With Sprinkles on Top

Valentine’s Day is on Monday! That means you have the weekend to come up with a yummy treat to make for the special (or incredibly commercialized, depending on how you look at it) holiday. To help you out, I’ve collected my favorite recipes for this holiday. XOXO.

1. Sweet Talk Cupcakes
2. Chocolate Mayonnaise Cupcakes
3. Red Velvet Cake
4. Razz-Ma-Tazz Bars
5. Pear-Raspberry Heart Pies
6. Mini Cherry Cheesecakes
7. Fudge Brownies
8. Red Velvet Cupcakes
9. Neapolitan Rice Krispie Treats
10. Valentine’s Day Cupcakes
11. Chocolate Butter Cookies
12. Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake
13. Heart-Glazed Cornmeal Cookies
14. Conversation Heart Cupcakes
15. Cherry Icebox Cookies
16. Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

Okay, how many of you have kids? Raise your hands.

Well, I certainly don’t — but who doesn’t love something deliciously sweet and artificial every now and then?!

Fruity Pebbles are, by nature, weird. Brightly colored and full of a mysterious flavor that in no way resembles fruit. These treats would certainly appeal to children — and those of you who really, really like SWEET TREATS!

Yield: About 24 treats

Fruity Pebbles Treats

Print

Sweet, colorful, and something the kids will love!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 stick butter
• 10.5 oz mini marshmallows (1 bag)
• 13 oz box Fruity Pebbles (or about 8-1/2 cups)

Instructions

1. Coat a 9×13″ pan with cooking spray.

2. Melt the butter and marshmallows in large pot over medium heat. Stir until you get a lovely melted butter-n-marshmallow goo.

3. Add the cereal to the butter/marshmallow mix gradually. Stir well to make sure that the cereal is evenly coated.

4. Press the cereal mixture into the prepared pan and let cool. Cut into bars.

Notes

Your yield will depend on how big or small you cut your bars.

Heart-Glazed Cornmeal Cookies
Recipe source: Everyday Food
Print Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1-1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pink or red food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1/2 cup granulated sugar on medium-high until creamy (about 3 minutes). Add egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla — beat until combined. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat to combine.
2. Place 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl; roll dough into 1-inch balls and coat with sugar. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. With the bottom of a glass, flatten balls to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Press a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter into each (do not cut through).
3. Bake cookies until golden at edges — about 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on wire racks.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and 1-3/4 teaspoons cold water. Whisk in food coloring. Spread glaze inside each heart — or pipe the glaze onto the hearts. Let set for 15 minutes.

Makes about 40 cookies.

To those that may not know, I’m a huge huge huge NFL football fan — and specifically, a huge Green Bay Packers fan. Imagine my joy and surprise when Green Bay won the Super Bowl on Sunday night. Holy freaking crap on a cracker. It wasn’t expected this year — we barely made it into the playoffs. We were a sixth seed wildcard team that somehow managed to beat the Eagles, the Falcons, and the Bears. But we did it! It still hasn’t sunk in yet.

I’m proud of Green Bay. I’m proud to be a Wisconsin native. I’m proud to have grown up as a fan of the Packers. I remember being a little girl and spending Sundays at my grandparents’ house watching the games (and listening to my grandpa, aunt, and dad scream at the television). I wasn’t really into the game as a seven year old, but the Packers and NFL football were a part of my childhood. They are a part of my family.

I kept all of my memorabilia from Super Bowl XXXI – when we beat the Patriots in New Orleans. I have containers full of newspaper clippings, foam fingers (like the one in the picture here!), and even a jar full of dirt from Lambeau Field (I also have a box of Frozen Tundra in our freezer, no joke).

I was a nervous wreck throughout the entire game on Sunday. And let’s keep it real here, I would have killed for a tablet of Xanax. But since that wasn’t going to happen, I had a few drinks and hoped for the best. I watched the game with my friends here in Madison and we were all screaming with joy at the end. Rick Reilly, a writer for ESPN, posted a great piece about the Pack Mentality — and what it means to be a Green Bay fan. My favorite line: “You root for the Packers in this Super Bowl because every now and then the game needs to have on top the little team nobody can seem to hate.”

I’ll stop talking about my personal life and love of sports and get on with the yummy party food! As usual, I didn’t know the meaning of “restraint”. Super Bowl Sunday is not a day to eat healthy — and we estimated that we all probably consumed about 10,000 calories (we like to eat our nervous feelings…).

Sugarcrafter’s Basic Pasta Salad

Sugarcrafter’s Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip — all you can see is the cheese in this photo, but I assure you that delicious buffalo chicken dip is lurking beneath!

McCormick slow cooker chili — a very simple, easy, and delicious recipe.

One of my greatest culinary weaknesses in life: Puppy Chow.

A football cake. I made this using a Wilton football pan — I used boxed chocolate cake mix and homemade buttercream frosting.

Cupcakes! These were gluten-free boxed mix cupcakes. I decorated some with little sugar footballs and yard line numbers — the others were decorated with football position abbreviations.

Homemade Oreos. Please, I beg of you, make these. They are a-m-a-z-i-n-g.

And my friend Anne made Jello shots. Keepin’ in classy. :)

When I was home over winter break, my Dad gave me his copy of Valley Potato Grower magazine (yes, there is such a thing — and yes, you receive such a publication if you work in the food biz!). He bookmarked this recipe and said I should try it. I’ve never heard of potato cake. Potato bread, yes. But not potato cake. I liked it — this treat is a hybrid of a blueberry muffin and blueberry coffee cake, with a subtle taste of potato.

Blueberry Potato Cake
Recipe source: Valley Potato Grower Magazine
Print Recipe

1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup shortening
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon milk

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9×13″ pan.
2. Put potatoes in a small pot with cold water. Boil until potatoes are tender. Drain well, then mash. Set aside 1 cup of mashed potatoes.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the blueberries to coat them in the flour mixture. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Mix in the warm cup of mashed potato. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture with the blueberries, mixing just until incorporated.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean).
7. Allow to cool; spread a thin layer of glaze on the cake (to make glaze, just combine all glaze ingredients and mix well).