I have never been someone who really loves Valentine’s Day. Andrew and I usually keep it pretty simple with a nice dinner at home, but I love to surprise him with a few treats too. Last year I made him breakfast in bed and chocolate covered strawberries. It was such a fun way to start off our day together so we will probably do something similar again this year. I had been brainstorming what kind of treat I wanted to surprise him with this year so I thought I would round up a few favorites for some Valentine’s Day inspiration. Whether you are celebrating with friends, family or your significant other these treats are perfect for Valentine’s Day!

MacaronsI know these seems like such an intimidating dessert to make, but with time and patience they can be so much fun! Andrew and I have made them on several occasions and love trying new flavors and varieties! Our favorites to make are salted caramel and cappuccino. We use the recipe out of the Bouchon Bakery cookbook. This recipe for Vanilla Macarons is based on the Bouchon cookbook but there are so many amazing variations of flavors you can find online as well.

Chocolate StrawberriesSO easy to make and so good! All you need is chocolate and strawberries– I like to use a high quality chocolate like Valrhona or Guittard to really make it delicious. You can also mix it up by using white chocolate or a mix of both!

I use about 10oz of melted chocolate per 1lb. container of strawberries. Thoroughly rinse/wash the strawberries and lay them out to dry. Put the chocolate chips or chunks in a microwave safe bowl and set to 50% power microwaving 45 seconds at a time and stirring in between each 45 second increment until melted. Dip each strawberry and full cover in chocolate- then lay on a sheet of wax or parchment paper to let the chocolate harden. Place in fridge once done until ready to serve.

BouchonsAndrew loves these so much! I know they are just little brownies, but they are SO good. They are essentially just brownies baked in a timble mold. If you don’t have the mold you can just as easily make the batter into brownies using an 8×8 inch non-stick pan.

The chopped dark chocolate that is mixed in makes all the difference! Dust a little powdered sugar over the top right before serving and trust me you will have a hard time not eating them ALL. This recipe is also from the Bouchon or Bouchon Bakery Cookbooks but you can also find the recipe on-line here.

Recipe note: If using the online recipe it will make 2 batches of the “bouchons” or 1 8×8 tray of brownies.

Sugar CookiesI love festive sugar cookies for holidays and special occasions. For a fun activity leave the cookies undecorated and get the toppings to decorate together! Andrew and I decorated cookies together last year and had so much fun- or at least I did 🙂

I use this basic recipe and find that the cookies hold their shape well after baking and have a great texture and flavor!

What are some of your favorite treats to make for Valentine’s Day?