Valentine's Day Homemade Craft and Treat Ideas

With the weekend coming up, I thought I would do a little search for fun treats and crafts to make before Valentine's Day on Monday.

These are my favorite Espresso Cookies that I made for Valentine's Day last year for my friends and family. Deliciously chocolatey, with a little coffee flavour.

I packaged them up in these fun (and easy to make) little fabric Valentine Treat Bags. A great reusable craft too because you can use them year after year.

I don't have kids to worry about buying Valentine's for sharing with classmates, but the second I saw these Tootsie Roll Valentines I was in love. How cute are these? This is a great Valentine project to do with kids - using photography, computer graphics and crafting - that are sure to delight the recipients.

Looking for a creative way to turn your pizza into something special? Using a small heart cookie cutter, cut pieces of pepperoni and place on top of a homemade or store bought pizza to make fun and adorable Valentine Pizza!

Why not take the two trends of red velvet and whoopie pies together and make fun and festive Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.
 

Having a tea party soon? Make these cute Tea Cup Cookies that have a slit on the side to let them gently rest on your tea cup!

Making a craft to use with kids doesn't have to take much to be fun and can use simple scraps that you may have around the house. This Heart Tic Tac Toe game is made with a simple cardstock heart shape and uses stuffed felted hearts from felted scraps for the game pieces.

Just looking at these is making me crave delicious and chewy Cake Balls. Instead of spending money buying your sweetheart a Valentine's Day treat, why not make them a sweet thing yourself! Or better yet, take the time over the weekend to make it together!

You can even package up your homemade treats in these cute Mini Valentine's Day Gift Bags from Martha Stewart.

You could even fill up the bags with Chocolate Rolled Cookies. I love the polka dot ones :)

Looking for a sweet and sophisticated way to dress up your flowers? Make this bold, yet simple Candy and Tulip Bouquet using deep red tulips and little cinnamon hearts.

I'm a big fan of fun vintagey print templates, so when I saw this great Valentine Brownie Bag template I just had to share it. You could even change this around and make it work for packaging up treats for any party or holiday!

Hope that you find some time over the weekend to get creative and have some Valentine fun!

Cookie Dough Ice Cream Pie

This is one of my favorite recipes that I have made in the past year. So decadent, but it still reminds me of my childhood love of chocolate chip cookie dough. Who am I kidding. I still love eating cookie dough.

I made this for my boyfriend's birthday and he went crazy for it. The crunchy crust, chewy dough and creamy ice cream makes it a delicious dessert. Its sure to please!

What you'll need:
1/4 cup Butter, softened
2 tbsp White Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar, packed
1 tbsp Milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Mini Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1 Chocolate Cookie Pie Crust (I used Keebler, but you could also use Oreo)
3 cups Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, softened
1/2 cup Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Sauce, heated

In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar and brown sugar until creamy. Add milk and vanilla, mixing until well blended.

In a small bowl, mix flour and salt. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

Stir in mini chocolate chips.

Spread cookie dough evening along the bottom of the Oreo crust, pressing it in.

Add spoonfuls of ice cream on top of the cookie dough, spreading it around smoothly with the back of the spoon. Freeze for 2 hours or until firm.

When you're ready to serve, set pie out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften.

Drizzle warmed chocolate fudge sauce over each slice of pie after you cut them.

Just looking at this is making me crave it again.
Make it this weekend and you won't regret it!

Makes 8 servings.

Adapted from Cake, Batter and Bowl
Printable Version
Nutritional Information

Lemon Filled Cupcakes

Not all dessert recipes need to be complicated to get the attention of your guests. Sometimes they can be made using simple mixes from your pantry and a little bit of creativity. This is a a tried and true family recipe that is not only easy to make, but tastes delish! These fun cupcakes are great for taking to picnics, parties, potlucks, you name it!

What you'll need:
White Cake Mix
Lemon Pie Filling Mix
Eggs, Oil and Water, according to directions on mixes.
Icing Sugar

Bake cupcakes, white cake mix according to the directions on the box. Allow cupcakes to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Prepare lemon pie filling according to the directions on the package.

Using a serated knife, cut small cones out of each cupcake.

This is what they will look like when you remove them. Set the cones aside.

Fill each cupcake with pie filling.

Replace each cupcake with a cupcake cone.

Sprinkle the cupcakes with icing sugar and serve!

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Printable Version

Nutritional Information

Blueberry Pie

What better way is there to use fresh Summer fruit than in a sweet and delicious pie!

With the abundance of Ontario blueberries at the Farmer's Market these days, I just had to make a blueberry pie. I thought about it for days until I eventually succumb to the temptation and made one. Pies and pie crust may seem daunting to some, but I assure you that not only are they easy to make, but they are worth the effort! Why give into the cheap thrill of a store bought pie when you can make a simple, delicious one right at home! Your kitchen will smell amazing and your family will be sure to thank you!

What you'll need:

Pie Crust:

2 ½ cups of All-Purpose Flour

½ tsp Salt

1 cup Shortening, chilled

6 tbsp Ice Water.

Blueberry Pie Filling:

1 cup Sugar

5 tbsp Cornstartch

¼ tsp Salt

½ tsp Ground Cinnamon

4 cups fresh Blueberries

1 tbsp Butter

Measure out shortening and chill for about an hour until well chilled.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour and salt.

With a pastry blender, or two knives, cut in the chilled shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Drizzle in 2-3 tbsps of ice water over flour mixture and toss with a fork.

Continue to add water, one tbsp at a time until the dough starts to come together.

Gather up dough to form into a ball, cut in half, with one larger ball and one slightly smaller ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl.

Sprinkle sugar mixture over washed blueberries and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Roll out larger pie crust ball to fit a 9 inch pie dish.

Carefully lift pie crust into pie dish and carefully press into sides.

Pour berries into the crust and dot with butter cut into small pieces. (I forgot to take a picture of this, oops!)

Roll out remaining crust and slice into 1/2 inch wide strips and make into a lattice top. Crimp edges of crust and cover edges with tin foil.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue to back for another 15 minutes or until golden brown, making sure not to burn the edges. Remove the pie from the oven and let sit for 1-2 hours before serving. This is by far the hardest part...waiting!

Slice pie and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Printable Version
Nutritional Information

Oatmeal Brownie Drops

Even with this blistering heat wave that we are having in Ontario, I've been craving brownies...the kind that involve turning the oven on...which should be avoided at all costs right now, but sometimes in a chocolate emergency like this, it just can't be avoided.

And when the weather is like this, you can justify brownies by putting them into a delicious cold ice cream sundae. Well, at least thats what I'm doing...

What you'll need:
1/2 cup Butter, softened
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Quick-Cooking Rolled Oats (not instant)
1 cup Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

Beat in eggs and vanilla until creamy.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cocoa and baking soda.

Add to butter mixture, blending thoroughly.

Stir in oats and mini chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until cookie begins to set. Do not overbake. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Now you could just go ahead and eat them like this....but I wanted something a little more appropriate for a hot summer...

A cold and creamy caramel sundae. a warm, just out-of-the-oven oatmeal brownie is the perfect companion.

The warm brownie melts the ice cream, which in turn cools the brownie...making it a delicious mess. I love it!

Makes about 3-1/2 dozen cookies.
Recipe from Hershey Canada
Printable Version
Nutritional Information