Name: Valentine De-Coder Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 21 min
Yield: 36 cookies
Ingredients: 1/2 cup vegetable shortening; 1 cup sugar; 1 egg; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 2 1/2 cups flour; 1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt; 1 bag of red hard candy (such as Jolly ranchers)

These Valentine de-coder Cookies are a delicious cookie and activity all in one! Perfect to give your kids for Valentines Day, or, make them for the class party!

plate of heart shaped sugar cookies that have a red 'stained glass window' in the center

I first saw these ‘stained glass’ cookies at my neighbors house. Then one day I was browsing the web and found them as Valentine de-coder cookies. Brilliant, I thought! These are too fun. 🙂

You can use your favorite sugar cookie recipe, but I love using an Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookie type recipe.

Except I sub out the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt. Nothing against sour cream, my friend, oh, I still love you so much!

It’s pretty simple. You make your cookie dough, cut out your hearts and fill them crushed red hard candy. They only take about 6 minutes to bake.

Then you need your secret messages. You can very easily make your own by using a blue pen or light blue marker to write your message. After that, just doodle right over it with red, orange and pink markers. The message you wrote will appear when you put the Valentine De-Coder Cookie over top of it.

No time to doodle? No worries, I found some on the internet, and this is a much quicker route. Check out this post from Gourmet Mom On The Go, and/or this post from Moments to Live By. Each of these sites have a free printable of secret messages.

I had a lot of fun making these Valentine De-Coder Cookies for my kids one year when they were quite a bit younger. Now that they’re older, they love to help make them and give them away as Valentines to their friends.

Happy Valentines Day!

plate of heart shaped valentine decoder cookies

Here’s about a 12 minute video walking you through the steps. Enjoy!

I would love to connect with you! Leave me a comment and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Valentine De-Coder Cookies

Delicious cookies and an activity all in one. Perfect for the Valentines Class Party, or just at home.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes

Total Time 21 minutes

Servings 36 cookies

Calories 81 kcal

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
1 bag of red hard candy such as Jolly ranchers

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
Line cookie sheets with foil and spray with coconut oil (or any non-stick spray).
Place the hard candy in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin or cooking mallet and set aside.
Beat and cream together shortening, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
Sift together salt, baking soda and flour.
Add to creamed mixture alternately with yogurt. Chill if desired
Roll out dough on a well floured surface and cut with floured cookie cutters.
Place each heart shaped cookie dough onto the cookie sheet and fill the center with crushed candy.
Bake for 6-8 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet.

Nutrition Facts

Valentine De-Coder Cookies

Amount Per Serving

Calories 81 Calories from Fat 27

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 3g 5%

Cholesterol 4mg 1%

Sodium 36mg 2%

Potassium 14mg 0%

Total Carbohydrates 12g 4%

Sugars 5g

Protein 1g 2%

Vitamin A 0.1%

Calcium 0.5%

Iron 2.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Items you may need~

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