Great Grandma’s Heart Cut Out Cookies from Scratch are made with common pantry staples that will help make this cookie recipe a family favorite for all holidays/special occasions including Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and even for no reason at all. I grew up calling all of our frosted cut out cookies “Great Grandma’s Cut Outs” because we stuck strictly to this cookie dough recipe. That is 100% proof that these sweet, fluffy, easy to bake no-fail cut out cookies need to find a home in your cookie jar soon ♥️ .

TIP: See all 12 Valentine’s Day Dessert recipes from the Thrifty Style Team at the end of this post!

The 1970’s Cut Out Cookie Story

I recall all 6 of us piling into the station wagon to go visit Great Grandma Carrie & Great Grandpa Frank when I was barely 5. It was in the early 70’s and they only lived about an hour away in Akron, NY, but it seemed like we were headed on a 7 day journey 😆. My fraternal great grandparent’s had a gully kitchen (long and lower than the rest of the house) and great grandma was in there 99.9% of the time cooking while we visited. I remember her being very pretty, well dressed, kind, and well, a fantastic cook! My dad spoke very highly of her, and still does at his age of 86.

Here’s a photo of me on my brother’s lap (now deceased), and my 2 loving sisters. I obviously don’t remember this photo, but you can see how the gully kitchen drops down to the right. Oh, I miss my brother & sisters so much 😔.

To be honest, I don’t remember having the heart cut out cookies at my grandma’s house because I was too young, but since my mom & dad were sure to put the cookie recipe in our 1994 wedding gift family cookbook, it shows how much it is cherished and used over and over again. In fact, I think my Dad still knows the recipe by heart ♥️.

Beautiful Cut Out Cookies

Let’s take a look at these gorgeous Heart Cut Out Cookies from Scratch…

I’m not sure if folks had such fancy sprinkles back in the day, but it probably didn’t matter much, right? Wouldn’t your family love these soft buttery cookies for Valentine’s Day? Wait, how about for a birthday 🤭?

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As I mentioned above, this recipe can be used all year long (please pin for later 😊) and here’s a cookie sheet from last Christmas. It’s a perfect shot on how big these cookies grow in the oven. Oh, and did you know you can freeze these cut outs for later?

PARCHMENT PAPER

CUT OUT COOKIE CUTTERS

MY FAVORITE COOKIE SHEET BAKING PAN

FREEZER BAGS

I hope you try my Great Grandma Carrie’s cut out cookie recipe! Please let me know in the comments, below…I read every one and respond 😉

Great Grandma’s Heart Cut Out Cookies from Scratch Recipe

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Yield: 60 cookies

Great Grandma's Heart Cut Out Cookies from Scratch

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Great Grandma's Cut Out Cookies from Scratch recipe can be used for all the holidays including Valentine's Day, Christmas, and more. This cut out recipe combines simple ingredients you have on hand in your pantry into soft, sweet cookies that are even wonderful on their own. When you add this buttercream frosting on top it takes the cookies over the top!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 27 minutes

Ingredients

• COOKIES:
• 1 cup salted butter (softened)
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• FROSTING (If you want a very thick layer of frosting you should double the frosting recipe, or increase the thickness of your cookie so you have less cookies.):
• 1 cup salted butter (softened)
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 5 tablespoons half & half
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• food coloring
• sprinkles

Instructions

COOKIES:

Preheat oven 325 degrees

Cream butter and sugar in mixer or large mixing bowl by hand.

Add eggs 1 at a time, until batter is well combined. Add vanilla and combine once again.

Add dry ingredients (sift flour a little at a time while adding) to a large separate bowl and mix all dry ingredients well.

Add dry ingredient mixture to wet ingredients slowly while combining into dough. If it's too wet to form dough, add a little more flour.

Roll out dough on floured surface with a floured rolling pin. If the dough gets sticky on the rolling pin or the surface, just add a little more flour.

Roll out to approximately 1/8" thick and then use your cookie cutters to cut your shape after the cookie cutters have been dipped in flour. If you prefer a very thick cookie, go thicker and check cookies at end to see if they need more baking time.

Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper, or sprayed with cooking spray. I actually do both. Cookies should be just slightly browned on top but still soft when you take them out of the oven.

Allow to cool, and use a spatula to gently place cookies on wax paper or parchment paper to use for frosting. If frosting later, you can freeze the cookies, or store in refrigerator for 2 weeks total time.

FROSTING:

Cream butter in mixer, then add 1 cup & 1 tablespoon of half & half at a time until all are mixed in well.

Add the salt and the vanilla last until all is combined well and nice and fluffy.

Test your frosting by dipping a spoon in and hold it upside down to see if it sticks to the spoon. If it stays put, you ready to frost.

Divide frosting into smaller bowls and add your desired colors of food coloring to the frosting.

Frost the cookies and add sprinkles before the frosting dries.

Store in air tight container in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze with or without frosting.

Nutrition Information

Yield

30

Serving Size

2
Amount Per Serving Calories 298Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 52mgSodium 258mgCarbohydrates 43gFiber 1gSugar 28gProtein 3g

Wait! There’s more Valentine’s Day dessert recipes from the Thrifty Style Team…