Step 1

Place room-temperature butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on low until smooth. The creamed butter should be fluffy and pale yellow in color. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl.

Step 2

Add the egg and mix on medium (4 on Kitchenaid mixer) in a stand mixer until fully incorporated. Scrape the bowl when necessary to make sure the egg incorporates.

Step 3

Add the vanilla extract. Mix until just incorporated.

Step 4

In a separate large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and spice together.

Step 5

Add the flour mixture into the dough with a scoop (about 1/3 of total dry ingredients at a time) and mix until fully incorporated. Start mixer on low until flour starts to incorporate, then turn it up to medium. Scrape the bowl as needed to fully incorporate.

Step 6

Add the milk once the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Continue to mix on low until the dough becomes a solid mass.

Step 7

Scrape out the mixer bowl and wrap up the sugar cookie dough in plastic wrap.

Step 8

Once the dough is wrapped in plastic, Take a rolling pin and roll the dough into a flat square. ( This helps the dough chill faster and more evenly).

Step 9

Place your dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes or until the dough is firm to the touch.

Step 10

Once the dough has chilled, knead the dough slightly and roll it out with a large rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, about 1/4 inch thick.

Step 11

Use heart cookie cutters to cut out uniform heart shapes. Keep the rolled dough chilled if you are not cutting and baking right away. The dough will be more challenging to work with the warmer it is.

Step 12

Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper. Put the cookie sheet back in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to chill again. This will help them avoid spreading.

Step 13

Bake cookies at 350ºF for 10-14 minutes, the bake time is dependent on the size of the cookie. Cookies will be slightly golden brown on the edge, but look done in the center.

Step 14

Place the baked cookies on a cooling rack to fully cool before dipping them in the icing.

Step 15

Combine the egg whites, powdered sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment.

Step 16

Mix on low to get the ingredients combined then bump it up to high for 1-2 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract and whip until it's white. No need to mix for longer than 5 minutes.

Step 17

The icing is pretty thick at this stage so we want to thin it down by adding water and mixing on low speed until we get our desired consistency.

Step 18

Add water 1 teaspoon at a time until a ribbon of royal icing goes flat in 15 seconds. This is a good consistency for dipping cookies, but not too thin to have it run off the cookies.

Step 19

In a small bowl, color 1/3 of your royal icing hot pink and light pink or as many colors as you desire.

Step 20

Drizzle the pink and red icing over the top of the white icing.

Step 21

Use a toothpick or skewer and drag up and down the icing creating a marbled effect.

Step 22

Dip your cooled sugar cookies onto the surface, making sure to get the edges of your cookie dipped evenly. Pull straight up and tap off any excess icing. Pro Tip: I like to let it drip for a second and then twist it to catch the tail of the icing, keeping the edge of my cookie clean.

Step 23

Wipe the cookie edges clean if any icing dripped over the edge. Place the frosted cookie on a wire rack or tray with parchment paper to dry, and watch for drips of royal icing.

Step 24

There may be bubbles in the royal icing, use a straight pin or scribe to gently pop the bubbles. Then give the cookie a gentle shake to even out the frosting.

Step 25

For the best results let cookies dry completely before packaging. This could take up to 16-24 hours for the icing to dry, depending on your environment. The top dries quickly but under the top shell it will still be runny and it can crack if you touch the cookies too soon. Pro-tip: Place the tray of freshly dipped cookies back in the warm (not on) oven with the door open. The warm air from the cooling oven will dry the top of the cookies faster to avoid smudging the royal icing.

Step 26

The cookies are shelf stable and will stay fresh if they are stored in an airtight container. If you have any remaining dough, wrap the rest of the dough well in plastic wrap and store in the freezer until you are ready to use it.