Valentine’s Day Cookie Mug Huggers

Valentine’s Day cookie mug huggers are the perfect way to say I love you on February 14th or any day of the year. They’re also delicious!

What is a “cookie mug hugger?” 

Thank you for asking! A cookie mug hugger is a cookie with a notch baked into it so that you can hang it off the rim of a mug. Not only are they delicious, but they are adorable, especially for the holidays.  Cookie mug huggers are also functional. For those who love to dunk their cookies, this is a dream come true.

I was first introduced to the cookie mug hugger last Christmas on my weekly trip to Trader Joe’s. I love shopping there all year round, but during the holidays it’s especially fun because Trader Joe’s has all sorts of fun things with which to celebrate the season. As I was perusing the aisles, the sweetest gingerbread men in a box caught my eye. I’m a sucker for gingerbread! Upon further inspection, I realized they each little guy had a notch in them. I thought to myself, “That’s strange?!” Thankfully there was a picture on the box showing that these sweet gingerbread men were meant to hang off the rim of your mug. So adorable!

Make your own cookie mug hugger.

Not only were these gingerbread men adorable, but they were delicious too. You see, I love dunking my cookies, especially in coffee and cocoa, so this idea was genius to me. I felt strongly that I could make some of these sweet cookie mug huggers at home and I intended to do just that for Christmas. Spoiler alert!… I ran out of time (sound familiar?).

Christmas had come and gone, but I still couldn’t get those sweet cookies out of my head. Then I realized, I didn’t need to wait until next Christmas to try and make some. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so why not try making some hearts?! “Great idea!” I said to myself.

Buy a special cookie cutter or make your own.

Sure you can buy cookie mug hugger cutters, but after shopping around online, I realized that getting a heart-shaped cutter in time for Valentine’s Day was not going to happen. That didn’t stop me though!

I knew I had a bunch of heart-shaped cookie cutters in my collection, so I got my box out and started brainstorming. I came across plenty of heart shapes I could use, but the question was how I was going to get the notch in the heart so it would hug the rim of the mug.

First, I thought about a large paperclip, but I wasn’t sure that was going to work. Then, as I was going through all my cookie cutters I found an oddly shaped one. It was so oddly shaped, I wasn’t even sure what it was?! That’s when it occurred to me… Clearly, I could spare to part with this mystery cookie cutter. I took a wire cutter and cut the cookie-cutter open. Then, I reformed the shape to form the notch. I had to do my best to guess the correct width that I thought would work for the notch to hug the rim of a mug. My fingers were crossed that this was going to work.

Time to bake some Valentine’s Day cookie mug huggers.

I rolled out my dough and made one cookie sheet worth of cookies using my homemade cookie notch maker. I didn’t want to make too many in case I needed to adjust my notch cookie-cutter. The luck of the cookie gods was on my side because it worked perfectly! My Valentine’s Day cookie mug huggers hugged mugs of all different sizes perfectly. 

I hope you enjoy making these Valentine’s Day cookie mug huggers for the loved ones in your life. If you are looking for more sweet ways to show your love through baking, my Chocolate Cake is also a wonderful way to show your love. Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift ideas for the lovely ladies in your life? Disguised as cupid, I’m here to help!

Yield: 3 dozen

Valentine's Day Cookie Mug Huggers

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Additional Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

These delicious sugar cookies in the shape of hearts will melt in your mouth. They are perfect for dunking in milk, coffee, or cocoa. The best part is that they hug your glass or mug while they wait for their chance to be dunked. Valentine's Day cookie mug huggers and are a wonderful way to show some love on Valentine's Day. They are a sweet and unique treat!

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Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar (for rolling out the dough)

Royal Icing

• 6 tablespoons pasteurized egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat to combine.
4. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until fully incorporated. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
5. Sprinkle the surface where you are rolling out the dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from the refrigerator at a time, sprinkle the rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick. Cut into hearts. *
6. Place the hearts at least 1-inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the cookies just begin to brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time.
7. Allow cookies to cool for 3 minutes after removing them from the oven and then move to a wire rack to continue to cool completely. Serve as is or ice as desired.

For Royal Icing

1. In a large bowl combine egg whites and vanilla until frothy. Add confectioner's sugar gradually and mix with an electric mixer on low speed until sugar is incorporated and the mixture is shiny. Turn speed up until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take about 5-7 minutes. Add food coloring if desired.
2. Transfer icing to a pastry bag or heavy-duty storage bag and pipe as desired. If using a storage bag, clip corner.

Notes

*If the dough has warmed during rolling and cutting out the cookies, put it back in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to re-chill before trying to roll out again.

Icing can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.