Romantics might say that love is what makes Valentine’s Day so sweet, but the rest of us would argue that the desserts are the stars of the show. Looking for the best baked goods to make en masse for your friends and loved ones (or just yourself)? We’ve compiled a list of five delicious desserts that you’ll fall in love with. And don’t worry—there’s more to V-day dishes than just chocolate!
1. Brownie Heart Cupcakes
Recipe Courtesy of Martha Stewart
What you’ll need:
Vegetable oil, cooking spray
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
12 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Basic Buttercream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Coat an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray, line bottom with parchment, then spray parchment.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until chocolate melts.
Attach bowl to mixer, add sugar, and whisk on medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Spread remaining batter in square pan. Bake until set but still soft, about 18 minutes. Let cool in tins and pan on wire racks.
Frost cupcakes with buttercream. Cut out 24 hearts from brownie in pan using a 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter. Top each cupcake with a heart.
2. White Chocolate Valentines Sugar Cookies
Recipe courtesy Wes Martin at Food Network
What you’ll need:
Ingredients for 1 recipe Sugar Cookie dough, at room temperature
1 teaspoon red gel paste food coloring
4 ounces white chocolate, melted
Pink gel paste food coloring
(Equipment: 2 1/2-by-3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter)
Directions:
Start with Alton’s Sugar Cookie dough recipe.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat until light in color. Add the red food coloring, egg and milk and beat to combine. Proceed with recipe and chill for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Sprinkle a work surface and rolling pin with confectioner’s sugar and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move dough frequently to prevent it from sticking and add more confectioner’s sugar to the work surface and rolling pin as needed. With a 2 1/2-by-3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut 36 hearts, re-rolling dough as needed. Place at least 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, and bake until cookies are set but not brown, about 7-8 minutes. Let cool on the pan slightly before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
To make striped Valentine hearts, transfer half of the melted chocolate to a disposable pastry bag, twist the end closed, and using scissors, snip a very small opening in the tip. Starting at the bottom of the cookie, apply gentle pressure to the pastry bag and drizzle lines of chocolate back and forth over the cookie, moving up as the chocolate flows. Allow chocolate to set before eating or packaging.
To make polka-dot Valentine hearts, color the remaining chocolate with pink food coloring to the desired shade of pink. Transfer to a disposable pastry bag, twist the end closed, and using scissors, snip a very small opening in the tip. Hold the pastry bag perpendicular to the cookie and apply gentle pressure to pipe a dot of chocolate. Release the pressure on the bag until the flow stops, and continue over the surface of the cookie, piping different sized dots, if desired. Gently tap the cookie to settle the chocolate and allow to set before eating or packaging.
Cook’s Note: If gel paste food colorings are not available, add liquid food coloring until you achieve desired color. For pink, simply use a little red.
3. Love Bug Cake Balls
Recipe Courtesy Betty Crocker
What you’ll need:
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® cake mix (any flavor)
+ Water, vegetable oil, and eggs called for on cake mix box
¾ cup Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy frosting (any non-chip, no-nut flavor)
3 bags (12 oz each) candy coating (any color)
48 paper lollipop sticks
Directions:
Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 13×9-inch pan. Cool completely, and crumble cake. Reserve approximately one-fourth of cake crumbs, and set aside. (These will be used to coat the love bugs.)
With large spoon, thoroughly mix remaining cake crumbs and the frosting.
Roll mixture into quarter-size cake balls, and place on waxed paper-covered cookie sheet. Place cake balls in freezer about 15 minutes to firm up. Then transfer them to the refrigerator to keep chilled and avoid freezing.
Place candy coating in microwavable bowl so coating is at least 3 to 4 inches deep. Microwave uncovered on Low (10%) in 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.
Remove 2 cake balls from refrigerator at a time. Dip tip of lollipop stick into melted coating, and insert into cake ball no more than halfway through. Dip and remove cake pop into coating in one motion without stirring, making sure entire cake ball is covered. If coating is too thick, add a little vegetable oil to help thin it and make it easier to work with.
Remove and gently tap off any excess coating to fall off pop and back into bowl. Before coating sets, gently press cake crumbs around entire ball. Place stick in craft foam to dry.
Once dry, remove cake ball from lollipop stick for decorating. Using photo as a guide, get creative with placement of desired candy decorations for fun expressions and details. Use melted candy coating to attach candy decorations. For feet, attach cake ball to a mini heart cookie. Use string licorice for antennae, heart candies for ears and eyes. Let dry completely; store loosely covered.
4. Cherry Cheesecake Poke Cake
Recipe courtesy Cat Davis of Food Family Finds
What you’ll need:
1 box Betty Crocker Cherry Chip cake mix
1 small box JELLO cheesecake instant pudding
1-2/3 cups cold milk
1 tub Betty Crocker cherry cake frosting
1 small tub COOL WHIP frozen dessert topping
Directions:
Bake cake mix as directed on packaging and cool for 30 minutes.
Whisk pudding mix and milk until smooth.
Use a large wooden dowel to poke several holes in the top of the cake.
Pour as much as the pudding into the holes as possible and wipe off excess.
Mix COOL WHIP and frosting until combined.
Spread the frosting over the cake, top with sprinkles and refrigerate until ready to serve.
5. Mallow Sweetheart Cookies
Recipe courtesy Kraft Recipes
What you’ll need:
1 pkg. (20 oz. refrigerated sliceable sugar cookies
12 jet-puffed Marshmallows
Decorating icing
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out cookie dough to 1/8-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into 24 cookies, using 2- to 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutters, rerolling dough scraps as necessary. Place, 2 inches apart, on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from baking sheets to wire racks. Cool completely.
Top bottom side of each of 12 of the cookies with 1 marshmallow. Place 4 of the cookies on microwavable plate. Microwave on HIGH 15 to 20 seconds or until marshmallows begin to puff; cover with 4 of the remaining cookies, bottom sides down, to make sandwiches. Repeat with remaining cookies and marshmallows. Decorate with icing as desired.