Valentines is right around the corner. It’s technically not a very exciting holiday and honestly, it often comes and goes and I rarely even celebrate it. But what I absolutely adore about the Valentine season is just the adorable colors, candy and decor of V-day.I enjoy the trips through the seasonal section at Target where I spend 20 minutes picking up 100 different items and saying OMG THIS IS SOOOO CUTE (but rarely actually buying anything). I guess it’s just a really good eye-candy holiday. But it is super fun to make delicious desserts that are both amazing tasting and also beautiful to look at. So today I’ve decided to compile a few of the Valentine desserts that have caught my eye this season. I’ve also included the recipe links to all of the recipes.
Category Archives: Recipes
Bordeaux Cherry Filled Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze
Dark, rich chocolate glaze covers the super fluffy sour cream doughnut, filled with sweet and tart Bordeaux (bing) cherry sauce.
Oh what a surprise, the Royal Harvest Bordeaux cherries are highlighted in another one of my recipes! LOL As you know, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, these cherries have been my flavor of the month! I am sooo obsessed with them that I try to add them to every recipe. Hmm… which makes me think next to come may be Bordeaux cherry pancakes… are ya with me? Read More
Cherry Chocolate Valentine Heart Brownies
“Cherry chocolate rain. Pull me in with that delicious stare”. Do you remember that hilarious episode of The Office was when Michael Scott mentions the time he discovered YouTube and viewed Cookie Monster singing Chocolate Rain about a thousand times? Lol I can’t even! I sing this song whenever I think of cherry and chocolate together. Like while eating a chocolate chip cookie paired with an ice cold Dr. Pepper, or drinking a Black Forest milkshake. If you are a fan of these cherry-almond/chocolate combinations, this is going to be a fiesta in your boca (mouth). Read More
Valentine Heart Sandwich Cookies with Fudge Filling
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Something about pretty pinks, purples, reds and pastel shades that just puts me in my happy place! I freaking heart thanksgiving valentines day. {inside joke – for whatever reason, I ALWAYS call Valentines Day, Thanksgiving. It makes zero sense. But I literally do it every year. Hey babe, where do you want to go for Thanksgiving?… Nope. But every year, without fail, I say it every freaking time and I really don’t understand why lol} Read More
Chewy Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies with Browned Butter
Soft and chewy cookie dough texture + salty and sweet + hints of deep espresso + oozing chocolate + nutty sweetness of browned butter = MASTERFUL GREATNESS! These cookies are perfection at its finest. I have made a lot of really good chocolate chip cookie recipes in the past, but I combined so many elements into these that have seriously taken the #1 spot of the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever eaten.
I know I can’t speak for everyone, but these cookies seriously check every box on my list. I am obsessed with browned butter. Like, why even use regular butter if you can replace it with browned butter? When butter is browned, essentially it is caramelizing the milk solids in the butter, in turn, transforming it into a whole different ingredient. It gets rich and nutty and almost adds a caramel-y flavor to the cookie. Read More
Copycat Almond Joy Candy Bars
Merry Christmas! Cheers to a perfectly lazy day. I am so happy to be on my couch relaxing watching movies… and now football. After months of running around and standing on my feet in the kitchen (about 10x more than normal) this is such a treat. I think I made one too many Christmas cookies (437 to be exact) this year and it was time to make something better, something that I absolutely adore – CANDY! So a few days ago, I decided to create a few copycat versions of some of my family’s favorite candies, but homemade with higher quality ingredients. I made York Peppermint Patties (recipe to follow) and Salted Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Patties (a take on See’s Candy) and lastly and my most favorite – Almond Joy’s! I think it’s a love/hate thing, depending on if you are a coconut eater. If you are in my boat and adore these, then you should be so happy that you have landed here on this page.
The best part about these is that you don’t need any special pan or any type of form… these are literally just a coconut mixture formed into shape, briefly frozen, then dipped in tempered chocolate (so you can get that hard snap when you bite it, and can be left at room temp). Read More
Salted Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Patties
I am beyond excited to share this recipe with you. Peanut butter patties from See’s Candy are by far one of my favorite treats of all times. We don’t have See’s Candy in Atlanta, so each Valentine’s Day and Christmas I receive a box of See’s Candy from my parents. It’s something I look sooo forward to twice a year. Although See’s Candy traditionally make their peanut butter patties with milk chocolate and no finishing salt on top, this was my 2.0 version, just enhancing it to make it even better! Read More
Copycat Olive Garden Five Cheese Fonduta
OMG If melted cheese isn’t one of the most mouth-watering, ooey-gooey, sinful foods worth every calorie, I don’t know what is! My fiance and I went to Olive Garden recently and got the “Dip Duo” and we got so stuffed on cheese that we both took our entrees to-go. He begged me to make him a homemade version of the Five Cheese Italian Fonduta on Sunday when he watches football (it was way better than the spinach artichoke dip). Read More
Salted Caramel Bacon Cupcakes
These cupcakes are a spin on the maple bacon donuts that are wildly popular in my hometown of Portland, OR (and I’m sure in a million other places too). I am majorly obsessed with maple donuts in general and to me, salted caramel is just as fab!
Sadly, I never took any high quality photos of these cupcakes. I made these for a work party and was in too much of a hurry to bother putting them on my blog. But I’ve been asked by a few people for the recipe, so I figured it was better to share this gem instead of withholding just because the pictures weren’t up to my typical standard – I’ll replace them soon when I remake these, I promise. Read More
Triple Chocolate Dipped Cheesecake Bites
Many years ago, maybe in 2007-ish, there were these Sara Lee cheesecake bites they sold in the frozen section at grocery stores. They were so poppable, sort of like bon-bon’s but cheesecake instead. I remembered them a few weeks and began craving that poppable crunch that is sooo addictive. That crisp chocolate shell that snaps when you bite into it and creamy and delicate cheesecake in the middle!! OMG! So, here we are, fulfilling another food fantasy 🙂
