Pink Ombre Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are so versatile, they can really be made in any shape and color.  I’ve even used this recipe to make stained glass or window cookies and it worked like a charm.  Icing and sprinkles can make for a really cute cookie but these cookies are delicious fresh out of the oven, just simple and classically delicious.  I have dyed my sugar cookie dough before to make patriotic cookie pops and loved how those looked.  I thought that ombre heart sugar cookies would be perfect for Valentine’s Day.

I started by mixing up a batch of my perfect sugar cookie dough.  Then I divided into three parts; you can do this by eye, but they happen to be 1 pound each if you have a kitchen scale.  Then I used Americolor gel paste to dye each piece of dough.  I used deep pink, hot pink, and tulip red to achieve these colors.

Starting with the darkest color, I cut out large hearts.  Then I cut out the centers using a medium heart shaped cutter.  I set those aside.  On a second piece of parchment paper, I rolled out the medium colored dough.  I used the medium sized cookie cutter and cut out lots of hearts.  Then I used the smallest heart shape cutter to cut out the centers.  I put these hearts into the freezer while I worked on the smallest hearts.  On a third piece of parchment, I rolled out the lightest pink dough and cut out the smallest hearts.  Place these in the freezer as well.  Now it’s time to assemble.

Start with the largest hearts, insert the frozen medium sized hearts inside.  Then insert the smallest hearts in the center.  Bake for about 8 minutes; the separate colors will bake together, forming a solid cookie.  I realized I could make the ombre go both ways, from light to dark, and from dark to light, and that would use up all of the dough equally.  The center color remains the same.  You just need to roll half of the darkest color out and cut it with the largest heart cutter.  Use the other half of the darkest color for the smallest heart. Then repeat with the lightest color of dough.

I can’t decide which pattern I like better, they are both so cute!  I’m glad I went with both, that way I don’t have to choose.

My son Charlie really enjoys these cookies.  He couldn’t wait for his turn to be in the picture!