take some practice but I’m going to share my best tips.

The royal icing consistency I use is called pipe-able consistency. This type is used to outline/flood/lettering details. For all the information you need on royal icing, check out my easy royal icing recipe with egg whites.

1. While the cookies cool, make the royal icing. Attach a whisk attachment to your stand mixer. Add the liquid egg whites into the bowl and beat on low. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time to avoid a mess! Whisk on low in-between additions. My recipe doesn’t use vanilla extract. Trust me, it doesn’t need it when paired with my sugar cookie recipe.
2. Whip the frosting. Set the stand mixer to medium-high speed and let it whip for 5-8 minutes.
3. Tips to know when it’s ready. Remove the whisk attachment and turn it so the peaks are facing up. They should stand pretty straight with a slight curve. Or, take a knife and run a line through the center of the icing in the stand mixer bowl. Count how many seconds it takes for the surface to smooth over. Pipe-able consistency is between 15-18 seconds. 

Tools You Need For Marbled Heart Cookies

These tools will help you out when marbling sugar cookies.

• A shallow bowl will make it much easier to dip in the cookie.
• AmeriColor food gel dye is my favorite type of dye. A gel dye won’t add any extra liquid to the icing. Because these dyes are vibrant, you don’t need many drops. For these heart cookies I used soft pink, electric purple, and burgundy.
• Scribe tool or a toothpick to gently mix the food gel with the royal icing.
• A wire cooling rack is really helpful for marbling cookies in case of drips. If there’s excess icing, it will eventually drip down the sides. I put parchment under my wire cooling rack for easy cleaning.
• Edible luster powder is optional. The luster powder is FDA approved according to their website has great shine. With the gold luster paste I then make easy swipes over the cookie to elevate them with the largest, square shaped food safe brush in this set.

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Check out these other decorating ideas!

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How to Marble Heart Sugar Cookies

Now were ready for decorating!

1. First, make sure that the cookies are completely cooled and your royal icing is ready. Add parchment paper underneath a wire cooling rack.
2. Scoop royal icing into the shallow bowl.
3. Add a small drop of each food gel dye color you’re using. With a scribe tool or toothpick, gently create swirl motions to spread out the dye.

4. Hold your cookie and dip into the royal icing but don’t push it down. We just want to cover the front of the cookie.
5. Lift up the cookie and let the excess royal icing drip off. You can gently shake the cookie.
6. Set onto the wire cooling rack. If you have too much icing, it will drip onto the parchment paper.
7. Let the top layer of the royal icing (also called the crust) dry, about 10-15 minutes. Add 1/4 tsp vodka (or clear vanilla extract) and luster powder into a tiny bowl and mix to make a paste. If too thick and a drop more liquid. The alcohol evaporates as it dries and leaves the glitter.
8. With the square shaped brushed, dip into the luster paint and gently swipe the cookie. I like to swipe one side and keep it simple. Pressing too hard can crack the thin dried surface.
9. For the best taste, let the cookies dry overnight before packaging or serving.

How to Store/Gift Marbled Heart Sugar Cookies

Decorated cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can freeze decorated cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 months.

Or give these as gifts – 3 different ways.

1. These cellophane bags come in multiple sizes. For cookies that are 4 inches or smaller, I purchase the 5×7 inch bags. Add one fully dried cookie into a cellophane bag and tie with ribbon. 
2. Self sealing bags are another great option that look professional like the single sold cookies at a bakery. ?
3. Cookie boxes are so cute and sturdy. They really take the cookie gifting to the next level. Add crinkle paper or parchment paper to the box and add cookies. Wrap with ribbon or add a bow for a final touch.

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