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Valentine’s Day is typically associated with celebrating adult romantic relationships; however, young kiddos like to celebrate love right alongside their parents. I have put together a few simple, fun, and kid-friendly Valentine’s Day recipes for you to make with your children this February.
Fun Valentine’s Day Recipes for Kids
Grab your kiddos and whip up these easy Valentine’s Day treats on February 14th! All of these recipes can be made pretty quickly and the steps aren’t complicated so kids can have a hand in making them.
Please remember, when baking with your children don’t aim for perfection… Allow these treats to have a “rustic” look so your kids can cook without feeling micromanaged. This is a tough one for me so I feel like it is important to mention.
1. Heart-shaped No-Chill Sugar Cookie Recipe
*Makes about 20 cookies
We LOVE a good sugar cookie around here! The issue is that I don’t always have time to chill the dough as most recipes require. Several years ago I discovered that I could make a no-chill sugar cookie with a couple of adjustments. These easy cookies can be made for any occasion, just grab appropriate cookie-cutter shapes! You can see my St. Patrick’s Day Sugar cookie recipe here.
Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookie Ingredients
Cookie Dough
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp Redmond salt
1 3/4 cup flour
Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
6 tsp milk
4 tsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅛ tsp salt
Watkins food coloring
Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease it well.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until fluffy.
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
Combine the baking powder, salt, and flour in a separate bowl.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture.Mix until well combined.
Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll it to about 1/4 inch thick. Add flour as needed to combat stickiness.
Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out your cookies. I like to cut a small heart out as a little accent to go on top as well.
Quickly slide a spatula under the cookies and transfer them to your baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Allow the cookies to cool and then make the icing.
Add the powdered sugar to a mixing bowl or stand mixer. With the mixer going on low, add in the milk, light corn syrup, vanilla, and salt. Add food coloring- use Watkin’s because they don’t include numbered dyes- and then apply to the cookies.
You can use decorating icing bags to apply the royal icing, but for these I simply spoon the icing on. Add some white sprinkles, red sprinkles, or pink sprinkles at this point if you want.
Wait for the icing to harden and then enjoy!
2. Chocolate Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe
Dutch baby pancakes make such a fun & easy breakfast for families. This variation adds cocoa powder for a sweet twist perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Add flour, milk, salt, sweetener, eggs, cocoa powder, and vanilla to a stand mixer or blender. Mix together until smooth- about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Be sure to scrape the sides to get all the flour and cocoa mixed in.
Let batter rest for about 10 minutes.
While the batter is resting, add the butter to a cast iron skillet and heat the oven to 425 F. Place the skillet in the preheated oven until it is hot.
Take the skillet out when the butter is melted and sizzling. You want the pan to be very hot when you pour the batter in or the Dutch Baby Pancake may not rise properly.
Pour the chocolate dutch baby pancake batter into the hot buttered skillet. Put it back in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with powdered sugar, fresh berries, whipped cream, maple syrup, or any other toppings that sound good to you!
3. Valentine’s Day Heart-Shaped Egg in Hole Recipe
This is such a fun and easy Valentine’s Day breakfast recipe! If your kids like eggs and toast, this is a sure hit!
Egg in Hole Ingredients
2 Slices of Bread
2 Small-Medium Eggs
2 TBSP butter
Salt & pepper
Valentine’s Day Egg in Hole Instructions
First, use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut a hole into the center of the bread. Keep the hearts that you cut out. You can toast these pieces as well.
Butter both sides of the bread. I like to melt my butter first to make it easier to brush on. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a pat of butter.
Once the butter is melted & hot, but not burning, place the buttered bread in the skillet and gently crack the egg into the hole.
To avoid egg whites escaping the heart, separate the egg first. Add the yolk to the heart, then add just enough of the white to fill it without overflowing.
Wait until the white has cooked through enough to flip. Wait for it…if you flip too early the egg will run everywhere and ruin the heart…Now flip!
Remove the pan from heat once the egg white has cooked through.
Be sure to leave the yolk runny so that you can use the heart cut out for soppin’.
Sprinkle on a bit of salt & pepper and enjoy along with some fresh fruit for a healthy Valentine’s Day breakfast!
4. Heart Shaped Apple Hand Pie Recipe
Apple Hand Pies are essentially mini handheld apple pies. I like to choose fun shapes that match whatever holiday I am baking them for- in this case, hearts for a Valentine’s Day recipe for kids. Make my apple pie filling and my all-butter pie crust to bring these sweet treats to life!
Use a homemade crust or store-bought. If you buy one from the grocery store, be sure that it is not already in a pie pan. A rolled refrigerated crust is best since we will be cutting shapes out of it.
Egg Wash
1 egg (beaten)
1TBSP water
Apple Hand Pie Instructions
Make the crust
If you are making a homemade pie crust, do that before you start on the apple pie filling so it will have time to chill. Here is the pie crust recipe that I like- it can be made in a food processor which makes it SO easy to prep!
Make the Apple Pie Filling
Make apple pie filling on the stovetop or in a slow cooker. To do this, core and slice the apples. You can peel if you want, but it isn’t necessary.
Toss the slices with a little lemon juice to prevent them from browning while you heat up the other ingredients.
Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, water, sweetener, and cornstarch to a large saucepan (large enough to hold the apples) or a stockpot, mix to combine, and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Stir frequently.
Add the prepared apples to the pan and stir until they are coated. Reduce the heat to a simmer.
Cover and simmer, stirring frequently, for 45 minutes to an hour- until the apples are fork tender.
Preheat Oven & Shape Crust
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Remove apples from heat and prepare the crust.
Use a heart shape cookie cutter to shape the pie crust. You will need two hearts for each pie. Cut a small out in the center of half of the hearts. This allows the filling to vent and make a cute cut-out. If you don’t want to cut a small heart, simply slice the top a couple of times to allow venting.
Press the bottom heart dough out a little extra. I like to pull the bottom to meet the top when forming the seam and this step helps with that.
Add the Filling & Bake
Drop apple pie filling onto one heart shaped crust leaving some space around the edges (about a ¼”) so it doesn’t overflow. Slightly stretch the other crust and place it on top. Pinch the top and bottom together (pulling the bottom to meet the top) to form a seam.
Brush the top crust with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 TBSP water).
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