This giant Valentine’s heart cookie is soft and gooey, easy to make, and topped with whipped cream cheese frosting. The cookie dough is made in one bowl, and you don’t even need an electric mixer. Just a handheld whisk. There’s no chill time and it’s made using melted butter so no need to wait for butter to soften. The frosting is a light and fluffy whipped cream cheese frosting which helps balance the gooey chocolatey cookie.
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Why you will LOVE this recipe:
Giant: It’s a cookie cake! It has crisp edges and a soft and gooey middle. Slice it up and serve for a party. Much easier than baking individual cookies.
Gooey: The middle of the cookie is perfectly soft and gooey, without being raw. It slices beautifully and stays soft for days!
Frosting: There’s nothing more festive than a giant cookie topped with frosting. This frosting is a super fluffy whipped frosting with cream cheese. So perfect for a Valentine’s Day party.
Easy: One bowl, zero chill time, melted butter, no electric mixer needed… This cookie couldn’t be any easier to make. You will need an electric mixer for the frosting (use store bought frosting for a shortcut.)
Why giant cookies are the best
There’s nothing more festive than a giant Valentine’s heart cookie with a frosting border at a party.
My favourite part about giant cookies is how soft and thick the middle is. The edges become crisp but the middle stays soft and gooey. It makes the perfect slice.
How to keep the middle soft
This giant Valentine’s heart cookie has a soft middle that will stay soft for days (just serve at room temperature). The key is to have the middle slightly underbaked. The edges will be golden but the middle will still be shiny. It will continue baking as the cookie cools, giving you the perfect sliceable soft gooey middle.
Preventing a gloopy cream cheese frosting
Cream cheese frosting tends to end up being gloopy and doesn’t pipe well. Here are lots of tips to create the perfect pipeable cream cheese frosting.
Cream cheese: Use a full fat, brick style cream cheese. Low fat cream cheese frosting will be too watery and make the frosting gloopy. You don’t want the cream cheese to be fully softened. Leaving the cream cheese out at room temperature for about 10 minutes is perfect!
Butter: The butter needs to be softened, but not too soft. If you press your finger into the butter, it should leave an indent without leaving a greasy residue. If it’s too soft, the frosting might be too soft.
Heavy whipping cream: I prefer to use cream than milk because it will loosen the frosting without making it gloopy. Add just enough cream to make the frosting nice and fluffy. Beat for about 5-10 seconds. Don’t overbeat the frosting because it might make it a little grainy. It’ll still be delicious though!
How to fix a gloopy cream cheese frosting
The best way to fix a gloopy cream cheese frosting is to pop it into the fridge for 10-20 minutes. Once chilled, beat it again and add icing sugar a quarter cup at a time until thickened enough to pipe.
Key ingredients
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below. But read through these for all the tips you will need for success!
Butter: Use a good quality butter for best results. If using salted butter just omit the salt in the recipe.
Brown sugar: This gives the cookie so much flavour! I use old fashioned brown sugar for this recipe.
Chocolate chips: I used a combination of mini semisweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate hearts. I found them right next to the chocolate chips in the baking section of my grocery store.
All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
Cream cheese: Use a full fat brick style cream cheese for best results. Anything else will make the frosting too gloopy!
Heavy whipping cream: Use a cream that's at least 32% milk fat for best results. This will make the frosting light and fluffy without making it gloopy.
Step by step
Step 1 - Butter and sugar. Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Grease a heart shaped springform pan with a cold bit of butter. In a large bowl combine melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. Whisk until well combined.
Step 2 - Wet ingredients. Add egg and vanilla extract. Whisk by hand for about 30 seconds so that the mixture thickens and lightens in colour.
Step 3 - Dry ingredients. Sift flour and baking soda right into the same bowl. Add chocolate chips (reserve a few tablespoons for the top). Fold just until no more streaks remain.
Step 4 - Place into baking pan. Spread the cookie dough into the greased heart pan and smooth the top. Top with reserved chocolate chips. Place heart pan into a larger baking pan in case the heart pan leaks out of the bottom.
Step 5 - Bake for 22-25 minutes. Tent the pan with aluminum foil after 15 minutes of baking to prevent it from browning too much. The cookie is ready when it has browned edges and the middle is still underbaked and shiny. The cookie will continue to cook out of the oven. Make the frosting while it cools completely.
Step 6 - Make frosting. Beat together softened butter, sugar, and salt until very light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl a few times. Add vanilla extract. Add cream cheese one small piece at a time, beating well in between. Scrape down the bowl and beat again.
Add cream one tablespoon at a time, beating well in between to loosen up the frosting. It will become much lighter and fluffier. Using a spatula, fold the frosting by hand to beat out any of the large air bubbles.
Step 7 - Colour frosting. Divide frosting in half into two bowls. Colour half with pink food colouring and the second half with yellow. Mix well with a spatula. Place into two piping bags with piping tips (alternatively use large ziploc bags). I used a Wilton 1M piping tip for the pink and Wilton 4B for yellow.
Step 8 - Pipe borders. Pipe a pink swirl border all along the edge of the cooled giant Valentine’s heart cookie. Pipe another border using dollops of yellow frosting inside the pink border. Then add dollops of yellow on top of the pink frosting. Top with sprinkles, slice, and serve.
FAQ
Pop it into the fridge for 10-20 minutes. Once chilled, beat it again and add icing sugar a quarter cup at a time until thickened enough to pipe.
I found these Hershey's heart shaped milk chocolate chips in the baking section of the grocery store right beside the chocolate chips. You can use little milk chocolate hearts if you can't find them. Chopped milk chocolate and regular milk chocolate chips will work just as great.
You definitely can! Easily swap out the cream cheese with the same amount of butter and you get a light and fluffy American buttercream for piping.
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Happy baking!
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Giant Valentine’s Heart Cookie
Equipment
- 1 9 inch heart shaped spring-form pan
Ingredients
Giant Cookie
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour (180g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 oz cream cheese softened for 10 minutes
- 2-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Pink gel food colour
- Yellow gel food colour
- 2 tablespoons sprinkles
- 2 tablespoons candy hearts
Instructions
Giant Cookie
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a heart shaped springform pan with a cold bit of butter.
- In a large bowl combine melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. Whisk until well combined.1 cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Add egg and vanilla extract. Whisk by hand for about 30 seconds so that the mixture thickens and lightens in colour.1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract, 1 large egg
- Sift flour and baking soda right into the same bowl. Add chocolate chips (reserve a few tablespoons for the top). Fold just until no more streaks remain.1 ½ cup all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- Spread the cookie dough into the greased heart pan and smooth the top. Top with reserved chocolate chips. Place heart pan into a larger baking pan in case the heart pan leaks out of the bottom.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes. Tent the pan with aluminum foil after 15 minutes of baking to prevent it from browning too much. The cookie is ready when it has browned edges and the middle is still underbaked and shiny. The cookie will continue to cook out of the oven. Make the frosting while it cools completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat together softened butter, sugar, and salt until very light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl a few times.¾ cup unsalted butter, 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- Add vanilla extract. Add cream cheese one small piece at a time, beating well in between. Scrape down the bowl and beat again.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 3 oz cream cheese
- Add whipping cream one tablespoon at a time, beating well in between to loosen up the frosting. It will become much lighter and fluffier. Using a spatula, fold the frosting by hand to beat out any of the large air bubbles.2-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Divide frosting in half into two bowls. Colour half with pink food colouring and the second half with yellow. Mix well with a spatula. Place into two piping bags with piping tips (alternatively use large ziploc bags). I used a Wilton 1M piping tip for the pink and Wilton 4B for yellow.Pink gel food colour, Yellow gel food colour
- Pipe a pink swirl border all along the edge of the cooled cookie. Pipe another border using dollops of yellow frosting inside the pink border. Pipe dollops of yellow on top of the pink frosting. Top with sprinkles, candy hearts, slice, and serve.2 tablespoons sprinkles, 2 tablespoons candy hearts
Wanda
My friend and I was looking for a recipe for this kind of cookie for the kids at church, thank you so much.
Mary
It would be so great for that! Thank you so much 😀
Elizabeth
Okay aside from being cute and festive... This was such a delicious cookie! I made mine with homemade vanilla extract which amped up the flavor! So good!
Mary
Thank you so much! I'm so happy you enjoyed it 😀