Valentine’s Day Cookie Pops

Here’s an easy way to please the little kiddos in your life on Valentine’s Day. It’s semi-homemade! I made these sugar cookie pops for my neice and nephews and they were all over them.

For the cookies

1 roll of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough
8 oz confectioners sugar
1.5 oz of pasterized egg whites
1/4 tsp lemon juice
sprinkles
pink, purple and/or red food coloring (preferably gel dyes)

Other needed items

Lollipop sticks (found in craft stores)
Clear lollipop bags
Decorated container (I used take out box shaped container)
Small piece of styofoam the size of your container
Beans
Decorative shredded paper or grass
Heart cookie cutters

1. Roll out your dough on a floured surface to an 1/8th inch thickness.
2. Cut out your heart shape cookies.
3. Place your hearts on your cookie sheet and then lay the lollipop stick into each heart gently
4. Place a second heart over each heart and gently press down so the stick is now firmly between two hearts.
5. Chill your cookie sheet in the refridgerator for at least twenty minutes or more. This will help the dough keep its heart shape in the oven. Preheat your oven as directed on the dough package.
6. In the meantime prepare the royal icing:

Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Gradually add the sugar on medium speed and scraping down the sizes of your bowl as you go.
Add the lemon juice and beat on high speed until the icing is shiny.
Keep the icing covered with a damp paper towel so it does not dry out.

7. Bake your cookies for 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned. It helps to rotate the pan half way through.
8. Let your cookies cool on the pan before moving them.
9. Separate a small amount of your icing and add your desired food coloring. Using a number 2 tip and a piping bag, create outlines around all your heart cookies. After it dries go back and fill your cookies in the same or different color with a number 3 tip. Gently shake the cookie so all the gaps are filled with the icing. Cover with sprinkles if desired and wait until they are dry to shake off the excess.

Once the cookies are completely dry, you can cover them with the lollipop bags. They already come with ribbon ties that you just pull close. Fit the foam into your container. (Since my cookies were heavier then my cardboard container, I filled the bottom of my container with dry beans to keep it upright.) Arrange your cookie pops into the styrofoam base and fill the container with decorative shredded paper, grass or tissue paper to cover the foam.

I also made these cookies with my left over dough…