How to Make an Overlapping Heart Cookie Platter

Written by Mike Tamplin • Jan 20, 2021

Take your cookie decorating to the next level!

Trace cookie designs with ease with the Akaso mini projector.

If you're looking for a super easy cookie platter idea for Valentine's Day, I have one I think you're going to love.

For this overlap heart cookie platter, I tried to keep things simple as possible. Seriously, the cookie cutter shapes do most of the heavy lifting. Just flood the cookies, add a center message design, and serve.

To add some interest to this heart cookie platter, I wanted to try out some new stencils I just added to the shop. Below, I guide you on how I applied these stencils to the cookies, as well as a few airbrush tips I learned along the way.

Overlap Heart Cookie Platter Stencils

Just added to the shop are two new cookie stencils: the rose garden 3-piece stencil, and the wide stripe stencil.

I love these stencils because they can be used for multiple occasions. The rose garden stencil is perfect for Valentine's, but also great for Easter, Mother's Day, and spring events. The wide stripe stencil creates a beautiful gingham effect that is timeless. It can be used all year-round.

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Airbrush System and Tips

After years of dependable service, my previous Pegasus airbrush died over the summer.

I recently bought the complete airbrush system from Designer Cookies, and I can't say enough how much I love this machine! It's dual-action, meaning the compressor only turns on when the trigger is pressed. I also appreciate the hose connection has quick connectors, making assembling the gun to the compressor a breeze.

To airbrush with these two new stencils, I like to:

have the compressor setting on medium (it's two illuminated blue dots on the compressor).
have the nozzle hovering about 6 inches above the cookie (this forms a spray area width of about 1").
keep the nozzle of the gun pointed directly perpendicular to the surface of the cookie to prevent underspray.
keep the gun moving in a slow and steady path.

Also, to hold the stencil down onto the cookie, the Stencil Genie frame is a must for me. It's easy to use and holds down the edges of the stencil to prevent underspray.

Rose Garden Stencil

The rose garden 3-piece stencil may look daunting, but it's easy to use. There are etched guidelines on each of the stencil layers to help align the design with one another.

For this Valentine's Day platter, I used airbrush colors from The Cookie Countess.

I started by airbrushing the outer petal design. This light pink color is Pinch of Pink.

I let that airbrush color dry for about 5 minutes then I applied the inner petal design.

This darker, bolder shade of pink is Preppy Pink.

The last layer are the stems and leaves.

I used Succulent Green for the airbrush color and I can already tell it's going to be a favorite green on mine.

Wide Stripe Stencil

This wide stripe stencil is a standard stripe design. Each stripe is a half inch wide, producing a nice gingham design for medium to large cookies.

As mentioned above, this light pink color is Pinch of Pink.

I forgot to capture the steps to make the gingham pattern in photos, but you can see how I did it in the video below. Just airbrush the stripes, let the color dry, then rotate the stencil 90-degrees and airbrush the stripes again.

Video Tutorial

The steps above are summarized in this time-lapsed video I put together.

The finished platter, when assembled, should look like the one pictured below.

In total there are 11 cookie pieces: 10 heart cookies, and 1 center message cookie. It spans less than 12" across and fits inside a pizza pan dish from The Dollar Tree store.