These chocolate covered pretzels for Valentine’s Day are a cheap and easy gift idea and are a lot more creative than giving paper valentines or a box of store bought chocolates.  These are a great project to make at home with the kids and end up being a fun little edible craft.

Start with a small bowl of red Merckens chocolate:

Melt them in the microwave on ultra low heat (I used setting 3 out of 10) for two minutes at a time until they are completely melted. I just don’t have the patience to use a double boiler for these things!  As long as you use very low heat and don’t leave it unattended, microwaving works just fine!

Take some pretzels and dip them into the chocolate.  You can do about 5 at once, depending on the size of your bowl.

Use a toothpick to pull out a chocolate covered pretzel and place it on either waxed paper or a Silpat.

If you don’t have enough chocolate on the pretzel, add a little more to fill in the holes:

Yes, these heart gummies are left over from last week’s cupid’s arrows project.  This ended up being a really cute way to use them up.  Plus my girls went crazy for the chocolate and gummy combination.

Since these particular hearts came in red and white, I used both colours to make contrasting chocolates:

Place the heart gummy on the chocolate before it hardens:

Leave them on the tray for at least 20 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.  I don’t particularly recommend putting them in the fridge to speed up the process.  I’ve done it before, and when you take the chocolate out of the fridge it sweats, and gets white marks on it.  If you let it harden on the counter, the chocolate ends up looking much cleaner.

I always use my Silpat for these things because the chocolate comes off really easily.  Plus I’m not throwing a sheet of waxed paper into the garbage.  It just feels wasteful when the Silpat is such a good option.

I decided to match the white gummy hearts with the red merckens chocolates and the red gummy hearts with regular milk chocolate.  Of course you can use whatever combination you like.  Throwing some white chocolate in there would have been nice as well.

I’m a pretty huge fan of chocolate covered pretzels.  They are the EASIEST festive treat you can make and you can pretty much customize them for any occasion.  My chocolate covered pumpkin pretzels and pretzel Christmas trees are perfect examples.

These take about 20 minutes to make (and another 20 minutes to set) and they make a super fun treat for your kids.  If your kids are a little older, they would probably love to help out with the process too!  Give these to your sweet heart on Valentine’s Day, make them as a special snack for your kids, or take them to school for a class party.  They’ll be sure to get you into the Valentine’s Day spirit!

The post Chocolate Covered Pretzels for Valentine’s Day appeared first on One Little Project.

Cinnamon heart popcorn makes a delicious Valentine’s Day treat!  Besides being delicious, it’s easy to make, the clean up is way easier than you think, and it’s beyond festive if you are trying to add a little Valentine’s Day spirit to someone’s life.  Plus, it’s a super fun way to use up that bag of cinnamon hearts you have sitting around!

I definitely recommend popping your popcorn as the first step.  Once the cinnamon heart mixture is prepared you really don’t want to leave it sitting for too long.

Cinnamon hearts are probably my very favourite part about Valentine’s Day. So if you are anything like me, you’ll have a bag of cinnamon hearts just hanging around.  And since it’s hard to eat a big bag of cinnamon hearts, this is a super fun way to use them up!

Add the corn syrup:

Add the butter:

Cook it on medium-low heat until the cinnamon hearts melt and you end up with a smooth liquid syrup:

Pour the cinnamon heart syrup over top of the popcorn.  You can use a big bowl, but the pot I popped my popcorn in worked perfectly.  Try to mix it around as best you can.  It gets very sticky, so just do your best.

Yes, it was a sticky, gooey mess.  And honestly, at this point, I was a little worried it wasn’t going to turn out.  It REALLY needs to bake in the oven in order to get a good texture.

The hardest part was trying to spread it apart on the cookie sheet.  No worries if you end up with a  big, sticky, glob of popcorn.  Once it bakes, it breaks apart really easily:

I wasn’t sure how this was going to taste, but it was delicious!  It might be one of those flavours that you won’t want all year round (like pumpkin pie, or eggnog), but it’s delicious and could easily become a favourite around Valentine’s Day.

My kids went crazy for it, even though Kate isn’t officially old enough to eat popcorn.  She probably would have eaten the whole bowl full if I’d have let her!  Just looking at these photos is making me crave it again!

I was really worried about the cleanup, but it was way easier than I expected.  I melted the sticky syrup off the pot by filling it with water and bringing it to a boil again (I’m not entirely sure that was necessary, but it worked).  And then for the big mixing pot, I just let it soak over night and everything just dissolved.  There was absolutely no scrubbing required!

If you love cinnamon hearts or caramel popcorn you have to try this!  It takes less than an hour to make and makes a great snack for any Valentine’s Day party – even if it’s just you and your sweetheart!

The post Cinnamon Heart Popcorn appeared first on One Little Project.

Believe it or not, but this post was so long that I had to break it into two posts.  Mostly because there are two ideas that I’d really like to share and they are very closely related, but just slightly different.  I’m going to start first with Part 1 – Chocolate Heart Outlines.  These are super easy to make  and there is something so neat about being able to pick up the outline.

All you need to start is a piece of parchment paper, a cookie cutter and a pen.  You can use any shape you want for any occasion (trees for Christmas, pumpkins for Halloween, even numbers for birthdays).  I went with hearts because it’s so close to Valentine’s Day of course.

Trace the shape onto the parchment paper using the inside of the cookie cutter.  Sorry it’s so hard to see in these photos.  If you look really hard and squint you can see the heart outlines in both the picture above and below.  Flip over the paper so the pen marks are on the bottom.  It just needs to be dark enough to be able to see it through the parchment paper.

Take about a cup of your favourite chocolate and melt it in the microwave on ultra low heat (I used setting 3/10) for 2 minutes at a time until it is completely melted.  You can use dark chocolate, light chocolate, or even white or coloured chocolate too.

Next, you’ll need a zip lock bag and an icing tip (I used Wilton round tip #230).  You can use an actual icing bag if you want, but I don’t particularly like wasting them on projects where a sandwich bag will work.

Snip off a corner of the sandwich bag and poke the icing tip through until it’s snug:

Pour the melted chocolate into the icing bag you just created:

Go back to the parchment paper with the hearts traced on the bottom. Carefully trace out the shape of the hearts as you squeeze the chocolate out of the bag. (Make sure the bag is fully zipped up or you will end up with melted chocolate everywhere… yes, I’m speaking from experience).  The thicker the line of chocolate, the sturdier the heart outline will be.

I’ve made make-shift icing bags in the past (like for my spider web treats back in October), but I’ve never used the Wilton icing tip in the bag.  Adding the icing tip was fantastic and I will definitely do it again!  It gave wonderful control so that I didn’t drizzle chocolate all over everything.  It was very much like holding a regular pen.

This next part is optional, but I thought it was kind of festive and fun.  Add some sparkly sugar, or sprinkles to the chocolate while it’s still wet to decorate them:

Here’s an undecorated heart.  What can I say, this little guy hardened just a little too fast to get any sprinkles onto.  Still pretty neat as just a chocolate outline:

And here is a heart with some pink sugar sprinkled onto it.  They looked very cute and girly by the time they were finished:

I would love to try this with smaller cookie cutters.  I know everything looks adorable when it’s mini, but imagine how sweet these would look if they were only an 1″ wide.  You could make a couple dozen of them, put them into a small box or bag and give them as a homemade Valentine’s Day present!

These take about 20 minutes to make and about 15 minutes to harden. Give these for Valentine’s Day instead of a store bought box of chocolates.  Make them as a fun treat for your kids.  Or set them out at a bridal shower.  What a perfect sweet treat to show some love!

The post Chocolate Hearts Part 1: Chocolate Heart Outlines appeared first on One Little Project.

These melted crayon heart Valentines are absolutely adorable.  This is a great way to use up all those broken crayon pieces that end up hanging around and put them back to good use!

“Happy Valentines Day for crayon out loud.”  “You colour my world.” “You melt my heart.”  There are so many cute sayings you can use with them for a Valentine.  I’ve read that soaking the crayons in a little warm water helps the paper come right off.  I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s definitely worth a shot! Check out the full tutorial at Princesses, Pies and Preschool Pizazz.

Pin this as a fun Valentine’s Day craft to do with the kids, but be sure to pin from the original source.

The post Melted Crayon Heart Valentines appeared first on One Little Project.

How cute and easy are these chocolate filigree hearts?  In Part 1 I showed a simple chocolate heart outline.  Today I’m going to show you an easy way to make chocolate filigree hearts.  These make the cutest cupcake toppers!  You could also use them to decorate a cake or any other pretty dessert.  Or make them out of high quality chocolate and serve them on as a treat on their own, because sometimes there is nothing better than chocolate!

I know we already covered this in Part 1, but I’ll quickly recap.  Take a piece of parchment paper and trace out several hearts using a small heart shaped cookie cutter.  Flip the paper over so the trace marks are on the back:

Cut a small hole in the corner of a zip lock bag.  Poke a small icing tip through the hole (I used Wilton Round Tip #230) to make yourself an icing bag.  This is not only cheaper than buying icing bags, but with the zip lock bag, you can zip it closed and the chocolate won’t leak all over your hands while you are making these. *cough* Not that that ever would have happened to me…

Melt your favourite chocolate and pour it into the zip lock bag.  I used some inexpensive milk chocolate for this, but it would be amazing with a high quality dark chocolate.  Yum!  Carefully trace out the heart outlines on the parchment paper:

So far this has been the same as in Part 1, but here is where we are going to change it up.  When you are finished making the heart outline, start making loop designs in the middle:

If you want, you can trace the inside pattern onto the parchment paper too so you have something to follow.  Or you can just free hand it like I did.  Just make sure the loops touch every once in awhile to give the filigree some stability.

And there you go!  A super cute and relatively easy Chocolate Filigree Heart!

These are so easy to make and end up looking so pretty!

Let them sit for about 20 minute before you peel them off.  You want to make sure the chocolate has fully hardened.  The icing tip I used was about 1/4″ wide.  You could make them with a smaller tip (which would look amazing!), but you’ll need to use a smaller heart cookie cutter (which would also look amazing!) to keep them from falling apart on you.

Next time I’ll make these out of dark chocolate.  There was nothing wrong with the milk chocolate, but it melts quickly in your hands.

These chocolate filigree hearts take about 20 minutes to make and 20 minutes to harden.  Don’t you think they’d make the most perfect cupcake toppers?  I could also see them on top of a cake, or on any dessert really!   Older kids would love to make them!  And if your kids are younger, I’m sure they’d love to make chocolate filigree scribbles.  : )

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Chocolate Hearts Part 1: Chocolate Heart Outlines.

The post Chocolate Hearts Part 2: Chocolate Filigree Hearts appeared first on One Little Project.

Do you remember when you were a kid, and you learned how to cut hearts out from construction paper? It seemed like the most clever thing ever that you could fold a piece of paper in half, cut out a rough tear drop shape on the fold, and then almost like magic, you ended up with this perfect heart shape. (I was the youngest child, so simple things like that were always cool to me.)

My five year old loves hearts. They’re one of the first things she learned how to draw. She used to sit at her little, wooden craft table and write the word “MOMMY” on pieces of paper (it was one of the only words she knew how to spell), and surround it with little pink hearts. Except she calls them “love hearts”, instead of just plain “hearts”. Talk about melting my heart!

Call me sentimental, but these heart envelopes seem just as magical to me. Did you know you can fold an envelope from a heart shape in only four folds? Because I had no idea!? I saw it over on Forty Weeks and Then Some and I think it might border somewhere along the lines of BRILLIANT. It’s so easy to do!

I definitely recommend practicing on a scrap piece of paper before you dive into your fancy patterned paper. It took me a few tries to figure out where the folds were supposed to go, but once I did it was smooth sailing!

I also recommend using thin paper instead of card stock. It will be really hard to get the folds crisp and even if you make it out of card stock. You could even try wrapping paper if you have any scraps of pretty patterns laying around!

I started by folding a piece of construction paper in half and cutting out a traditional heart shape from it to use as a template. Then I used my practice heart as a template, traced around it with a pencil, and then cut it out from my fancy paper.

Once you have your heart cut out, start by folding in the outer two edges, about 1/3 of the way in. Make sure the folds are parallel with each other and with the imaginary center line. (You know, the one that would have been there if you had cut out the heart from a fold.) The straighter and more parallel you can get the folds, the more neat and tidy it will look in the end.

Rotate the heart so the point is at the top, then fold up the bottom like in the picture below:

Then fold the point down to complete your envelope:

See!? How cool is this?!

So when you unfold the heart, the folds will look something like this:

And here’s a diagram of the process. Ugh, I wish I was better at creating printable templates for you all, but this is the best I can do to show you where to fold:

You can either write your message on the inside of the envelope itself, or stuff a small message inside!

I’m seriously baffled that you can do this with a heart shape! Doesn’t it look exactly like an envelope!?

You can use a small sticker to hold the envelope closed, or you can cut a small slit into the paper, and tuck the envelope tip into the slit to keep it closed. It’s totally up to you!

These heart envelopes are perfect for a Valentine’s Day message, but simple (and cute) enough that you can use them for any occasion if you want to. Write your message on the heart itself, or tuck a sweet little note inside. All it takes is four folds!

The post Folded Heart Envelopes appeared first on One Little Project.

You know when you go to a restaurant and they have that little bucket of lolly pops, or mints, or even pre-packaged Tic Tacs at the front door? (The Tic Tacs were a huge hit with my kids the one time we got them…) Well, my kids make their restaurant choices based on the candy they give away. Nope, not based on the food – I mean, really, we can pretty much only order them Caesar salad and french fries no matter where we go out for dinner, so to them, it makes no difference what the restaurant is, as long as they can score a good treat at the end.

My three year old is a sucker for candy (haha I’m starting with the puns already!). Maybe all three year olds are? I’m not sure? But our little girl goes crazy for sugar and she LOVES lolly pops. When she saw these lolly pop heart flowers sitting on the kitchen table her eyes lit up and it triggered her one-track-candy-mind and she started repeating, “Can I have one Mommy? How about now? Can I have one? Can I have one now?”.

We have a rule in our house that you can’t have dessert until you finish your entire dinner plate. I have no idea if that’s a good idea or not? But with my picky eaters, it seemed to be the only way to get them to eat real food. So she gobbled up a huge bowl of soup, which luckily was overflowing with veggies, just so she could be the first to choose which lolly pop heart flower she would get.

Lolly Pop Heart Flowers

These lolly pop heart flowers are so easy to make and they are pretty darn cute!  I can’t find the original tutorial for them, but it looks like the idea originally came from Family Fun Magazine.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Pink, Red and Green Cardstock
• Lolly Pops
• A Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter
• Double Sided Tape
• Scissors
• Pencil

I got this heart shaped cookie cutter at the dollar store and it was the perfect size! If you don’t have a heart shaped cookie cutter, or you can’t find one that’s the right size, just cut out a heart on your own and trace it.

I saw that you can even buy a heart paper punch, which would be AWESOME if you plan to make a lot of these. You just have to check that the size works with the lolly pops.

Trace the heart shapes using the cookie cutter, and then cut them out. I used heavy(ish) card stock. I’m sure construction paper would work too, if that’s all you have, but you want it to hold a little bit of weight, so heavier paper is definitely better.

Next, cut out a leaf shape with a long end piece. I cut out the first one by eyeballing it, and then traced it so the rest of the leaves would match.

Trim off the sealed part of the lolly pop plastic. Try to get as close to the lolly pop as you can, without cutting into the unsealed part that holds the lolly pop.

To attach the lolly pop to the heart, I used Zots because I find them stickier and stronger than double sided tape. But it’s really not worth going out and buying a whole box of Zots unless you plan to make a ton of these. So if you don’t have any on hand, don’t worry about it, and just use double sided tape.

Put your Zots or double sided tape on the back of the lolly pop and then center it on the heart paper.

Next, take a thin strip of double sided tape and press it onto the long part of the leaf:

Place the leaf under the lolly pop stick:

And then roll it around and press it onto the back of the leaf. It should be snugly in place now.

Then, write “I’m a sucker for you, Valentine” or whatever your Valentine’s Day message is, on the back of the heart.

If I was organized, I would have printed the message onto the card stock before I cut out the hearts. But I wasn’t. Shhhh… Don’t tell anyone I photoshopped the message into this photo…

Flip it over and it’s all done!

Seriously, how cute are these!?

These would be such a cute treat to send to school on Valentine’s Day! And they are a great craft for the kids to help with!

And I love that you can use the same idea for Mother’s Day too! You could tie up a few of them together and write “Love you a bunch, Mom”, on the backs. I know. The puns just keep coming!

These lolly pop heart flowers are a super fun and super easy Valentine’s Day craft idea! Make a bunch to send to school or give them away to friends. Your special someone will be a sucker for this fun and easy Valentine!

The post Lolly Pop Heart Flowers appeared first on One Little Project.

Do you love Valentine’s Day? Or do you hate it? It seems to be one or the other. I’ve been posting Valentine’s related posts on my Facebook page lately, and it makes me laugh the reactions people have. Let’s just say there are a lot of people who are very cranky about Valentine’s Day and they aren’t affraid of expressing that on my Facebook posts. haha

I know Valentine’s Day tends to be over-commercialized, but there are so many fun things you can make yourself! For example, CUPCAKES! Who doesn’t love cupcakes?! They’re super easy to make and all you have to do is a little bit of decorating. This collection is completely adorable! There’s something for every skill level, no matter how much time you have. I mean really, who doesn’t have time for the cute cinnamon heart X’s and O’s? Easy peasy!

35+ Valentine’s Day Cupcake Ideas

Hearts, roses, I love you’s, you name it! Who knew there were so many ways you could decorate a Valentine’s Day cupcake?! Check these out!

X’s and O’s Cupcakes via Martha Stewart

Red Rose Cupcakes via Good to Know

Cherry Cordial Cupcakes via Lemon-Sugar

Make-Ahead Frozen Buttercream Cake via Sweets to Impress

Heart Cupcakes via Tastes Better from Scratch

Chocolate Pudding and Strawberry Cupcakes via Instructables

Strawberry Red Velvet Cupcakes via Your Cup of Cake

Cream Filled Chocolate Heart-Shaped Cakes via Worth Pinning

Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes with Two-Tone Roses via The Recipe Rebel

Penguin Cupcakes via Wilton

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cupcakes via Curly Girl Kitchen

I Love You Cupcakes via Boda Book

Champagne and Raspberry Cupcakes via Best Recipes Ever

Dark Chocolate Roses via Sweet Revelations

Valentine’s Arrow-Piercing Cupcakes via Catch My Party

Sweet Heart Cupcakes via Glorious Treats

DIY Love Bug Cupcakes via The Cake Blog

Chocolate Cupcake Recipe with Red Velvet Frosting via A Spicy Perspective

Swirly Dyed Valentine’s Cupcakes via Gluten-Free Baking

Valentine’s Day Cake Toppers via Sand & Sisal

Double Chocolate Valentine’s Cupcakes via Glorious Treats

Cherry Buttermilk Cupcakes with Cherry Buttercream Frosting via A Spicy Perspective

Conversation Heart Cheesecakes via Hungry Happenings

Cupcake Bouquet via Midwest Living

Royal Icing Design Valentine’s Cupcakes via Sweetopia

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes via Annie’s Eats

Hostess Style Cream Filled Cupcakes via Life Made Simple

Valentine’s Heart-Inside Cupcakes via Lilie Bakery

Cupcake Topper Using a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup via The Chickabug Blog

Valentine’s Parfait Cupcakes via Betty Crocker

Red Puzzle Hearts Cupcakes via Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Prague Frosting via Natasha’s Kitchen

Pink Velvet Cupcakes via Blahnik Baker

Easy Valentine’s Day Mini Cakes via Oh! Nuts

Valentine’s Cupcakes With Personalized Conversation Heart Candies via Love From the Oven

Valentine’s Cupcake with Cupid’s Arrow Toppers via Happy Wedd

The post 35+ Valentine’s Day Cupcake Ideas appeared first on One Little Project.

Remember giving out Valentines to all your friends back in elementary school? Or how amazing Valentine’s Day was when you were all lovey dovey in high school? Those were fun times! Roses, cheesy music, candlelit dinners. Weren’t those the best?!

Before my husband and I had kids, Valentine’s Day was so romantic. We’d spend a quiet evening alone together, basking in each other’s presence. One of our last childless Valentine’s Days we stayed overnight at a gorgeous little villa, and got pampered with a gourmet meal and chocolates on our pillows. *sigh* Now as I spend an hour each night doing dishes and scraping sticky rice off my socks, I dream of days like that!

Once you’ve been married for a few years, Valentine’s Day gets a little bit overlooked. And if you have kids, my goodness, it’s even worse! Now the only thing we bask in are the five minutes that the kitchen is tidy each evening, and the half an hour after the kids go to bed where we sit shell shocked on the couch. (Can you tell the kids have been wearing on me the last few days? haha)

But it is kind of fun to make special Valentine’s Day treats with the kids. They LOVE holidays, so it kind of brings back the fun and excitement of Valentine’s Day to watch it through their eyes! Whether you’re married, dating or single, Valentine’s Day is an awesome time to celebrate love, especially the love of your family.

44 Best Valentine’s Day Treat Ideas

It’s such an amazing thing to put a smile on someone’s face, and any of these treats would do that! From red velvet to drizzled chocolate, Valentine’s Day has the BEST treat and dessert choices! These look amaaaaazing! Which would you make first?

Pink Marshmallow via Decorada (Flickr)

Marbled Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies via The Novice Chef

Peanut Butterfinger Blossoms via Something Swanky

Raspberry Cheesecake Stuffed Brownie Hearts via Hungry Happenings

Chocolate Shortbread Heart Cookies via Two Peas & Their Pod

Easy Valentine’s Day Cookies via Family Fresh Meals

Valentine’s Marshmallow Pops via Glorious Treats

Strawberry Brownie Skewers via One Little Project

Pink Velvet Cake Pops via Love From The Oven

Valentine’s Day Heart-Shaped Cake via Better Recipes

Red Velvet Sugar Cookie Bars via The Recipe Critic

Easy Valentine’s Day Patties via Mom On Timeout

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Bark via Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Gummy Bear Cookies via A Beautiful Mess

Valentine’s Popcorn via Gimme Some Oven

Heart-Shaped Rice Krispie Treat Pops via Pint-Sized Treasures

Chocolate Heart Outlines via One Little Project

Valentine Pretzels via Lady Behind The Curtain

Watermelon Heart Fruit Salad via A Designer Life

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Spritz Cookies via Bake Love Give

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies via Annie’s Eats

Conversation Heart Cookies via Martha Stewart

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies via Sally’s Baking Addiction

Heart-Shaped White Chocolate Bark Bites via No. 2 Pencil

Chocolate Covered Pretzels via One Little Project

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Hearts via One Little Project

Strawberry Sugar Cookie Cups via Julie’s Eats & Treats

Red Velvet Chocolate-Swirled Brownie Bars via Averie Cooks

Valentines Jello Hearts via The Hungry Housewife

Raspberry Surprise Chocolate Truffles via Taste and Tell

Mexican Chocolate Brownies via The Food Librarian

X’s & O’s Valentine’s Cupcakes via Not Your Momma’s Cookie

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Pretzels via Crazy About My Baybah

Valentine’s Day Donuts via The First Year

Cinnamon Heart Popcorn via One Little Project

You-Complete-Me Heart Cookies via The Decorated Cookie

Meringue Kisses via Bakerella

Cherry Dream Bars via Chef in Training

Valentine’s Day Peek-A-Boo Pound Cake via Belly Full

Heart-Shaped Cookies via The Miniature Moose

Rose Petal Dark Chocolate Bar via Pure Ella

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies via Bakerella

Chocolate Covered Valentines Pretzels via Love From The Oven

Easy Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels via One Little Project

The post 44 Best Valentine’s Day Treat Ideas appeared first on One Little Project.

Have you ever used a store-bought frozen pie crust for something other than… well, pie? Because I know that before this, I never had. Part of me was a little nervous when I lifted the pie crust out of the aluminum pie plate it came in, that it would lose all its magical crustiness and crumble to pieces. Do I sound like a novice baker? Because I really am… so I was beyond happy when I set the pie crust on the counter and it was… wait for it… just like a regular pie crust! Except I didn’t have to make it myself. Which is always a huge bonus in my books!

I know, I know. In a perfect world, I would have made my own pie crust. I bet these mini blueberry pies would be soooooooooo amazing with pie crust from scratch! I mean, they were pretty awesome with store bought pie crust too, but homemade would bring them to a whole new level. But for now, since I’m a busy mom, and I barely have time to brush my teeth, let alone make homemade pie crusts, I’m sticking with the “easy” factor for these. Because let’s face it, they were ridiculously simple to make!

And when my husband came home from work and saw them sitting on the counter, with the fresh icing sugar drizzle pooling around the edges, he swooned. I’ve never seen him so enchanted by a dessert. He’s voluntarily gluten free and he never cheats, but I swear, I could see some inner turmoil brewing inside of him, like he was questioning whether eating just. one. bite. would set him back.

Mini Blueberry Pies

The full, printable recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here’s the basics of what you need:

• Two 9″ Pre-made Frozen Pie Crusts
• Blueberry Jam
• 1 Egg
• Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter

And for the glaze:

• Icing Sugar
• Milk

I let the frozen pie crust sit on the counter to defrost for about an hour. I didn’t really time it, but it didn’t take very long.

After it was defrosted, I carefully took the pie crust out of the tin, set it on the counter and rolled it flat with a rolling pin. It still had the fluted edges (and one small tear), but that really wasn’t a big deal since I was using the cookie cutter and I could just cut around them.

Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, gently press down on the dough to cut out the shapes.

I managed to get 10 hearts out of one 9″ pie crust. And since there were two pie crusts in the box I bought, I had 20 hearts, for a total of 10 mini blueberry pies. A pretty good number, don’t you think?

Take a generous spoonful of blueberry jam, and place it in the middle of the hearts. You can use even more jam than what I show in the photos. The worst that can happen is that jam will start oozing out the edges. And I’m sorry, but hot, bubbly, oozing jam on a pie crust is by no means a bad thing!

Beat an egg with a splash of water, and then use your fingers (or you know… if you’re more sophisticated than me, you could use a brush) to spread it around the edges of the hearts. The egg will help them seal closed while they’re baking.

Then take another heart, line it up, and gently press down the edges with your fingers to keep it in place.

Use a fork to press down around the edges of the heart. It adds a pretty pattern and really helps seal everything in there.

Now take the rest of your beaten egg, and lightly spread it on top of all of the hearts with a brush. It just helps give them that wonderful golden brown colour while they’re baking.

See what I mean? So perfectly golden brown and delicious after they baked!

And see what I mean about the blueberry jam oozing out? It kind of makes me swoon too!

When I took them off the silicon baking mat, the hearts looked a little plain. They were just calling out for a glaze. I know, you typically don’t put a glaze on a blueberry pie (or maybe you do?), but they needed something…

So I whipped up a quick batch of easy icing sugar glaze and drizzled it over top, and oh my word, I fell in love.

These were amaaaaaazing. So delicious! Kind of pie like, but also kind of cookie like too.

And the best part is that they were ridiculously simple to make! That’s my kind of treat!

Easy Mini Blueberry Pies

 

Serves: 10

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Print

 

Ingredients

• Two 9" Frozen Pie Crusts, defrosted
• 1 Jar of Blueberry Jam
• 1 Egg
• ½ Cup Icing Sugar (heaping)
• 2 Tablespoons Milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Remove the defrosted pie crusts from the tin and carefully place on the counter.
3. Use a rolling pin to gently flatten them out (but don't roll them thinner).
4. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut 10 hearts out of each pie crust.
5. Place half the hearts on a silicon baking mat. Set the other half aside.
6. Add a generous spoonful of blueberry jam to the middle of each heart.
7. Beat the egg and add a small splash of water to it.
8. Using your finger (or a small brush), spread the egg on the heart so that it completely covers all of the exposed crust around the jam.
9. Place another heart over top of the jam and gently press down with your fingers to line it up and start sealing it.
10. Press down around the edges with a fork to seal it all in.
11. Brush the egg mixture on top of each of the hearts.
12. Bake at 350F for 20 to 30 minutes. Keep watching. Mine were done at about 23 minutes.
13. For the glaze, add the icing sugar to a bowl, and slowly stir in the milk until it's a smooth, slightly runny consistency. Drizzle over the hearts while they are still warm.

3.5.3208

These mini blueberry pies are so easy to make and they taste AMAZING! You can use store bought pie crust or you can make your own, and you can use any flavour of jam too. Mini cherry pie hearts anyone? Yes, please! And in case you’re wondering. Nope. My husband resisted and he didn’t cheat on his gluten free diet. But this was the closest I’ve ever seen him to giving in! Mmmmm…

The post Mini Blueberry Pies appeared first on One Little Project.

OK guys, hang onto your hats, and prepare yourselves for the cheesiest list of food ideas ever (no pun intended…). Seriously, who would have thought you could make so many food items into hearts?! I know, I know, we normally seem to pair Valentine’s Day and sweets together. Chocolate? Yum! Cookies? Yum! But don’t forget about the healthier options too!

I was planning to call this post “Healthy Valentine’s Day Food Ideas” but, well, then I saw the bacon… and the pizzas… and all the other heart shaped starches… and I knew they had to be included here too. So I guess, this ended up being more of a “healthy-ish” list of Valentine’s Day food ideas. But on the bright side, other than the bacon, you should be able to indulge in most of these without feeling guilty. And heart shaped watermelon, strawberries and cherry tomatoes? Those are awesome AND healthy!

For me, it’s all about the little details on Valentine’s Day. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t want to go over the top, but I still want my husband and kids to feel a little extra love that day. And my goodness, sometimes it feels like our house is overflowing with candy and treats, so it’s so refreshing to see some healthier options!

30+ Non-Candy Valentine’s Day Food Ideas

These Valentine’s Day food ideas are adorably cheesy! I can’t think of a better way to show someone you care! Simple things like heart shaped pepperoni, or heart shaped eggs – It doesn’t take a lot of extra effort, but it’s such a fun and sweet thing to do!

Valentine Pizza via One Charming Party

Valentine’s Fruit Skewers via Delas

Heart-Shaped Egg via Anna The Red

Roasted Heart Potatoes via Haniela’s

Valentine’s Day Heart Toast via One Little Project

Heart-Shaped Pepperoni Pizza Bread via Workman Family

Valentine’s Love Lunch via Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons

Valentine’s Waffle Bar via Super Healthy Kids

Miniature Whole Wheat Pizza via M Live

Heart-Shaped Pizza via Once Upon A Cutting Board

Heart Cut-Out Sandwich via School Bites

Heart Apple Sandwich via Happy Together

Heart-Shaped Pitas with Roasted Red Hummus via Small Fry

Heart-Shaped PB & J Sandwich via Crafter Hours

Valentine’s Day Egg in a Basket via Reclaiming Provincial

Sweet Potato Crackers via Merriment Design

Strawberry Goat Cheese Salad via Spaceships and Laser Beams

Heart-Shaped Egg Breakfast via Our Mini Family

Watermelon Heart Fruit Salad via A Designer Life

Valentine’s Day Hugs & Kisses via Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons

Fried Ravioli Hearts via In Search Of Yummy-ness

Avocado Valentine via Mimi Avocado

Watermelon Hearts via Disney Baby

Strawberry XO Salad via Workman Family

Heart-Shaped Raspberry Rolls via Handle The Heat

Valentine’s Day Lunch via Lisa Storms

Valentine’s Fruit Salad via Hello, Wonderful

Pomegranate Ice Cube via Two Loves Studio

Heart-Shaped Sushi via Holly’s Helpings

Cherry Tomatoes & Cocktail Sauce via Eye Candy

Bacon Hearts via The Paper Mama

Valentine’s Fruits & Veggie Salad via Jo and Sue

The post 30+ Non-Candy Valentine’s Day Food Ideas appeared first on One Little Project.

Peanut butter cookies are my weakness. I’ve never been a huge cookie fan, but when I was in school, it used to be my favourite thing to go down to the coffee shop in between classes and have a coffee and a peanut butter cookie. (Or maybe it was a peppermint tea and a peanut butter cookie? It took a few years before my caffiene addiction officially kicked in…)

There was one semester where almost every day, my friends and I would go to the cafe and sit on wobbly metal chairs at a round table that was barely big enough to fit all of our backpacks underneath it, and I’d eat the sweet, crumbly, peanut buttery goodness out of a paper bag while we complained about our Calculus assignment. The cookie probably had about 300 calories, but it was worth it!

Now, my gluten free and dairy free husband, he LOVES cookies. Except ever since he went voluntarily gluten and dairy free, his options are kind of limited, unless he wants to pay $3 per cookie at the gluten free bakery.

This recipe is ridiculously easy to make AND it’s gluten and dairy free, which is a bonus in this household!

Chocolate Heart Peanut Butter Cookies

For the best flavour, make sure you use fresh peanut butter. Peanut butter that has been sitting around in your cupboard for 6 months tends to make the cookies taste a bit off, even if it still tastes fine on peanut butter sandwiches.

The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here’s what you’ll need:

• Smooth Peanut Butter
• Sugar
• An egg
• Chocolate hearts

The cookie dough is really soft, so it’s hard to get perfect balls, but it helps when you roll the dough balls in the sugar.

Set the balls on a cookie sheet and bake them for 20 minutes. I was able to make 20 cookies, which fit perfectly on one baking sheet.

See how well they flattened? No need to push them down with a fork – they spread evenly on their own.

As soon as they come out of the oven, press a chocolate heart into the center of the cookie.

I got my chocolate hearts from the bulk store, but I saw them at the dollar store too. If it’s not Valentine’s Day, and you’re having trouble finding chocolate hearts, feel free to press a Hershey’s Kiss in the center instead.

Now holy melted chocolate goodness! The heat from the cookies made the chocolate melt just enough that it was warm and soft when you bite through it. Of course, that’s assuming you eat them while they are still warm – which I definitely recommend!

After they had cooled off, the chocolate was a little harder, but still easy to bite through.

And oh my goodness, my very favourite flavour combination is peanut butter and chocolate. Yum! You really can’t go wrong here!

And best of all? My gluten and dairy free husband could eat these, which means I didn’t have to eat 20 cookies on my own. Not that I would have been against eating 20 cookies on my own, but you know… it’s just probably not the best plan.

Chocolate Heart Peanut Butter Cookies

 

Serves: 20

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Print

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup Smooth Peanut Butter
• ½ cup Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 4 Tablespoons of Sugar (for rolling)
• 20 Chocolate Hearts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Mix together peanut butter, sugar and egg.
3. Pour the 4 Tablespoons of sugar onto a plate
4. Roll the cookie dough into 1" balls and then roll in the sugar until fully coated.
5. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. (No need to flatten them)
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
7. After you remove them from the oven, immediately press a chocolate heart into each of the cookies.
8. Wait 5 minutes and remove to a wire rack to cool.

3.5.3208

These chocolate heart peanut butter cookies are the EASIEST cookies ever! They only take 3 ingredients plus the chocolate hearts. They are quick to make and oh my goodness, they taste amazing when they come out of the oven and the chocolate hearts have melted slightly… Mmmm…

The post Chocolate Heart Peanut Butter Cookies appeared first on One Little Project.

Hello again! It’s Alicia from The Baker Upstairs, and I have another amazing cookie recipe to share with you today. Are you a regular dessert eater, or do you prefer to save sweets for special occasions? For better or worse, my husband and I both like to end the day with a little something sweet. The problem is, we can never decide on something we both like! My husband loves candy and will always choose candy for his treat, while I generally find myself craving baked goods. (I know, what a challenging problem to have, right?) Now, we could just each eat our own treat, but where’s the fun in that?

I’ve been experimenting lately with some fun ways to incorporate both of our favorites into one dessert, and have come up with a few fun ideas, like these amazing Snickers chocolate chip cookies I made a few months ago. These gummy bear heart cookies are my latest effort, and they’re the perfect solution to that candy vs. cookie debate – a cookie with a candy center! It really doesn’t get better than that, my friends.

I was inspired by these gummy bear cookies on A Beautiful Mess, but I decided to change things up a little and use my very favorite (and super simple) shortbread recipe.  I also chose to use just red gummy bears, since they are my favorite flavor, and I love how pretty and vibrant the red centers turned out!

You could definitely use any color of gummy bear you like, or even a combination of colors for each cookie. These gummy bear heart cookies would be so fun to customize for any holiday or special occasion!

Gummy Bear Heart Cookies

The full recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here’s what you’ll need:

• butter
• sugar
• egg yolk
• vanilla
• flour
• salt
• gummy bears

My shortbread recipe is about as simple as they come: just flour, sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, and egg. It mixes up into a thick and buttery dough that’s easy to shape into balls.

The thick texture of the dough helps the cookies maintain their shape while baking, and gives the finished cookies the perfect crisp and crumbly texture.

Once your dough is mixed, you’ll roll it into one inch balls, and space them about two inches apart on a baking sheet. Next, you’ll make a heart shaped indent on each ball, using your finger tips. I used my pinky finger to make the indents, since my hands are pretty large, but if you have daintier fingers than I do, I’m sure your pointer finger will work fine. Look how cute they are already!

Next, you’ll add two gummy bear halves to the indent in the center of each cookie. I tried to place mine in a v-shape to help the gummy bears flow into more of a heart shape as they melted.

Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden on the bottom and the gummy bears are melty. The original recipe showed the gummy bears liquifying completely, but my gummy bears stayed more or less in their original shape, but got melty on the inside. I used a toothpick to gently spread the gummy bears inside the indented area of the cookie, and they spread pretty easily. I’m not sure if my gummy bears were a little more stale than the other blogger’s, or if there’s a difference in meltiness depending on which brand you use (I just used a generic store brand). So, if your gummy bears melt completely, great! If not, just know that you can easily spread them with a toothpick. Just be careful not to burn yourself with that hot molten gummy bear!

Allow the cookies to cool completely before eating. As they cool, the gummy bears will firm up again into a soft gummy consistency. The chewy and sweet gummy centers are the perfect contrast for the buttery and crumbly shortbread cookies!

My kids kept trying to guess what was in the center of the cookies, and they were amazed and excited to find that they were gummy bears! The melted gummy bears taste similar to jam, but with a more intense flavor and sweetness. Yum!

Gummy Bear Heart Cookies Recipe

 

Serves: 24

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Print

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg yolk
• 2¼ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 24 gummy bears, cut in half

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.
2. In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg yolk, and mix until smooth. Add the flour and salt, and mix to form a thick dough.
3. Roll the dough into one inch balls and place on prepared baking sheets. Use your finger to press down twice on each ball, making a heart-shaped indent. Place two gummy bear halves into each indent in a v shape.
4. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookies are just slightly golden at the bottom and the gummy bears are melty. If the gummy bears do not melt all the way, use a toothpick to gently spread them throughout the indent in the cookie.
5. Cool completely before eating.

3.5.3226

These gummy bear heart cookies are the perfect choice when you just can’t decide between a cookie and a candy! And they’re not only delicious, but super cute too. These cookies will definitely be a new favorite for kids and grown ups alike!

Thanks Alicia! If you’re looking for more cute and delicious cookie recipes, be sure to check out our adorable teddy bear cookies. These little guys were soooooo cute!!

The post Gummy Bear Heart Cookies Recipe appeared first on One Little Project.

These stapled paper heart wreaths are so simple to make and they look adorable! They’re a fun and easy Valentine’s Day decoration that the kids can make at home, or even at school! It only takes about 10 minutes to make the whole wreath and it’s easy enough that kids should be able to make […]

The post Stapled Paper Heart Wreath appeared first on One Little Project.

How cute and easy are these chocolate filigree hearts?  In Part 1 I showed a simple chocolate heart outline.  Today I’m going to show you an easy way to make chocolate filigree hearts.  These make the cutest cupcake toppers!  You could also use them to decorate a cake or any other pretty dessert.  Or make […]

The post Chocolate Hearts Part 2: Chocolate Filigree Hearts appeared first on One Little Project.

Do you remember when you were a kid, and you learned how to cut hearts out from construction paper? It seemed like the most clever thing ever that you could fold a piece of paper in half, cut out a rough tear drop shape on the fold, and then almost like magic, you ended up […]

The post Folded Heart Envelopes appeared first on One Little Project.

You know when you go to a restaurant and they have that little bucket of lolly pops, or mints, or even pre-packaged Tic Tacs at the front door? (The Tic Tacs were a huge hit with my kids the one time we got them…) Well, my kids make their restaurant choices based on the candy they give away. […]

The post Lolly Pop Heart Flowers appeared first on One Little Project.

Do you love Valentine’s Day? Or do you hate it? It seems to be one or the other. I’ve been posting Valentine’s related posts on my Facebook page lately, and it makes me laugh the reactions people have. Let’s just say there are a lot of people who are very cranky about Valentine’s Day and […]

The post 35+ Valentine’s Day Cupcake Ideas appeared first on One Little Project.

Remember giving out Valentines to all your friends back in elementary school? Or how amazing Valentine’s Day was when you were all lovey dovey in high school? Those were fun times! Roses, cheesy music, candlelit dinners. Weren’t those the best?! Before my husband and I had kids, Valentine’s Day was so romantic. We’d spend a […]

The post 44 Best Valentine’s Day Treat Ideas appeared first on One Little Project.

Have you ever used a store-bought frozen pie crust for something other than… well, pie? Because I know that before this, I never had. Part of me was a little nervous when I lifted the pie crust out of the aluminum pie plate it came in, that it would lose all its magical crustiness and crumble […]

The post Mini Blueberry Pies appeared first on One Little Project.