Easy Valentine's Day Heart Cookies (Eggless Sugar Cookies Recipe)

This eggless recipe is perfect for classroom parties, gifting, anniversaries, or simple date nights. My daughter loves pressing the hearts in because the edges become nice and melty. She says making these cookies is her "favorite part of Valentine's Day”!

For more Valentine's Day sweet treats, try my Chocolate Mousse Cups or White Chocolate Covered Strawberries. They’re great for sharing with friends and loved ones. Now, let's get baking!

These crumbly, shortbread style cookies with chocolate hearts are a simple bake! They’re one of our favorite ways to celebrate love and friendship.

Quick & easy: Ready in under an hour with no chilling needed. My favorite kind of cookie recipe.

Easy decorating: All you need are chocolate hearts and red sanding sugar.

Kid-friendly: It's a super-easy recipe that little ones can help out with.

Great for gifting: Place in cute bags or boxes for teachers, friends, or sweethearts.

These eggless Valentine's heart cookies are made with simple ingredients for a tender, ultra-buttery treat! Scroll to the recipe card at the end of this post for the full recipe with ingredient amounts.

• Unsalted butter: Make sure it's at room temperature, otherwise you won't be able to cream it properly. Salted butter works too.
• Powdered sugar: Gives light, melt-in-mouth texture. It's also called "confectioners' sugar" and icing sugar.
• Vanilla extract: It helps round out the sweetness. Use ½ teaspoon almond extract for a nutty twist.
• All-purpose flour: It adds structure. Avoid whole-wheat flour, bread flour, almond flour, or any other type.
• Salt: Balances sweetness. Use kosher salt for best results. Avoid coarse sea salt because it won't dissolve or distribute flavor evenly. Skip it if you used salted butter for the dough.
• Red sanding sugar: Feel free to use pink sanding sugar.
• Hershey’s heart chocolates: I love these, but any small chocolate hearts are okay.

See recipe card for quantities.

Don't be intimidated by their adorable look. These buttery heart cookies are an extremely easy baking project!

1. Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar: In a large mixing bowl, beat 1 cup softened unsalted butter with ½ cup powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract for added flavor.

2. Step 2: Make the cookie dough: Add 1¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ teaspoon salt to the bowl. Gently mix until a soft dough forms—avoid overmixing to keep cookies tender.

3. Step 3: Shape the cookies: Scoop 2-inch portions of dough and roll each into a smooth ball. Coat each ball generously with red sanding sugar for a festive, sparkling finish.

4. Step 4: Bake and Add Chocolate Hearts: Arrange the sugar-coated dough balls on a prepared baking sheet and lightly flatten each with the bottom of a glass or cup. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10–12 minutes, until the bottoms are set but the tops remain soft. While still warm, gently press 1 unwrapped Hershey’s heart-shaped chocolate into the center of each cookie, sinking it slightly into the dough. Let cool slightly before serving.

These simple Valentine's Day chocolate heart cookies have replaced Valentine's cards because who doesn't love a good cookie? Ee switch them up a tiny bit each year, though. Here are our favorite variations so far:

Colored dough: Add 3-5 drops pink or red food coloring to the creamed butter mixture for pink or red dough. The more food coloring you add, the stronger the color will be.

Chocolate dough: Swap ¼ cup flour for unsweetened cocoa powder. It makes the red sanding sugar really pop!

Use icing: Skip the chocolate hearts (some years our local store was all sold out of them), so we added white royal icing hearts over the cookies using a piping bag. Pink frosting works too.

Go nuts: Fold ½-1 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans into the dough for some nutty crunch.

These chocolate-centered shortbread cookies are a sweet Valentine's Day treat! Here are our favorite ways to enjoy them:

• With a glass of milk or a cup of tea for cozy moments.
• Package in cute bags for classroom valentines.
• Place on a cookie board with Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies, Chocolate Chip Espresso Shortbread Cookies, and my Healthy Brownie Batter Dip.
• Set as a snack along with my Cookies & Creme Popcorn.
• Pair with Sparkling Strawberry Moscow Mule or Raspberry Moscow Mule for adult gatherings.

It's easy to keep these gorgeous heart cookies fresh and yummy for the most romantic holiday of the year. You can even prep them in advance.

Counter

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Keep them away from direct heat and sunlight.

Freezer

Freeze unbaked dough balls (rolled in sanding sugar) in a zip-top freezer bag for 1 month. Bake from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes to the total baking time.

These tips and tricks will make your first time preparing these Valentine's Day cookies a total success, even as a beginner baker:

Don't let them cool: Press the heart chocolate while cookies are still hot. This helps it stick and slightly melt into the cookie for a perfect finish.

Don’t overbake: These cookies are soft and slightly crumbly, like shortbread. Once the bottoms are lightly golden, remove them from the oven. Don’t overbake, or they’ll become too firm.

Even sizes: For even baking, keep the balls of dough roughly the same size as well as their thickness once you flatten them with the bottom of a glass.

Cool before packaging: Don't place the cookies in bags or boxes while still warm. Doing so will cause the melty chocolate edges to smudge the pretty packaging. Let the cookies cool completely before packaging or storing.

Here’s what other home bakers are asking about these Valentine's Day cookies!

Yes! Any small chocolate hearts works for this.

Yes! Roll the dough until ¼-inch thick, press sanding sugar on top, and use a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes.

Absolutely! Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to 2 days

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Easy Mini Conversation Heart Cookies (Valentine's Sugar Cookie Recipe)

How To Make Ice Cream Cone Cake Pops (Easy Dessert)

Easy White Chocolate Covered Strawberries (Valentine's Dessert)

RumChata Pudding Shots Recipe (Easy And Festive With 5 Ingredients!)

These are my favorite dishes to serve with this Valentines Heart Cookies recipe:

Easy Banana Raspberry Muffins With Cake Mix (Only 5 Ingredients)

Easy No-Bake White Chocolate Covered Oreos (5-Ingredient Christmas Treat)

Easy Raspberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies Recipe (Classic Shortbread)

Easy Chocolate Covered Pecans (Homemade with Flaky Sea Salt)

These sparkly Valentine's Day heart cookies are our favorite way to share love with buttery, chocolatey bites! Share your creations on social media and tag us @Hungry Whisk, and don’t forget to subscribe for more recipe cards!