Last Minute Valentine Gifts~Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix and Chocolate Dipped Thin Oreos

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Valentine's Day will be here on Sunday! Are you ready?  These two, cute Last Minute Valentine Gifts are fast to put together, and anyone would love to receive them! The Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix is easy, and the Chocolate Dipped Thin Oreo's are even easier!

 Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix 

Red Chip Valentine Cookies/ #Fill The Cookie Jar

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What are Red Chip Valentine Cookies? After Christmas I found this bag of mint baking chips at a local store. I picked them up at a good price, but the reason I even looked at them twice was because they were red.  I don't think I have ever seen or used red chips before. So along comes Valentine's Day and what could be more perfect than red chips. But I wanted a white cookie recipe. After looking around, I decided to bake my "go-to" sugar cookie recipe that I usually use for cut out cookies. I made a batch and they were yummy and Valentine festive!

Red Chip Valentine Cookies

Red Velvet Cream Pie / #FoodieExtravaganza

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I love Valentine's Day, but I try not to take it too seriously. Of course, you should show your love to those that are important to you everyday, but it is fun to send funny, lovey dovey heart cards, eat chocolate, and make Red Velvet Cream Pie! This pie is rich and sooo creamy. Add the whipped cream topping and you will be in love with this pie! Make sure you make it the day of the morning  you want to serve it. It needs 4-6 hours to set up and chill. Happy Valentine's day! 

Looking for more pie recipes? No worries! We are all about pie today at #FoodieExtravanganza. Scroll down below this post to see what everyone else made for this day!

Red Velvet Cream Pie

14 Days of Valentine's~Simple 10 Layer Mini Chocolate Cake

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Thank you so much for stopping by on the first day of 14 Days of Valentine's!

Today's treat is a simple 10 Layer Mini Chocolate Cake.

 So, how can a 10 layer mini cake be simple?

This cake is a lot like one I have made in the past
 with chocolate wafers but with a difference.

The difference is the graham crackers, and with only a few ingredients it is very easy!
This cake would be the perfect compliment to your Valentine's dinner!
It has to be made 24 hours ahead of serving, so there is no last minute work to do!

Reese's Heart Mini Brownies

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These Reese Heart Mini Brownies are bite size bits of heaven! I am serious!! 

They are gooey, chocolatey, rich, and mini! What more is there?

 Oh, they are quick to make also! Everyone will want one, so be sure to make plenty. 

So good! They make you say "mmmmmmm"!

Reese Heart Mini Brownies

4 ounces Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate Bar

4 ounces Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar

3/4 cup Butter

1/4 cup Water

1 cup Sugar

3/4 cup packed Dark Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 1/3 cup Flour

pinch salt

Reese Heart Candy

These are the two chocolate bars that I used. 

Chop your chocolate and .......

your butter into small pieces, so they will melt evenly.

Melt the chocolate, butter and water together in a double boiler

on your stove. Set the heat on low. 

When the mixture becomes melted and smooth....

pour it in to the bottom of your mixing bowl.

Add both sugars and beat with your mixer on low,

until combined and smooth.

Add your eggs and mix on medium. 

Add vanilla.

Add your flour and salt. Mix together on low.

I used muffin cups for my brownies. Some of the first ones

stuck to the paper, so I sprayed the next batch with 

pan spray. That worked much better.
Fill each cup with your batter until about 3/4" full.

Bake for 15 minutes. 

While your brownies are baking,

 unwrap the Reese's Heart candies. 

Once your brownies are done baking,

let them cool for 10 minutes.

Then place a Reese's heart on each brownie. 

They will sink in a little and start to melt.

Refrigerate for these to set up quickly, or they will set up 

over time while covered. Of course, if you are like me,

and have no self control what so ever, eat one now, while they are hot

and the Reese's heart is melting! mmmmmmm!

Thanks for joining The Freshman Cook today!
I am so glad you stopped by!

Valentine Sugar Cookies

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 It is almost Valentine's Day, and because I am always working to improve my cookie decorating skills, I thought some red and pink decorated sugar cookies would be perfect to celebrate! I love giving friends and neighbors little valentine gifts, like these cookies. It's something they don't expect, and it's something they wouldn't make for themselves. The recipe I used is an old "go to" favorite and so is the frosting.

No Fail Sugar Cookies

2 cups Butter

2 cups Sugar

2 Eggs

2 teaspoon Almond Extract

5 cups Flour

3 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and almond extract, and mix well.

Mix dry ingredients a little at a time to butter mixture.

Mix until flour is incorporated and the dough comes together.

The dough needs to be chilled. On the Kitchen Gifts web site

they recommend this great idea so you can start cutting out

your cookies sooner than later. Take a spatula full 

of dough, and put it in the middle of  a piece of

 parchment paper. Cover the dough with the same size

parchment paper. Roll out the dough to 1/4" thickness.

Place the dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic, 

and let it chill in the refrigerator. Repeat the process

 until all the dough is used, and all the sheets of 

parchment are in the fridge. By the time you are done,

the first sheet you put in should be done. If not, wait about

1/2 hour. They should be done by then. 

Take out the first batch, cut out, and start baking at

350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

The best thing is that you are not adding any additional 

 flour to your cookies.

If covered properly with the plastic, these can stay in

the fridge overnight. Many times I have made the recipe

before I go to bed, and then I cut them out and 

bake them in the morning.

 Here is the frosting recipe I use:
Antonia 74 Royal Icing
  6 ounces Warm Water
5 tablespoons Meringue
1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
2.25 pounds Confectioner's Sugar
In a mixing bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder.
Whisk together for 30 seconds.
Add the Cream of Tartar.
Whisk together for 30 seconds more.
Place all the icing sugar in the bowl and mix on low for a full
10 minutes. The icing fill get thick and creamy.
Keep bowl covered with a damp tea towel to prevent crusting.
Tint with food colorings and water to obtain desired
color and consistency.

I started by outlining the cookie with a Wilton #2 tip.

 Then I filled it in.

I outlined and filled in the pink one, put in on top of a dry red cookie
I added the white edible pearls to the red cookie before it dried.

For the small pink cookie with the hearts,
 I outlined and filled in with pink, using a #2 tip.

Then I placed 2 small dots, both the same size, right next to
each other on the cookie, while the pink icing was wet.

Then, I pulled each dot down to a center point to
make a heart.

You can see that on the large pink heart, I squiggled
lines and dots, making it pink on pink, and attached a small red heart.

Although I love my cookies to look perfect in my eyes, I am not there yet.
But, everyone loves a decorated sugar cookie, and the smile on a
friends face when they eat these, really is the best gift to me.
Have fun with these!

Thanks for joining me at The Freshman Cook.

Candy Conversation Hearts!

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Everyone seems to have a "Love 'em or Hate 'em" attitude when it comes to the traditional candy conversation hearts. I know I do. I love them because they are a tradition. They have been a part of every Valentine's Day I can remember, but I am not crazy for the chalky taste or the fact that they are hard on my teeth. I found this recipe in last years February issue of Food Network Magazine, and I was intrigued.

What I discovered after making this recipe, is that these are so much better than the original they were trying to copy. These taste fresh and they are easy to eat. I think you will like these!

Candy Conversation Hearts!

1/4 ounce packet Unflavored Gelatin Powder

1 tablespoon Light Corn Syrup

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

1/2 cup Boiling Water

2 pounds Confectioner's Sugar

Extra Confectioner's Sugar for kneading

Your choice of food color 

Your choice of extract

Cooking Spray

Food Decorating Pens

Whisk the gelatin, corn syrup, vanilla, salt, and 

boiling water in a stand mixer until the gelatin dissolves.

Beat in the confectioners' sugar, on medium, one cup at a time

until you have a stiff, sticky dough.

Move the dough to a clean work surface and knead.

You will have to add a little more confectioners' sugar

to make it workable. Add just a little at a time.
You shouldn't add more than a cup.

The dough should become soft and pliable, but still a little sticky.

Divide your dough into 4 pieces. Wrap the other pieces

so they don't become dry. On the piece you are working on

put some of the color you want this piece to be. I chose pink for this one.
 Also, drop a few drops of your extract. I used Almond.

I put 3 drops of pink color and 3 drops of almond. I used an 

eyedropper to add the extract. I added the color first, 

and then so the extract wouldn't go all over, I pulled the

 dough into a cup  form and added the extract.

 Knead the dough until the color is evenly distributed
through out.  As you can see, I also made green. :)

Take a large piece of parchment paper and spray it with
pan spray. Roll out your dough between 1/8" and 1/4".
I used 1/8" on the pink hearts and 1/4" on the others. The
1/8" was a little thin, but that is just my preference.

Start cutting out the hearts using a 1" cookie cutter.

As you peel away the dough,.....

you will have all these scraps left. Just reroll until you
have none left.

Transfer your cut hearts to parchment paper for drying.
Now do the steps again for each of the three left
over balls of dough. You can choose a different color for
each one. I used pink, green, yellow, and blue. I used almond for each
color, but you could certainly switch them up. Let the hearts sit out, uncovered
for 24 hours, but flip them over at 12 hours.

Once the hearts are dry, you can write on them with a food writer pen.
Here are a few that I wrote on. I wasn't happy with
my penmanship, so I haven't written on most of them, but I did
write a few updated ones like these and these...

just for kicks!

This recipe was time consuming, so after I made the dough,
I wrapped it tightly in plastic and did the rest the next day.
When they were done drying, I placed them in a plastic
container to keep them fresh.

So, that's it. A copycat version  of Conversation Hearts,
that I know you will love! Have fun, and thanks
for joining The Freshman Cook today!

Candy Cane Hearts!

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If you have any candy canes left over from Christmas, this is the perfect reason to use some of them. These little Candy Cane Hearts are a fast and simple last minute valentine treat. And they are cute too!

Candy Cane Hearts

Mini Candy Canes 

White Almond Bark

Conversation Hearts

Place your candy canes like in the picture.

Make sure you use parchment paper or wax paper 

on your baking sheet under the candy canes.

Melt your white almond bark according

 to the package directions, then pour the 

almond bark into your heart.

This would be the perfect time to  place your candy

heart in the middle. As you can see, I forgot, and I had to 

add it at the end. You could also add red hots 

or red and pink sprinkles too!  Let set up.

Wrap in plastic, tie with a bow, and you have a quick and cute

valentine's treat!!

Thanks for joining The Freshman Cook today!