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Vintage Valentine Cookies

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I decided a few of weeks ago, that I wanted to try to make some cookies using vintage Valentine cards as the theme. They are so sweet and the artwork is just darling.

I’ve seen cookies and cakes with artwork printed on them online and in bakeries, but I didn’t realize this was something I could achieve at home. After doing a little research, I found out you can buy frosting sheets and edible ink cartridges for certain home printers.

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And mine was one of them. YAY! So I bought the inks for my printer. Then I realized I would have to clean it somehow, which sounded like a whole bunch of trouble, so I decided to buy another printer just like it. No such luck. My printer is too old for stores to still carry.

So, I had to get a newer printer, which meant I needed different inks … of course. But I was determined, so I went ahead and exchanged the inks while I waited for the new printer to arrive.

After it arrived and I started to set it up, I thought something was strange. It called for six cartridges, but the edible inks I bought came in a set of five. I really should have stopped here to investigate. But no, for some reason, I thought it would work because the website’s form said that printer worked with those inks.

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But they didn’t.

So I went back to the list of compatible printers and the company had updat ed their list and removed the printer that I had just shoved five edible ink cartridges into. Five messy cartridges I might add.

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Let’s just say I was not a happy camper.

But…

But… I was able to find another compatible printer in time to make these for Valentine’s Day.

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Yes, now I have three printers. One for my computer, one for cookies and one for a doorstop.

Seriously though, it’s not that bad, printers are so cheap these days, it’s like buying a set of ink cartridges and they throw in the machine. I’ll find a use for it.

Anyway, I’m over it because finally… finally I was able to get it all to work.

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Frosting sheets. They went right through the printer and came out with edible ink on them.

Crazy talk.

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I made puffy sugar cookies for the valentines to go on. I was going for those fluffy ones with frosting that they sell in the grocery store.

These were okay. I’ll give you the recipe below if you want to use it or improve on it.

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To use the frosting sheets, separate them from their backing and apply to a frosted cake or cookie. The frosting needs to be moist. If it starts to dry out, you can spray it with a fine mist of water.

Now, since I was doing cookies, I cut the shapes out with scissors first using my cookie cutter as a guide.

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And, instead of frosting the cookies, I frosted the back of the frosting sheet so I could apply it to the cookie with less mess.

Keep the frosting sheets you aren’t using in a ziploc bag so they don’t dry out.

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I could die. These are so dang cute.

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From every angle… cute!

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Circus Bear… cute.

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Panda pair … cute.

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Oh deer!

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Cowboy kitty… cute.

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Chicks … well, you get the idea.

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I may never eat them. Ever.

Puffy Sugar Cookies

Puffy Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup sour cream

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, sift flour, powder, soda, and salt using a wire whisk and set aside.
  2. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and sour cream. Mix until blended.
  3. Add flour until dough forms.
  4. Separate dough into four sections. flatten into a disc and cover in plastic wrap.
  5. Place in the refrigerator for a few hours. This dough is a little sticky, so flour your hands slightly when working with it.
  6. When ready to roll, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  7. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the counter. Put one of the dough discs on the parchment paper. Then place a piece of plastic wrap or another sheet of parchment paper on top and roll the dough flat with a rolling pin. (I like the plastic wrap on top. I think it’s easier.)
  8. Cut out your shapes using a cookie cutter. If the dough sticks, use a toothpick to separate and remove the scraps.
  9. If you want cookie pops, then place a paper lollipop stick about an inch over the dough and press the dough around the stick slightly.
  10. Transfer parchment paper with dough cutouts to a baking sheet.
  11. Bake for 8-10 minutes and cool completely.

You can make buttercream frosting and tint it fun colors to frost the tops.

Or if you are adventurous, you can make cookies like these.

You’ll need frosting sheets, and edible ink cartridges with a compatible printer. I ended up using this printer.

Here’s the Kopykake website where you can see more printers and their compatible inks. You can buy the inks and frosting sheets from there, too. Check it out if you are interested.

You can use this pdf to print out the Valentine graphics on frosting sheets. You can also scale them down and use a paper punch and they would make great cupcake toppers or even tags for cake pops.

Use royal icing to dot a border around the outline of the frosting sheet after it’s applied.

Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!

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318 comments on “Vintage Valentine Cookies”

  1. Hi. These vintage Valentine sheets are adorable on the cookies. Do you make these to sell? Or do you know where I can buy them? I don’t have a printer that makes these sheets. Would love to have some. Thanks

  2. So cute! I just love them!!! I’m not sure that I could find those inks here in France but I have to look for it.

  3. Such patience you have, to go through all that ink and printer stuff to get the edible images. It was worth it though, the pops look beautiful!

  4. those are so cute your so creative how do you come up with these awesome ideas

  5. These are absolutely adorable!
    Was wondering though, the PDF looks really blurry, is it that way on your screen too or just mine? LOL

  6. Love love love them! I too wanted to make vintage Valentine card cookies. Thanks for the tutorial. :)

  7. Love Love Love them! :) And thank you for all the fantastic wonderful things you show us!

  8. Bakerella – I’m sorry to hear about all your angst with printers. I discovered 3 years ago if I take an 81/2 by 11 sheet of paper to my bakery in the supermarket, they’ll print it for me for $2. You know what is great now that you have all the ink and the printer? Photos! Personalized cookies for parties. I do Bridal Showers that way! Peace to you and keep up the amazing inspiration.

  9. These brought back some sweet :) Memories!!! They are absolutely Awesome!!!!

  10. These are so adorkable!! You must be so patient to have went through all that but it was well worth it!! Will definitely pin this to board. Where do you find suitable printers and inks?? This might be a awesome idea for business cards it might bribe me a job in my end of year show hehehe! Kudos again!!

  11. Such a great idea for St Valentin day thank you for sharing

  12. These are flipping adorable!!

  13. Just a question, do you need to hook the printer up to the computer if you are just using it to print the cookies decals????? Or can you just plug into the wall and use??? Trying to figure out work space…………….

  14. HOW DARLING

  15. I love these! I really love how you take lots of pictures step-by-step too. I have only ever used images printed with edible ink on edible paper so it’s great to see these! Thank you

  16. I like the pandas!

  17. You can print on frosting paper? With an actual printer? Honestly, my mind is blown. The cookies are beautiful but I’m just sitting here going ‘a..a printer? For *frosting*??’.

  18. hello, I am looking for the other designs of the other four designs you have on the cookies. They are really cute. These are great…Im getting ready for valentines for my daughters school and have been searching for the other designs and no luck.

  19. Hey there all you wonderful bakers,
    Check out our products at http://www.icingimages.com. We have everything you need to begin creating edible images or if you just need one image, we can help.

  20. all that hard work definitely paid off.. they look so cute

    i don’t think i have that much willpower to go through figuring out how the printer thing worked

    KU-DOS!

  21. A Gigantic Thank You!!! for this story. My sister and I have thought about doing this and it’s great to learn all the ups and downs you experienced while attempting the project. And they look adorable. We’re going to give it a try …

  22. Hello,
    I do the same types of cookies & here are a few tips…
    To save ink & get more out of your frosting sheets use your word doc & crop them in the shape you want to use. Also, there are paper punches in many sizes that Joann’s & Michael’s have by Ushida & other (mega & giga sizes) & you get a very clean edge w/o much effort. Canon is the best printer to use (I have gone through many and I have the same one you chose currently) .To clean, because they get clogged easily, use alcohol to soak the print heads in & make sure it is dry before you put them back in.

  23. WOW, AWESOME – YOU ARE SO CREATIVE!!!

  24. It was worth all of the trouble- they came out fantastic!!!

  25. OMGness! these are waaaaayyyyy cute! I am seriously considering how to use the idea for veteran’s day & 4th of july!
    Remember those neat posters from the army & navy with Uncle Sam??????? Ahhhh! Thank you for sharing your brilliance.

  26. OMG! these are adorable. I got to get the printer. This site that sells the ink & frosting sheets is pretty close to me. I am there tomorrow to check it out. But what made you pick the cannon computer? your so awsome. Keep up the good work and let see what you come up with new for St.Patrick’s day….lol

  27. even I don’t wanna eat them……..so cute!

  28. These are super cute! Think I might have to try them. Just fyi for everyone out there… the grocery store bakery that I work at will allow customers to come in and get things printed on the edible sheets for $6/ sheet. Not all bakeries will do that but I’d say its probably worth asking about especially if you are just wanting to try it out for this project. With a little photo editing I bet u could even get more than 4 on a sheet-maybe in the shape of hearts.

  29. I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for paving the way for us on the printer issues. I know it is very frustrating, but wanted to let you know I followed your instructions to purchase the printer and cartridges and everything was smooth! I am very excited to make these precious treats! You are truly a creative baker :)

  30. Those are AMAZING! I so love vintage valentines.

  31. I love your valentine cookies!!! You are a woman after my own heart. Could you tell me how and were I can buy everything I need? Thank-you gwensyumyum

  32. OMG, these are sooooo darling. You’re driving me crazy with all the cute things you do. I want to be you! Thanks for sharing and teaching us. You are one talented gal!

    Happy New Year!

    Karen

  33. How do you make these cookies a little bit sweeter? I just made these and they just aren’t sweet enough, but they came out looking perfect! Please help!

  34. Oh my Bakerella, i’m your greatest french fan!! I wiwh i could go to your book signing. About this post i purchased this printer beacsue of you! Bekeralla you rock!

  35. Well, I’m a little late in finding this post (have been busy remodeling my kitchen…..am so excited!). But these cookies are so adorable. Thank you SO much for sharing every detail of your adventure with the printer/cartridges, etc. Thank yor just sharing your ideas. You are such an inspiration. I’ve been away from cookie decorating for a little while but plan on starting back up here soon.

    Could you share where you got the old Valentine cards from? Or did I miss that somewhere?
    Thanks again!!!! Your website is so fun!!!!

  36. Hi Bakerella,
    I wanted to see if you could tell me where you got these graphics? I wanted to try and get the other images you used for these cookies (like the panda, etc.) These would be perfect for my daughter’s v-day party at school this year. Any info would be so appreciated. I love your site!!!! Thanks again.

  37. i was wondering where did u get the imagies for the cookies love them they are so cute. i also made the cake balls with yellow cake mix they came out wonderful. your site is my new favorite site now

  38. Hi!
    I am completely in love with you blog. I am sure you have heard that before. I am a pastry chef currently in South Carolina. I have been wanting to get a edible ink printer for a long time now. I saw you had some challenges with it in the beginning. do you have any recommendations as I look into buying a new printer and cartridges. Thanks!

  39. Can you tell me which edible ink cartridges to buy to go with the Cannon PIXMA MP 560 printer you purchased….it is very confusing to cross reference.

  40. These are the cutest! I want them all! I love vintage greeting cards. Christmas ones would be amazing! You have the best ideas!

  41. you are absolutely AMAZING! thank you so much for sharing all of your great ideas!

  42. Love these cookies! I have visited your website on several occasions but never got around to commenting on your posts. I love your creativity and wish you more success!!

  43. These are adorable. I sent a similar vintage valentines to my best friend this year – wish I’d been able to send her it on a cookie – she’d have loved it!

  44. oh, my, wanted to say I like the BIT… sorry.

  45. bless you. I like the pit about the doorstop!!! haha. Just found your site, you are a STAR!!!

  46. Bakerella, I just found your website recently and I have to say…I adore everything you do! I am currently in culinary school for Baking and Pastry Arts and to be quite honest, I was thinking about changing my career path until I saw your website. You are truly an inspiration. :) I decided to continue on my path to following my baking dreams. Thank you :)

  47. Okay, given that I have a serious love of baking how is it that no one bothered to tell me about your FABTASTIC blog until now. Oh well, better late than never! And, j’adore these sweet valentine’s!!! Super cute!

    I’ll be back ’round! Happy weekend & thanks for all this tastiness! :)

  48. Those are AMAZING! I say the cookie printer is worth it ;)

  49. I never know that this will use a normal printer.. LOL..
    Thaks for the info.. ^_^

  50. These are the cutest cookies I have ever seen! I love vintage things and was surprised to see that the Valentine I used on my website for Valentines was one of pictures on cookie! So cute. Anyway, I think they win the award for cutest ever cookie!!!!!

  51. I am speechless! These are AWESOME!!!
    You are AWESOME!! And this is why I keep coming back to your site!! Never a dull moment!
    Thank you!

  52. Ok. These cookies were sooo darn cute. Oh I wish I had that printer. BUT not to be deterred, I was so inspired by these cookies, that I made this cake http://goodremedy.blogspot.com/2010/02/special-occasion-special-cake.html for my sister’s 50th birthday. It wasn’t perfect, but she was surprised and happy. I just love those frosting sheets. Thank you for the inspiration! Keep baking!

  53. Oh these are absolutely adorable! It’s such a shame I didn’t find these until after Valentine’s. I’m definitely going to have to keep them in mind for future holidays! Halloween would certainly be perfect!

  54. These are wonderful….I always wondered how they did that as i just saw a site where someone did cupckaes with designer logo’s ontop….Now I know….So Louis Vuitton cookies won’t be far behind…thanks for all the info…..Sue

  55. HOLY COW. These are the coolest things EVER. I saw the printer was a cannon. I HAVE A CANNON. Can I do this? I’m putting this on my blog (which really no one else reads but me lol I just started it this week) but seriously. You are the most talented person — EVER. How did the icing from the printer taste? I just can’t get over it. Wow.

  56. I am absolutely blown away by how gorgeous these are! Really touching and sweet

  57. These are beautiful!

  58. Total awsomesauce. Despite your printer issues, you make it look so easy (although I’m sure it’s not).

  59. Absolutely incredible, these look amazing.

  60. Two Christmases ago, my dad surprised us with a big box to “the girls in the family”. It was a complete setup with edible ink, printer, and KopyCake pages. What a cool Dad/Grandpa!! We’ve used for so many different things, it’s totally worth getting one. We made vintage 4th of July cookies last year and they were adorable! I LOVE the idea of vintage VDay pops!
    We copied these cookies last week for a Girls Night Out:
    http://www.fancyflours.com/site/vday-profile-cookies.html
    I just made my own silhouettes, printed them, and we called them “Emma and Mr. Knightley” cookies.:)

  61. Where do you get your images? I was thinking of making these for St. Patrick’s Day but I want to make sure I get quality images!!

  62. THOSE ARE BEYOND CUTE!!!!

  63. I just died of cuteness overload.

  64. What size frosting paper did you end up with? I am going to order some and I want to make sure I get the right stuff! I think I want to make mini record covers… hopefully they turn out as cute as these!
    Jen
    *miss bee’s bakery*

  65. Super cute!
    I didn’t read all the comments but I have a good tip to give you if you want to keep a good relation with your printer…
    Print something (on a regular sheet, not need to print the whole sheet) every week or your inks won’t print right and you’ll get angry everytime you’ll try to print something for your cookies…

  66. These are the cutest cookies I have ever seen…wow, I love the Panda image but it’s not on the pdf…do you have it? Gorgeous work :) Bonnie x

  67. OH it’s so cute.
    Yummy !!

  68. great idea, but if you don’t want the expense and the hassle of trying to print at home, check out this site where you can buy pre-printed designs for cakes, cupcakes, cookies, etc!
    http://www.ticings.com

  69. You are TOO GOOD, Bakerella! I’ve sent pictures to the bakery to have them printed before, but never knew I could buy and print the sheets myself! I may have to go shopping for a new printer this week! Thanks, as always, for sharing your creative mind with us!

  70. These are so cute! You are so creative! I’m always impressed with all you do!

  71. These are the cutest things I ever did see! L*O*V*E* them!!

  72. Okay – now you made me go and have to buy a new printer. Love!!!!

  73. Dear Cutie-Pah-tootie,
    Those are amazing!!! THink of the possibilities… you could have used this instead of cutting out those superbowl fondant shapes… Glad you finally got the printer thing figured out, the cookies MUST go on!!!

    Love,
    Fellowship Of Frosting IN NE

  74. Absolutely adorable! Now I’ll have to try that too! I am making your cupcake pops tonight for a party I’m having on Thursday. How far in advance would you say these can be made?

  75. try: Cricut Cake,by provo crats
    this is the link
    http://www.provocraft.com/products/detail.php?cl=cricut&scl=&item=20-00238
    it’s pretty cool…

  76. These are so adorable! Great now I think ill be going to buy one of these printers at lunch today! haha

  77. I love that idea! I never thought of it. I have a mother that keeps everything and have some vintage baby cards… Super cute for an upcoming baby shower. I love edibleink. i use it for pictures on cakes all the time for customers that want a face image. However im not smart enough to do it myself so i take the image to the local Walmart bakery and get the print made for a couple bucks. Wish I had the room and money to get me one of those printers and ink.. You go girl!

  78. Bakerella – but do the pop sticks burn in the oven? Do you need to cover the sticks while the cookies are baking?
    Thanks,
    Melissa

  79. I made these for Halloween, but ordered the vintage Halloween Postcard papers from fancyflours.com. Way cute. You are far more industrious than me! Way cute!!
    One Crazy Mama

  80. Those valentines are swell (vintage word?)
    I LOVED the post because I can so relate to those darned printers / cartridges / doorstops!
    Thanks for making me laugh and swoon over your latest project.

  81. Well, now you’ve done it. I love everything you do. I really do. But the things I love most in life are antiques and anything vintage. These were THE BEST.

    Life is good…

  82. I love it! I’d be too afraid to mess with those inks, butyouve inspired me! So cute!!!! And vintage? I die! If I ever do something like this for my site, I’ll let you know! -Cakeb0t

  83. Happy Valentine!
    Have to have a foodprinter!!!

  84. these are absolutely fabulous and so clever – just when you blow me away with one idea you come up with another one. i am definately going to try this for my little girl’s birthday instead of the usual cupcakes for school.

  85. Oh my word – these are absolutely fantastic! I love vintage, I love cookies, I love anything on a stick, I love you! You really create the most amazing things and inspire me always…

  86. Oh I can’t even stand it!!! I am in love with vintage V Day cards…….and this idea is to die for!!! Seriously…I can’t stand it!

  87. That’s pure insanity right there. Edible ink…hmm. Awesome seeing these.

    On your new doorstop, I happen to sit on the board of directors for my local boys & girls club. We are just getting started and could certainly find a use for it if you dont. Better than it getting all kicked around… :)

  88. I absolutely love your website – it makes me smile everyday! You are so taelnted!

  89. THIS is the BEST use of edible images I’ve ever seen. I normally hate anything with an edible images, but this is just far too adorable! Great job!

  90. ‘Wow, those valentines bring back so many memories. Wasn’t life just a bit sweeter then? They are beautiful. Worth the trouble, for certain!

  91. Those are amazing!! Your creativity knows no bounds.

  92. Nothing short of amazing!!! Loved your determination to press on, despite needing another printer. Oh, I can SO relate! Enjoy not eating them. Ever. :-) Bravo Bakerella!!!

  93. well i know this will get lost with the MANY other comments, but i am so happy that you posted this. i have emailed many baking/cooking sites asking them to do a tute on edible inks and so far no one has obliged! so i figured that this is something i would never try. so i greatly appreciate you putting something up about this!

  94. You never cease to amaze me! All of my friends keep asking me where I get these fantastic treats! Your football oreo cooke truffles were a huge hit at our Super Bowl party! I WISH I had seen this in time to try it for Valentine’s Day…… Keep it coming I LOVE everything!

  95. There are so many of your ideas that I LOVE. This one ranks up there with the tops ones. Thank you for this.
    Lots of love on Valentine’s Day,
    Angela

  96. CUTE. I had no idea that was possible.

    But … no love for the Daytona 500?! I’m sure you could come up with something SUPER cute for NASCAR!

  97. They are THE most gorgeous things ever!!!!

  98. I just discovered you this week. Love, love, LOVE this!!!!! You are my kind of Awesome! This is SO my kind of thing. Thanks!!!

  99. good grief, those are the cutest valentine’s day cookies i’ve ever seen in my life. EVER. i could stare at them all day long. you are a genius. really, you are. happy valentine’s day!!! ox.

  100. OMG – the cuteness factor here is off the charts! Love them, love them, love them! I had never heard of frosting sheets….

  101. You never cease to amaze me with your adorable creations!!! I admire your persistence despite your printer issues…

  102. Those are the darn cutest things that I ever did see!!! I even jumped right on and found out that my (relatively new) printer is listed!! But then you made me all sorts of nervous about cleaning it before using the edible inks….. hmmmm…. not sure if I can justify *another* new printer!? But waay to cute!!! Trying to decide what sort of Sweet excuse I can find…. :O) Love it, thanks again for sharing!!

  103. Wow! You are so impressive! Someday I’ll build up the courage to try some of these ideas….in the meantime I LOVE checking your blog every few weeks :)

  104. Aw! Super cute! That is so true about the price of ink cartridges. That made me laugh. But it hurt.

  105. I adore vintage valentines! I wonder why they ever stopped making them….And these cute little puffy cookies are to die for!! I love everything about these!

  106. So creative and clever!! And truly beautiful treats!! I’m sure they’re delicious, as well. :-)

  107. Those are unbeliveably cute, it’s un-bear-able! *har-har-har*

  108. These are so darn cute. I used to work for Cookes by Design. I was the cookie decorator for 7 years. I loved it, and my kids loved it. What a fun job. You’ve brought back some fabulous memories.
    xxoo Valarie

  109. They are so cute! I love your blog, I check it almost every day!!

  110. I love love love love love love love them!

  111. Wow ~ this is fantastic!!! Thank you for sharing this information with us. It is definitely worth the effort. The vintage cookies look beautiful!

  112. This is the best use of frosting paper I’ve ever seen! Usually, they are logo cookies or prom pictures on sheet cakes. I always thought they were cheesy before. But, leave it to you to make it adorable! I love your determination, too! If I’ve got an idea in my head, by gosh it’s going to happen if it kills me! You are amazing!

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