Happy Valentine’s Weekend! I hope you are able to celebrate this special time of LOVE with those near and dear to your heart. Flowers and boxes of chocolates are the traditional offerings of Valentine’s Day, but I wanted to share with you some SIMPLE treats that are easy to make and fun to enjoy all through the year.
Let’s start off with the yummies pictured above! A block of vanilla flavored almond bark, a microwave-safe bowl, a wooden spoon and your choice of treats are all it takes to whip up these treats. I do recommend breaking your almond bark into squares and melting only 2-3 squares at a time. This allows you to work at a steady pace dipping your chosen goodies without having to worry about the chocolate hardening. If the chocolate does harden, simple return your bowl to the microwave for 30 seconds , stir, then continue with your treats. I like to gather a small assortment of items to dip: pretzel sticks, cookies (store-bought or homemade), rice krispy treats, marshmallows, potato chips, stemmed cherries…really any of your favorite snack foods will work! HINT: the cherries are great to eat alone or place on top of cupcakes/cakes as an added decoration. Place the cherries in a colander in your sink and let them drain for 5 minutes or so, then blot gently with a paper towel to remove excess juice. This helps the chocolate to better adhere.
The above treats are Hot Chocolate sticks. Again, we used almond bark (this time choosing the chocolate-flavored variety) and melted 2-3 blocks in a microwave-safe bowl, then spooned into the silicone molds, inserted a wooden stir-stick and topped with mini-marshmallows. We sat the molds in the refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden, then gently popped from the mold. These are SIMPLE treats to stir into a small cup of hot milk. Kids will love watching the milk transform as the chocolate melts. Or, you can snack on the chocolate sticks if you want to skip the hot cocoa.
The Hot Cocoa Bombs show above, are the most detailed of these assorted treats. I purchased a silicone mold (shown below) and used the chocolate-flavored almond bark. For 3 bombs, melt 3-4 squares of the bark. Gently spoon the melted chocolate into the molds, being careful to cover ALL areas of the half-circle mold. Make sure you spoon the chocolate gently around the inside edge of each mold and smooth around the circle. Start with a small spoonful of chocolate, to avoid a large pool of chocolate gathering at the bottom of your mold. Place the mold in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, then remove and carefully inspect to make sure the mold has no bare spots. If you notice bare spots or missed areas, add a little more chocolate to those places and return mold to the refrigerator for 10 minutes or until chocolate is set. When molds are set, gently peel back the mold to release the half-circle chocolate cup. Add 2 T. hot cocoa mix to cup and mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, etc. Then take another cup and add to the top to complete the circle/bomb. You can use a small spoon and gently add chocolate around the edge to seal the cups, or heat a microwave-safe plate and place the “top” cup edge on the plate to gently warm the chocolate and then stick the cups together. The heated edge works like a “glue” to join the chocolate cups together. (There are lots of videos on YouTube and Pinterest if you are not sure about this step. I will not bore you with more details).
Once your cups are all assembled, you can decorate with more chocolate bark, or melt vanilla bark and drizzle over the top…then add your choice of sprinkles, colored sugars, etc.
As I stated before, there are lots of videos and tutorials on YouTube and Pinterest with detailed step-by-step instructions…do not be intimidated as these are fun to make and a special treat to give and enjoy!
Here are the molds I used…I purchased the red rectangle mold at TJ Maxx. It is for ice cubes, but works great for treats. The hot cocoa bomb mold and the small hexagon mold were both ordered from Amazon.
I hope you have a fun-filled Valentine’s weekend…and take time to try some of these easy, SIMPLE treats!
XOXOXO
