Preheat the oven to 375F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy– about 2 minutes on medium-high speed.

Reduce the mixer to low speed, add the vanilla extract and food coloring, if using, and mix until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

With the mixer still on low speed, slowly add the flour. Mix just until the dough has come together in a ball.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer to chill for 15-20 minutes, or until it has hardened slightly.

Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough out until it is ¼” thick.

Cut the cookies using a heart-shaped cookie cutter that is about 2” across.

Transfer the cut cookies to the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Re-roll any leftover dough and repeat the cutout process.

Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes (depending on the size of your hearts), or until the edges are starting to turn golden brown.

Allow the cookies to cool completely before adding icing or decorating.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Combine the sugar, meringue powder and water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment or in a medium mixing bowl – you'll need a hand mixer.

Whip the ingredients together on high for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture has the consistency to drizzle down back into the bowl and smooth out within a couple of seconds.

Depending on the climate you may need to add more water or confectioner's sugar (very small amounts at a time).

Transfer a portion of the icing to a squeeze bottle and outline the cookies. You'll want a thicker consistency for this step.

Once the cookies are outlined the icing should harden within 2-3 minutes.

Thin out the icing slightly with a little bit more water and then transfer to another squeeze bottle.

Fill in the outlined cookies – this is called flooding.

The icing should be nice and smooth and sort of pour into and fill the area you have outlined.

The thicker icing you added earlier should hold it all in.

Immediately add any desired sprinkles to the icing – before moving on to the next cookie as the icing will harden before you are done with all of the cookies and the sprinkles won't stick.

You can refrigerate the cookies to speed the process of setting the icing if desired.