When it comes to celebrating Valentine’s Day, there’s no better way to show your love than with a sweet treat. Whether you’re making a ‘special dessert’ for that ‘special someone’ or just want something unique and festive for friends and family, these JELL-O Cookies will be a bite to remember.
Decadently sweet, and delightfully crisp, these Valentine’s Day cookies are made with a simple cookie dough and flavored with strawberry JELL-O. The cookies are then cut into heart shapes and decorated with white and pink frosting. The end result is a delicious and festive Valentine’s Day treat that’s perfect for sharing with your loved ones.
Not only do these JELL-O cookies taste amazing, they’re also incredibly simple to make. Whether you’re a beginner baker or a seasoned pro, you’ll be able to whip up a batch of these cookies in no time. Plus, the heart-shaped cookies are as much a treat for the eyes as they are the palate, making them perfect for Valentine’s Day parties as a decorative centerpiece.
So if you’re looking for a fun and festive Valentine’s Day treat, look no further than today’s JELL-O cookies. Read on for an ingredient checklist, and tips on prepping the cookies.
Ingredient Checklist
- Strawberry JELL-O. The star of the show, we’re using strawberry JELL-O as the main flavoring for the cookies, as well as the source of their color.
- Shortening. We’re using shortening instead of butter for this particular recipe, and that’s by design. Details below.
- All-Purpose Flour. For best results, I strongly recommend sticking to all-purpose flour. Baking flour results in a much lighter, more delicate cookie, such that the cookie will fall apart unless the recipe is specifically tailored to that type of flour.
- Baking Powder. This helps the cookies to rise, while enhancing the texture. The recipe simply does not work without this ingredient.
- Vanilla. I’m using vanilla extract, but paste or pods would also work fine. Those substitute at a one to one ratio by volume. I’m using Nielsen Massey Pure Vanilla Extract, as they’ve been a favorite in my kitchen for many years now.
- Sugar. Use granulated or superfine sugar for today’s recipe.
- Egg. For this particular recipe, don’t try to substitute the egg. The egg serves a couple of purposes. The main reason is to act as a binder, helping to hold the cookies together and give them structure. The egg also adds flavor (via fat), moisture, and richness to the cookie. In addition, the lecithin in eggs helps to create a softer, more tender cookie. Finally, it acts to give the dough ‘lift.’
Baking with Shortening, the “When” & the “Why”
- Texture. Shortening will result in a crispier or crunchier texture as compared to butter. As such, shortening is typically (but not always) used in recipes such as macaroons, meringues, or shortbread cookies.
- Higher Temps. When a recipe calls for very high baking temperature, shortening is often (but not always) preferred, as it has a significantly higher melting point than butter. At such high temperatures, the butter would begin to burn.
- Dry Recipes. In dryer recipes, or in recipes where moisture needs to be kept to a minimum, shortening is preferred over butter, as it is ‘dryer’ than butter.
- Cookies that are likely to spread. This again relates to the higher melting point of shortening. In baked goods that are likely to spread or expand significantly during baking, shortening is often (though very far from always) preferred over butter, as the higher melting points aids a more even spreading or expansion. In the case of cookies, this will prevent the cookies from being ‘too’ flat.
- Less Dense Recipes. Due to shortening containing very little moisture, shortening is often preferred in baked goods that are lighter or less dense.
Jello Heart Cookies
- Total Time: 13 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
Ingredients
- 6 oz. of cherry or strawberry flavored Jell-O
- 3 1/2 cups of flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup sugar - plus extra for dipping the cookies in
- 1 1/2 cups shortening
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat Oven 375 degrees.
- Beat together the sugar, egg, vanilla and shortening; add the Jell-0 to this mixture and continue to beat.
- Combine the flour, salt and baking powder; slowly add this to the sugar mixture while beating.
- Form into a ball and on a clean floured surface roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out the heart shapes and dip in the sugar.
- Bake 7 – 10 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges.
- Let cool on a rack.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Category: Dessert
And those are my JELL-O Valentine’s Day Cookies. I hope you enjoy them as much I enjoyed preparing this recipe for you. If you have any comments or suggestions for this or future content, please let me know in the comments below! I love hearing from you!
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Happy Baking!
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Comedy Plus says
What a clever idea. I love this and I'll bet these are mighty good too.
Have a fabulous day Catherine. Big hugs. ♥♥♥
Ginny Hartzler says
These are simply gorgeous!! They look like they are jeweled. It will be awesome to eat your heart out!
tanna says
I love how you free handed those hearts!! Beautiful. I think the jello gives such a nice color... and flavor. But, the stuffed pablanos... oh, my goodness! LOVE for me! blessings ~ tanna
Louise says
How cool are they Catherine!!! What a day brightener! I bet they taste yummy too:) Thanks for sharing, Catherine...It's a sunny day in PA. Sending sunshine your way:)
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
These love cookies are so gorgeous!
Betty says
I love these! The pink hearts are adorable. I've had Jello cakes, but never thought to make cookies with it. I bet other flavors would work too! 🙂
Big Daddy Dave says
Catherine, We've never had Jell-O cookies but these look great. We don't have any family nearby so we'd have to make them for ourselves...which isn't a bad idea! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Carol Z says
So pretty and they look so good! Sweet Valentine wishes!
sandie says
Never thought about using jello! So pretty.
Dottie Sauchelli-Balin says
Dear Catherine,
Beautiful color and what a fun cookie! I never made cookies with Jell-O before...These are very easy and delicious looking. I like the touch of the sugar on the top, it sparkles like glitter. Thanks for sharing, I think I will have to make these...Have a blessed Sunday!
Dottie 🙂
Esther B says
Beaux â croquer ces merveilleux biscuits!!
Medeja says
The color is just lovely!
what's baking?? says
Pretty cookies. Happy Valentine's
day
Sarah R. says
GREAT color on these!!! I've never tried adding jello to cookies...hmmm...So glad you linked up at Snickerdoodle Sunday- hope to see your latest makes next week!
Sarah (Sadie Seasongoods)
Beth says
Such pretty cookies - and perfect for a Valentine's treat!
Nakisha says
These look delicious AND with jell-0! What's not to love. Great photos too. Thank so much.
Jolena @TheRubyKitchen says
What a fun idea for Jello. Thanks for sharing!
Red Rose Alley says
Catherine, these are perfect for Valentine's Day. Sugar cookies are my favorite, but these look amazing. What a great gift for a loved one or even a friend. Sugar cookies in the shape of hearts, cherry, roses, all my favorite things. What a delightful post.
Happy Valentine's Day.
~Sheri
la cucina di Molly says
Che bella idea per S Valentino, questi biscotti sono fantastici, complimenti! Un abbraccio!
AnnMarie says
These look really refreshing and pretty and the recipe is easy. I am curious how they taste so I must try these!
Amy @ Ms. Toody Goo Shoes says
What a cool idea, Catherine! I've pinned to my Valentine's Day board. I'm so impressed that you didn't use a cookie cutter!
Pary Moppins says
I love j-e-l-l-O! It is much more versatile an ingredient than people realize. Thanks for the recipe. Visiting from Works for Me Wednesday.
Laura@Baking in Pyjamas says
How pretty, I like the sparkly sugar coating. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!
Michelle says
Awww...these are cute! I bet the jello gives a ton of flavor.
Miz Helen says
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome Valentines Day Cookies with Full Plate Thursday, hope to see you again soon!
Miz Helen
Heidy@ The McCallums Shamrock Patch says
Thank you so much for attending #PureBlogLove Link party and sharing your blog post last week, I wanted to personally stop by and thank you for coming and invite you to this weeks party tonight 8 PM EST on themccallumsshamrockpatch.com
Besos
Heidy
Whitney Stewart says
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a jello cookie, much less eaten one! And these look so tasty! So I’ll have to give this a try! Thanks so much for sharing!
Laura says
These are so pretty and sound delicious! A fun recipe to make for kids school.
Samantha Donnelly says
These look so cute and sound amazing, perfect for a valentines treat
Chad says
I can't believe how delicious these cookies are! Jello o Valentines day cookies are a must try! Thank you so much...
Lisa says
This is such a lovely idea! I didn't know you could make it with jelly and I love the colour too. I would really like to try making these cookies.
Rhian Westbury says
Ohh I'd have never thought to flavour something with Jell-o. I don't even know if we have that in the UK. But it's given it such a cool colouring x
Yeah Lifestyle says
I would not have thought of using strawberry jello as a flavour, that is such a great idea! The heart shape makes them look super cute too.
Melanie E says
Ha, what a clever idea, they look great. I havve never used jello when making cookies before.
Elizabeth Williams says
These look adorable and very tasty. I love themed food such as this for occasions such as Valentine's they are always very cute.
Jupiter Hadley says
I have never heard of baking with Jell-o, but this looks so interesting! The colors are very deep and it sounds like they taste great too.
Miz Helen says
Your post is awesome and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday, 627. Happy Valentine Day and come back to see us soon!
Miz Helen