Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Whether you are looking to make a homemade treat for your love or trying to figure out what treat to send to school for you kids, chocolate covered pretzels and heart-shaped rice crispy treats dipped in chocolate can make the perfect indulgence!
These homemade treats look festive and delicious. The best part is that they look fancy, but you won’t have to pay the expensive price tag that comes along with buying them from a gourmet shop. Here’s what you will need:
• Chocolate candy wafers
• Pretzel rods
• Rice crispy treats
• Assorted sprinkles
• Double broiler (or similar set up)
• Wax paper
Heart-shaped Rice Krispie Treats
Making a heart-shaped rice crispy treat is not as hard as it looks:
- Cut larger corners off one side to form the point at the bottom of the heart
- Cut very small corners off the other side to round the top edges of the heart
- Cut a small “V” in the middle of the top
- Use your hands to mold the rough edges
Set the heart-shaped krispie treats aside. Once the chocolate is melted, you can dip the top in or drizzle with the melted chocolate and decorate with sprinkles.
Melting the Chocolate
You don’t need to buy a double broiler to melt chocolate properly. All you need is a regular pot; fill it about 3/4 full with water and boil. Make sure you have a large, glass bowl that will sit on top of the pot without falling in, but the bottom of the bowl needs to fit down in far enough to touch the water as it boils. Pour the chocolate melts into the bowl. The boiling water will do most of the work, but you can stir occasionally to keep the chocolate melting evenly.
*You can also melt the chocolate wafers in the microwave at 50% power, in 30 second increments.
Once melted, the chocolate should look smooth and shiny. It should be free of any lumps and pour freely. Pour out onto a piece of wax paper. Roll pretzel rods in the chocolate until fully coated. Dip the heart shaped rice crispy treats in the chocolate or drizzle with a fork. Sprinkle with festive Valentine’s Day colors before the chocolate starts to harden.
I decided to get creative with some of the leftover chocolate and make a heart-shaped chocolate wafer. Start with a small circle of chocolate and use a butter knife or toothpick to move it around into the shape of a heart. When the chocolate hardens and dries, it will peel off the wax paper easily.
Chocolate Pops
Another fun and easy treat to make for your kids’ Valentine’s Day parties are chocolate pops. Having boys, they definitely DO NOT allow me to make pink ones, but they like the red ones, white chocolate, or milk chocolate. Attach a Valentine with a ribbon ad your treat is ready to go! I can make these chocolate pops for about $0.10 each! That is a huge savings from any ready-made candy that you might buy for your kids to hand out.
Valentine Cards
Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day like Captain America! I knew that my boys would like these Valentine’s Day cards when I bought them… last year, after Valentine’s Day. I got them on clearance, 90% off! So instead of paying $3.00 for the box of 27 valentines, I got it for $0.30! I also bought a few other boxes that I thought they might like since they were such a good deal. So instead of paying $12.00 for the 4 boxes of valentines that I bought, I only paid $1.20.
Time to put it all together!
Place two pretzel rods and one heart-shaped rice crispy treat in a treat bag, tie a ribbon around the top, and attach the valentine card! Great treat bags for my boys to hand out at their school parties, all for about $0.30 per bag! Money Savvy and Delicious!
Happy Valentine’s Day
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