Valentine's Day Treats

February is a great time for kids in the kitchen! Now you can make easy, homemade treats for the sweeties in your life.

Peppermint Bark Hearts

Perfect for leftover or clearance mini candy canes. Have the kids unwrap all the candy canes and place them into heart shapes.
Ingredients:
2 boxes/bags miniature candy canes
(2 candy canes to make one heart)
1 24 oz. package Vanilla Almond Bark or Vanilla Candy Coating
1 24 oz. package Milk Chocolate Candy Coating or Almond Bark
(if making swirled bark)
Directions:
1. Prepare Pans: Line a cookie sheet or your counter top with waxed paper.
2. Arrange Candy: Arrange candy canes on waxed paper in groups of two to form a heart shape.
3. Melt Chocolate: Melt vanilla-flavored coating or almond bark on the defrost setting of you microwave in 3 minute intervals. It usually takes about 5-6 minutes to melt a full block of candy coating.
4. Make Dough: Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture; stir well. Stir in oats, cranberries, chocolate and pistachios until evenly distributed.
5. Shape and Set: Spoon or pipe candy coating into centers of hearts to fill spaces. Crush broken candy canes in a bag and sprinkle on top of the coating in the middle of the hearts. Let harden and store in airtight container, gift bags or a tissue-lined tin.

Tina's Tip: I used my pastry tool to pipe the coating in the hearts. You can use a pasty bag with a tip or a small sandwich bag and just cut off the end.

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M&M® Oatmeal Bars

One bowl for easy clean-up!

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 - 1 cup M&M candies
1 cup brown sugar, packed (light or dark)
2 cups Biscuit Baking Mix
1 egg
1 stick margarine, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Prepare Pan: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine Ingredients: Add biscuit mix and oatmeal to a large mixing bowl. To this, add
brown sugar, egg, margarine, and vanilla and mix. Add 1/2 cup of M&Ms and mix well.
3. Bake: Bake for 20 minutes (if using a 9x13 pan, double the recipe and bake for 30-40 minutes).
4. Slice and Serve: Remove to rack until completely cooled. Slice into bars and enjoy!

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Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies with Cream Cheese Filling

Easy to make and delicious to eat!

Cake Ingredients:
1 package Duncan Hines® Red Velvet Cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (or butter flavored shortening)
Filling Ingredients
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
3/4 cups confectioner's sugar (depending on desired consistency)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat Oven & Prepare Pans: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil; set aside.
2. Combine Ingredients: Add oil and eggs to cake mix and blend together.
3. Shape and Bake: Roll dough into balls (a little larger than a quarter). Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet (until warm). Remove cookies
from sheet and place on cooling rack.
4. Prepare Filling: Cream butter and add cream cheese and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add confectioner's sugar slowly until you reach your desired consistency. If the mixture is too thick, add a bit of milk until you have the consistency you want. The cream filling mixture makes enough for two batches of cookies. I doubled the cookie recipe and had plenty of filling.
5. Assemble Cookies: In a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip (you can always use a zip lock bag with a round tip or just use a butter knife) add about a tablespoon of filling into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie similar in size on top of the filling. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.
Tina's Tip: These make great teacher gifts. Place cookies in clear gift sacks and tie a pretty ribbon to close.

Tina Butler is a wife, mother of three, and a family food blogger. To see her step-by-step instructions to these recipes and more, visit her at www.mommyskitchen.net.