Thursday, February 12, 2009

Valentine Treats

Today is the day I take Handsome to the hospital and, since we'll be staying overnight, I had to make Princess's Valentine treats ahead of time.
For her preschool classmates, I made marshmallow pops. They were so easy to make and turned out so cute! I stuck a stick in the marshmallow, twirled the top of the marshmallow in pink candy melt and added some sprinkles...that was it! After the candy part cooled, I put them in plastic bags with cute little labels from Autumn Leah Designs on etsy. The packages look cute from the front and the back!
I also dipped some marshmallows with no sticks as part of the teacher treat bags. They look pretty cute too!
I used the same sticker labels on these--this time I used them to seal the little bags.
I also made other treats for the teachers for Valentine's Day. I was inspired by Allie at No Time for Flashcards and made Red Hot Bark--it was just as easy to make as peppermint bark! First a layer of chocolate, then a layer of white chocolate mixed with red hots (some smashed, some not.) Tastes great and not too "hot" at all!
The other treat I made for them is one that I make for lots of holidays and it always is a hit! Pretzels with Hershey Kisses and M&Ms. Mmmm, the mix of chocolate and salt is sooo good. And, the great part is that little ones can help with making these! This time around I made them by myself, but at Christmas time my 5 year old was a lot of help and made them almost entirely by herself--she did everything except the last step.
First preheat your oven--I usually do these at 250 degrees. Then lay out a cookie sheet full of pretzels--make sure you have Silpat (love my Silpat--I've been using it for years!) or foil under them so the chocolate doesn't stick to your cookie sheet.
Then you balance a Hershey Kiss on each pretzel.
Next you pop them in the oven. Mine typically take 5-6 minutes in my electric oven at 250 degrees. You can always test with an M&M to see if your Kisses are squishy enough. Don't overcook the chocolate--you can't bring it back if you over do it! Once the Kisses are glistening and easy to squish, take them out of the oven and use an M&M to squish down the top of each Kiss.
Now you just wait FOREVER for them to cool and the chocolate to harden. I suppose you could speed things up by putting them in the fridge, but I try to avoid that because sometimes it causes the chocolate to change color a bit. My favorite thing to do is to let them cool on the trays overnight--I just tent some foil over the tray and leave them out.

I packaged each treat in bags and then put them together into little Valentine care packages for the teachers. I hope they like them!

10 comments:

The Masked Mommy said...

Ok, I LOVE the marshmallow thing! So cute! I'm always looking at everyone's "cake pops" (have you seen these on bakearella?) and they're adorable but I don't have that kind of time. Thanks for the adorable idea! :-)

frillsfluffandtrucks said...

Yes, I've made Bakerella ones. :)

~ sarah

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Wow - I am so impressed! Your treats are beautiful. I love the packaging too. What a great mommy you are!

I am going to make some of those. Too bad the pretzel ones take so long to cool - I need something to make to take to preschool this afternoon.

Have a wonderful day. I hope things go well at the hospital.

Jen

Shannon said...

I am praying for you and your little guy today. I know that this is going to be a hard day.

I love all of your V-day treat ideas! They way you packaged them makes them look so cute!

Our Complete Family said...

Darling, darling, darling Val day things you made! Goodness you are crafty!
Hoping things go well at the hospital. Thinking of you guys.
Quick question when you get time next week...where did you get the little clear baggies? I must be missing them somewhere~ can't lay my eyes on them!!!
Hugs, Les

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

I hope things went well at the hospital today. I wanted to share that my son had some similar things done when he was the exact same age as your son.

((hugs))
Jen

cherry said...

YUM YUM YUM! I love the little cherries shaped like hearts..the tags. I sign my name like that...I know I am corny. cherry

Ms. Tee said...

Oh heavens! I would've *never* thought of red hot bark, but I will have to try that now! lol And all of your treats turned out so well. I'll be praying for your little boy - please keep us posted.

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Hi Sarah --
I tagged you in a really fun game. Come on over and see if you want to play along.

XOXOXOOX
Jen

Unknown said...

Wow everything looks so good I will have to try those!

I hope things go well with your boy!