14 Valentine’s Day Treats Your Kids Can Help Make

We remember when Valentine's Day was all about getting candy from school. But now, most schools ban food-based valentines, and kids give out small toys or trinkets instead. Replace the chalky candy hearts and same-old lollipops with some fun treats you can make with your kids at home! This can also be a great way to get rid of old candy from Halloween or ingredients for your Christmas cookie baking binge.

Chocolate Fondue

This has been our standby since our kids were old enough to eat! Sure, chocolate strawberries can be romantic, but fondue is also fun. Grab a bag of chocolate chips, a cup of heavy cream, and a dash of salt, and melt them all together in a pot.

When our kids were little, we would just pour the chocolate dip into a bowl and wait for it to cool off before dunking strawberries, raspberries, bananas, pretzels, pound cake, marshmallows, or whatever else they could dream up into the chocolate. Now that they're older, we keep a Sterno flame under the pot so it's warm for a longer time, and everyone can dip in with their fondue fork.

Spritz Cookies

We usually make these delicious buttery treats for Christmas, but the cookie press has a heart-shaped attachment, so you can also make them for Valentine's Day. Try this classic recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction, or make a variation by replacing the vanilla or almond extract with raspberry extract or cherry extract. Dye some of the cookies red or pink to add to the vibe. They're also fun to decorate with sprinkles or little tubes of frosting.

White Chocolate Chex Mix

This is one that you can really make your own. Grab two of your favorite kinds of cereal, Valentine colored M&Ms, peanuts (or your other favorite nuts), pretzels in a small shape or sticks, and some white chocolate candy coating. Mix your trail mix, using about six cups of cereal, one full-size bag of M&Ms, one to two cups of nuts, and two cups of pretzels per two-pound package of candy coating.

You can also cut the recipe in half if you don't have a big family or you aren't sure everyone is going to like it. Spread the Chex mix onto a large baking sheet. Melt the candy coating according to the package directions, and pour it over the mix so that it's evenly coated. Once it cools, cut it into two or three-inch chunks. Some of it will fall apart, but that's always nice to have as mini servings or as toppings on ice cream later!

Low-Calorie Strawberry Mousse Cake

From our list of desserts under 300 calories, this fancy-looking cake seems indulgent, but it has just 165 calories per slice. It includes a chocolate cake layer, a strawberry mousse layer with Greek yogurt and evaporated milk, and a gelatin top layer with strawberries. Each layer is sweetened with stevia for sweetness without a lot of calories. You can also make the mousse on its own for a sweet low calorie and low-carb treat.

Pink Puffed Rice Cereal Hearts

We love Rice Krispies Treats because they're fast and easy to make with just a few ingredients. Use this Food Network recipe, or use the recipe on a box of rice cereal or marshmallows. It's usually six cups of rice cereal (get something pink if it's available), a bag of marshmallows, and three tablespoons of butter. Melt the butter and then the marshmallows in a large pot, then turn off the heat and mix in the rice cereal. Add freeze-dried strawberries to make this treat extra red and pink for Valentine's Day.

Once the treats are mixed in the pot, you can pack them into heart-shaped cookie cutters, or make a large sheet of them and use the cookie cutters once they're set. You can also add a lollipop or popsicle stick to the bottom to make a cereal treat pop!

Red Velvet Cookies

These include both chocolate and the red and white color theme of Valentine's Day. And, as a cookie, it's easier and less messy than making a cake or cupcakes. Here's the full recipe on Simply Recipes.

Start by mixing 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature, 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup packed dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Add one egg and one egg yolk, plus one tablespoon of red food coloring. Mix slowly so you don't splatter the food coloring everywhere.

Then, mix in 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup natural cocoa powder. You can still use a stand mixer for this. Finish the dough by hand-mixing 1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips. Roll the cookies into one-inch balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes.

If you want to add more white chocolate chips to the top of the cookies, wait five minutes after removing them from the oven and press in the chips while the cookies are still soft.

Rolo Pretzels

This is another one that might traditionally be a holiday recipe, but if M&Ms are made in different colors for each holiday, why not make it for Valentine's Day? You'll need mini twist or waffle pretzels, a bag of Rolos, and Valentine's M&Ms (or get conversation hearts for a different look). Arrange the pretzels in a single layer on a baking sheet. Unwrap all of the Rolos from their foil and place one on top of each pretzel.

Bake the Rolo-topped pretzels at 300 degrees for 3 minutes. Then, press an M&M or conversation heart into the top of each one, flattening it a little to spread out the chocolate and caramel. Let it cool for a couple of minutes before eating.

Valentine's Day Hot Chocolate Bombs

While hot chocolate bombs may not be as popular as they used to be, these are still a fun treat, especially for those of us who live in climates where it's still below freezing on Valentine's Day. These have relatively few ingredients, but you do need the silicone molds to make them perfect spheres. There's a detailed recipe with video on In the Kids Kitchen.

Gather up red and white chocolate candy melts, hot cocoa mix, mini-marshmallows, and Valentine's Day sprinkles. Start by melting the red candy melts in the microwave in 30-second intervals until they're smooth. Then, layer them in the silicon molds and place them in the fridge until they're solid. Take half of the molded spheres out of their molds and fill them with two teaspoons of hot cocoa mix and seven or eight marshmallows.

Unite the spheres by melting just a little bit of the edges of the unfilled spheres on a plate that has been heated in the microwave or a small skillet, and carefully pressing them onto the filled spheres. Then, melt the white melts in the microwave the same way you did the red melts. Once the white candy coating is smooth, scrape it into a zip-top bag and cut off a tiny piece of the corner. Use the bag to pipe designs onto your cocoa bombs, and add sprinkles!

Enjoy your treat later by pouring hot water or milk onto the bomb and watching it melt.

Fruit Pizza

Another of our favorite traditions is heart-shaped pizza. A few years ago, they started getting expensive, and we found ourselves waiting a long time to get one because everyone had the same idea. So, we bought a heart-shaped baking sheet and started making our own.

You can easily convert a heart-shaped pizza into a dessert recipe using a sweet dough and fruit. We have several recipes here. Or you can keep it simple by rolling refrigerated cookie dough into your heart-shaped baking sheet, baking it according to package directions, and topping it with yogurt or frosting and your favorite fruits.

Sugar Cookies

These are versatile and easy to cut out using cookie cutters. And, we have the perfect recipe already on our site! Make sure you stock up on sprinkles and different kinds of icing so kids can decorate their own cookies.

Cupid's Arrows

This candy-based treat can be a good way to use up anything you might already have lying around. You need heart-shaped gummy candies, pretzel sticks, pink or red candy melts, and rainbow sour belts (or any Valentine's friendly color). Melt the candy melts according to package directions, and use them to coat the pretzel sticks. Cut the sour belts to look like the tail of the arrow, and attach one tail and one candy heart arrowhead at each end of the pretzel stick arrow shaft. It's simple, colorful, and small enough for a kid to eat two!

Strawberry or Cherry Cheesecake

This is a fun experiment for kids who want to try a more elevated dessert. We have dozens of cheesecake recipes, and many of them may be cute for Valentine's Day. Our favorites are those that involve both chocolate and fruit, like this white chocolate cherry cheesecake recipe or this black forest cheesecake recipe. Make one cake or mini cakes so that everyone gets their fair share!

Tic-Tac-Toe Treats

Got a kid who likes to play with their food? Try out this idea from The Inspiration Edit. Give each kid a graham cracker square (as in half of the sheet). Then, fill a piping bag with your choice of sweet topping — candy melts, or frosting are easy, but you could also use chocolate tahini or peanut butter if your kid likes those! Each kid can draw a tic-tac-toe board on their graham cracker. Distribute red hots, conversation hearts, Runts, or any other small candy in two different colors, and let kids play tic-tac-toe on their graham crackers until they're ready to eat them!

Amish Friendship Bread

Because Valentine's Day should be about sharing with those you love, it's a great time to start up some Amish Friendship Bread! I'll admit, I still have some starter in my freezer that I couldn't get rid of, and now seems like a great time to get it going again.

The good news is that we have a lot of variations you can use to make the bread starter into a slightly different flavor of bread. If your kids get tired of the super sweet cinnamon flavor, try a new one for Valentine's Day, like Mounds Bar, lemon, or chocolate cherry.

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