Chocolate Covered Valentine’s Day treats

 

While grocery shopping the other day, I saw chocolate covered treats for sale. I picked up a few, and was rather surprised at the high price tag attached to them! Honestly, chocolate covered treats are simple to make, taste better, and are very inexpensive.

I’d like to share with you the goodies we are making this week and encourage you to make your own. Save money and have better tasting treats, sounds like a winning combination to me.

Chocolate Covered Valentine’s Day treats:

Chocolate Covered X’s and O’s

This creation is super easy. Simply melt chocolate (we used white chocolate, you can also use almond bark) in a warmer or double boiler. When melted, use a spoon to place a small amount of chocolate onto a pretzel stick, placing another stick on top to form an X, on waxed paper.

 

Let dry thoroughly. Before dipping in chocolate again, be sure the chocolate isn’t too warm or the X will break apart. When dry, dip the X into chocolate, add desired sprinkles, let dry thoroughly.

For the Os, simply dip the pretzel into chocolate, top with sprinkles, let dry thoroughly on waxed paper.

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows

I used my homemade marshmallow recipe. For these treats, I changed the flavoring. To make peppermint marshmallows, I substituted peppermint extract for the vanilla, and added a crushed candy cane to the mixture. To make cherry marshmallows, I substituted cherry extract for the vanilla extract, and added some fun sprinkles to the mixture. You could also add a bit of food coloring to change them from white to pink, red, etc. Use the basic recipe to make your very own creation!

Once the marshmallows are set, it’s time to cut them. Last year, I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut them. This year, I just ran the pizza cutter through and cut them into squares because I was pressed for time. Use your imagination!  Again, melt chocolate in a warmer or double boiler, and coat the marshmallows in chocolate. Be sure that the chocolate is not too warm, or it will cause the marshmallows to melt. I topped the peppermint variety with more crushed candy cane, and the cherry with more sprinkles.

 

We made a few chocolate covered marshmallows on a stick. They take a bit more time, because you have to make sure to let the excess chocolate drip off before topping, and standing up in a block. We used lollipop sticks, and a floral foam block. (The floral foam was what I had on hand, but I also didn’t want to use styrofoam because it’s harder to stick the large lollipop stick into. Use the block that you desire!) When making these, dip the stick into the chocolate before inserting into the marshmallow. This “glues” the marshmallow to the stick before you dip it into the chocolate.

 

Of course, we made more love nests as they were gobbled up quickly the first time we made them!

 

Be sure to visit our Pinterest Valentine’s Day fun board for more inspiration!

What are you making this year?