One thing that is fun about February is how love sort of spreads throughout the entire month.  And what says love better than treats for your sweetie?  I think Valentine’s Day is just as rough on my waistline as Thanksgiving and Christmas is because there are so many beautiful desserts and I can’t resist chocolate.  Here are some lovely desserts that are kid friendly (they can help make them or help you eat them).  Even if it’s too late to take them to a V-Day party you can make memories in the kitchen that will fill your heart.

Courtesy of Spoonful.com

Windowpane heart cookies

Recipe courtesy of Spoonful.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• Hard candy for cookie center (such as Jolly Ranchers)

Directions:

1. To make the dough: Using an electric mixer at medium-high speed, cream the butter, gradually adding the sugar. Beat in the egg until evenly mixed, then blend in the vanilla extract and salt.
2. With a wooden spoon, stir the flour into the creamed ingredients, about one third at a time, until evenly blended. The dough may seem soft, but it will firm up when refrigerated.
3. Divide the dough in half. Flatten each portion into a disk and seal in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
4. To create the cookies: Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a sturdy baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat the foil with cooking spray. Between 2 sheets of waxed paper lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Remove the top sheet.
5. Cut out the cookies with a large cookie cutter. Use a spatula to transfer the shapes to the baking sheet, leaving about an inch between cookies. Remove the centers of the cookies with a smaller cookie cutter. (Save the centers to bake later.)
6. Place a hard candy (i.e. Jolly Ranchers) in the center of each heart and bake until the cookies start to brown lightly around the edges and the candy is melted, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. To prevent sticking, line your serving plate or tin with waxed paper and place additional waxed paper between layers. Makes 30.

More Kid friendly desserts:

Courtesy of Spoonful.com

• Heart-shaped cupcakes

Courtesy of Spoonful.com

• Mickey’s chocolate-dipped heart cookies
• Brownies with Powder Sugar designs
• Hugs and Kisses cookies

Courtesy of Spoonful.com

• Healthy heart fruit skewers
• Minnie’s Polka-Dot Cookies

• Sweet Sayings Snickerdoodles
• Sweet Sayings M&M covered candy cake (very sugary so you’ll want to cut it up small!)
• Conversation Hearts Mini Cakes

The window pane cookies look beautiful, don’t they?  Happy baking!

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Recipe and images from Spoonful.com used with permission

About Darcy Zalewski

Darcy Zalewski is a work at home mom with a daughter born in 2010 and a son born in December of 2012. Thankfully she never fully grew up and still loves to play with toys. She shares her experiences and passions about birth and parenting on her blog, Tales From the Nursery. Never try to stand between her and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup though...

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