Whether you are hosting a children’s Valentine’s Day school party and need to send in some treats, or you are cooking up something special for your partner, these Valentine’s snacks are simple yet creative.
Peanut Butter Balls
These delicious peanut butter balls are gluten-free and do not require any baking! They are also quite low calorie, about 130 per ball, so no one has an excuse to not try one. This recipe yields 32 balls.
You will need:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, flaky salt and melted red candy melts (for decoration)
1. Beat together sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt until a dough has formed. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place them onto the baking sheet. Freeze until they are firm, about 20 minutes.
2. Microwave the chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring between each until the chocolate has melted and is smooth.
3. Take out a second baking sheet and line it with parchment. Work with just a quarter of the balls while keeping the rest frozen. One at a time, dip the balls into the chocolate, allowing the excess chocolate to drip off. Place the dipped ball onto the lined baking sheet and sprinkle with the flaked salt. Repeat with all of the balls.
4. Once the chocolate has set, you can decorate with the red candy melts. Store the balls in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Valentine’s Day Bark
This bark is the perfect Valentine’s snack for that special someone in your life. Best of all, it is very easy to make - all you need is five minutes!
24 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
6 ounces white chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cup pretzels
2 tablespoons heart shaped sprinkles
White sprinkles
Red sprinkles
Pink sprinkles
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the melted chocolate onto the parchment in an even layer. Scatter the pretzels and the white, red and pink sprinkles over the chocolate.
2. Put the white chocolate into a piping bag, or a sandwich bag with the end snipped off, and pipe white chocolate into the center of each pretzel until the middle is filled. Then, pop a heart shaped sprinkle into the center of the white chocolate.
3. Refrigerate until set and then you can cut the bark with a knife, or snap it to create chunks.
You can also buy plain sugar cookies or cupcakes to frost and decorate however you wish.
Other fun ideas include popcorn drizzled with white chocolate and tossed with pink, red and white sprinkles served with this Chocolate Strawberry Milkshake - a super delicious combo!
If you have a bit more time on your hands, you might also want to try these Chocolate Covered Strawberry Tarts or these Homemade Panera Bread Valentine Cookies
