In a medium size mixing bowl whisk together the flour, the baking powder and the salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer (or using your hand held mixer) beat the butter until nice and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to mix until well combined.
Next, add the egg and the vanilla. Beat well at medium speed until the dough pulls off the side of the bowl and all the ingredients are incorporated together.
Remove half of the dough and form it into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside.
To the dough remaining in the bowl add the food colouring. Beat well until the food colouring is incorporated and the dough is uniform in colour. We suggest beginning with 1/4 teaspoon of food colouring gel and increasing from there until you get the colour that you want.
Form this coloured dough into a ball and wrap it as well with plastic wrap. Chill both balls of dough in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes.
When you are ready to shape and bake your cookies, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare a baking tray with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Remove dough from fridge and cut off pieces of both the white and coloured dough. Press them together to make a ball.
Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/3 inch. We find that rolling the dough between two pieces of either wax paper or parchment paper makes it much easier.
Use your cookie cutter to cut out your heart shapes. Place your cookie cutter strategically to give you pretty colour patterns.
Transfer the cookies to the baking tray. When your tray is full, bake in the middle rack of your oven for between 10 - 12 minutes.
Remove tray from oven and allow the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooking rack.
Enjoy!